‘Publicity could have contributed to drop in nation’s CPI ranking’

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PUTRAJAYA: The high degree of publicity and exposure given by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to corruption-related cases may create a more negative perception which could have contributed to the drop in Malaysia’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) score and ranking, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan.

He said over the past year, the MACC had shown its strong commitment to enforcing the MACC Act and related anti-corruption legislation by making numerous arrests, including many high profile individuals.

Whilst this was encouraging, he said those actions must be followed up with effective prosecution and convictions.

“Nevertheless, this should not deter the MACC from aggressive enforcement and the government from making the necessary long term transformational changes,” he said in a statement yesterday pertaining to Malaysia’s 2017 CPI score.

In the 2017, CPI results released by Transparency International today, Malaysia’s score was 47 with a country ranking of 62 among 180 countries, compared with the score of 49  and ranked 55 out of 176 countries in 2016.

The CPI is an annual survey measuring the perceived level of public sector corruption in 180 countries around the world.

Low, who is the minister in charge of governance, integrity and human rights, said the government acknowledged that the CPI results were a fair indication of the perceived level of public sector corruption within a country.

“Hence we take the results seriously and will continually strive to improve our annual scoring,” he said, adding that the fight against corruption and improving governance required firm action on two fronts — enforcement and prevention.

Low said the preventive initiatives focused on improving its institutional governance infrastructure and building a strong organisational culture of honesty and accountability within the public sector.

The minister said the government had also proposed to insert the Corporate Liability provision in the MACC 2009 Act to address the ‘giver’ aspect of corruption, which aimed at making companies which fail to implement adequate anti-corruption procedures liable for the country actions of their employees.

“This proposed legislation will bring us on par with leading standards currently practiced around the world,” he said.

Low also pointed out that the ISO 37001 Anti Bribery Management System (ABMS)  Standard was launched last year and the related Malaysian standard had since been released.

To-date, he said 11 local entities comprising a mix of government with enforcement powers, government-linked companies, local councils and private companies had been certified.

“The government will not waver in its commitment to fight corruption and improve governance in the public sector.

We are confident that the initiative currently taken will produce the desired results in the long term, and will be reflected in Malaysia’s future CPI score,” he said. — Bernama