Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) welcomes the launch of Malaysia's National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2024 - 2028 (NACS) on 7 May 2024. The NACS is a successor to the National Anti-Corruption Plan 2021 – 2023 (NACP) which was previously conceptualised by the Governance Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC), which has been subsumed by the MACC.
TI-M is pleased that the Madani government has taken the first steps as a maturing democracy to implement a collaborative effort between the government and civil society organisations in the formation of the NACS. While there is still a lot of room for improvement, the changing approach demonstrates that the present government recognisesthe importance of multi-stakeholder engagement and cooperation in the fight against corruption.
The NACP was a comprehensive action plan with 115 initiatives to be implemented over a 5 year period. Despite the pandemic and the various changes in government, MACC have reportedly achieved 77% of the deliverables. However, the government must release the effectiveness report to ensure these completed initiatives are actually making an impact. We also call upon the Auditor General’s office in the next audit to visit these areas to confirm the strategies are indeed completed and effective and worth the financial expenditure.
One of the key success elements of action plans and strategies for governments, regional cooperation, civil society and international organisations around the world is that all deliverables ought to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely (SMART). While the NACS broadly documents the strategies that the government would like to achieve in the short, medium and long term, these deliverables have to be transparently monitored with measurable outputs over a specified period of time.
TI-M urges the National Governance Planning Division (NGPD) of the MACC to consider collaborating with the relevant government agencies and civil society organizations for each of the 60 strategies to put up a publicly accessible dashboard with quantifiable baselines, targets and milestonesthat are renewed on a fixed periodic basis, with links to the completed activities, legislation or reports. It is only when the progress is accessible and seen by all of society will the public perception towards the government’s commitment to eradicating corruption change for the better, thus having a positive impact on the nation’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in the long term, said TI-M president Dr Muhammad Mohan.
Furthermore, in the interest of independence and transparency, it is vital that the agencies who are responsible for the deliverables under each strategy should not be the sole parties monitoring or reporting on their progress – this task should be shared with external and independent parties such as CSOs, community-based organisations, the Bar Council, standards bodies, and Academics. This will ensure that no stone is left unturned in ensuring the integrity of deliverables. It will also prevent any allegations by critics of the deliverables being a mere box-ticking exercise.
Notwithstanding the encouraging development with the launch of the NACS, TI-M is concerned with some of the changes observed between the NACP and the NACS. While there is a page dedicated to explaining which incomplete and in-progress initiatives in the NACP have been continued in the NACS or are to be ‘continued by other government committees’, some perceived gaps raise some serious concern. One key topic is the removal of the separation of powers of the Attorney General (AG) and the Public Prosecutor (PP) under NACP initiative 4.1.2. This separation of powers has been studied by various government committees since 2018, with none of the reports made publicly accessible. 2 years into the Madani government’s tenure, there is yet to be a timeline provided to the rakyat on the separation, and now thisinitiative is not appearing in the NACS. Another key point being left out of the NACS is the way forward for NACP initiative 1.2.7, on the introduction of term limits for the Prime Minister, Chief Minister and Menteri Besar.
TI-M believes the government must be more transparent and accountable on these key issues and provide a timeline, roadmap and clear explanationsto the Rakyat on the nextstepsforward. The unwarranted delaysin such and other key reforms affect the confidence of the rakyat and foreign investors in the government, which in turn hurts the public coffers and the stability of the government.
Finally, all said and done TI-M echoes YAB Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s call for all Malaysians to come forward and support the implementation of the NACS. We, as Malaysians need to uphold the values of integrity and hold the government and each other accountable. Together we will achieve a Nation without Corruption, a Society with Integrity.
-End-
President,
Dr Muhammad Mohan
Note to Editors: For clarification on any and all official statements from Transparency International – Malaysia (TI-M), kindly refer to its President, Dr Muhammad Mohan (mmohan@transparency.org.my)
