TRANSPARENCY International Malaysia (TI-M) president Dr Muhammad Mohan says Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should measure the performance of his Cabinet through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
He said this will help the PM monitor the performance of the new government but the KPIs must also provide clear guidance on the objectives of the government.
“TI-M is encouraged by the announcements thus far to strengthen public sector governance, such as the requirement for competitive bidding in procurement and the review of certain high-value projects,” Muhammad said in a statement today (Dec 12).
“To monitor the performance of the new government, we urge the Prime Minister to ensure all ministers and their deputies are given clear KPIs to achieve.
“These KPIs help provide clear guidance on the objectives of the government and provides a means to assess their performance.”
Muhammad further pointed out that it is vital that their progress and achievements are reported to the rakyat in a timely and transparent manner.
The idea of report cards from the ministers is not new. Last year, former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had instructed all Cabinet ministers to announce their respective Report Card on 100-Day Achievement of Keluarga Malaysia Aspirations to the public.
The then PM then said his Cabinet had reached a 90% score, although many people disagreed with the score.
Ironically, veteran politician Lim Kit Siang tweeted last year that only Ismail Sabri would give the Cabinet a 90% score on their 100-day report card when it had not even reached a pass mark of 50%.
The reaction from the public was that it was already known the government will give itself a good score, as it was a good public relations game for them. Many of them had even raised questions about the assessment criteria.
According to TI-M, the “Report Card” is in line with the unity government’s stated aim to be transparent, practice good governance, eradicate corruption and demonstrate accountability.
However, it did not identify the criteria that will be used to gauge the performances of the ministers and their ministries.
Nevertheless, TI-M had suggested that Anwar refer the KPIs and the criteria to National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP).
“We however strongly urge the government of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to refer to the NACP which is an apolitical document that was formulated in 2019 by the then Pakatan Harapan government and largely endorsed by subsequent governments,” Muhammad said.
“The NACP provides clear guidance and indicators on initiatives to improve governance and integrity practice at the national level.
“The culture of transparency and being accountable does not require any grace period – it should be practised immediately. This is what the rakyat expects and our country needs to address its various challenges and reset itself.” – Dec 12, 2022
Main pic credit: Facebook | Anwar Ibrahim
