Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) applauds Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak’s decision today to sign Transparency International Malaysia’s Election Integrity Pledge in view of the upcoming 13th General Election. The Pledge is a public declaration by the signatory to civil society of his commitment to observe the principles of integrity and accountability, uphold the rule of law, practice good governance and transparency and protect the interest of the Rakyat.
TI-M launched the Election Integrity Pledge on 19th March 2012 to push for greater integrity in the local political realm. The issue of integrity is extremely important, and we would like to see candidates who stand in the next general election uphold this principle regardless of their political affiliation. This is imperative as a corrupt political system fundamentally undermines all other anti-corruption efforts.
It is a commendable effort for YAB PM to ensure all his political nominees are screened by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and now, taking this a step further by encouraging them to make a public commitment for clean and fair elections. Should YAB PM be successful in ensuring all his candidates become signatories of the pledge, Malaysia will be the first country in the world to do so.
The positive tone from the top is an encouraging indicator of the government’s seriousness in fighting corruption and practicing good governance.
It is now up to members of the public to be the eyes and ears to monitor their elected representatives’ adherence to these standards. As the signatories contact details is made available online, feedback can be provided to the candidates through various mediums including their Facebook and Twitter account and the public email forum at the Election Pledge website http://timalaysia-electionpledge.org.my
Issued by
Transparency International Malaysia
Datuk Paul Low, President
