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PETALING JAYA: DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang has criticized Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) Chief Commissioner Azam Baki for not speaking a word on the Asia 2020 Global Corruption Barometer report released four days ago .
He asked if his “thunderous” silence meant he was satisfied with the findings of Transparency International (TI), which said 71% of Malaysians thought government corruption was a big problem, while 39% felt that corruption had increased in the last 12 months.
In a statement today, the deputy of Iskandar Puteri said that the MACC must respond to each of the observations indicated in the reportlike 30% of Malaysians who said the government was not doing enough to combat corruption.
He said that while MACC’s approval rating was 74%, the majority of key institutions and individuals, including parliamentarians, government officials, religious leaders, judges and magistrates, business executives, bankers, and military leaders were perceived to be involved in corrupt practices in the TI Report.
“As Parliament will consider the 2021 budget for MACC tomorrow, the chief commissioner should present a report on the findings so that parliamentarians can debate the budget proposals.
“If it does, this will mean that MACC is fulfilling its responsibility to Parliament,” he said.
TI’s report surveyed 20,000 people in 17 Asian countries. The Malaysia portion of the study was conducted between July 2019 and June 2020.
In a statement accompanying the results, TI-Malaysia President Muhammad Mohan said Malaysians still had high hopes.
“It is clear that the Rakyat believe that we can all fight corruption and we have not lost faith in law enforcement or public services despite their experiences.
“If the government wants to improve its image among the rakyat it serves, the government must act together. The National Anticorruption Plan must be implemented and enforced without delay, amendment, dilution or change of direction, ”he said.
