KUALA LUMPUR: The National Anti Corruption Plan (NACP) 2019-2023, launched by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday, will be the main reference and to act as a guide for all government agencies to enhance integrity and good governance in the fight against corruption.
The NACP will also be the main reference for other relevant entities in developing their respective Organisation Anti-Corruption Plan (OACP).
According to the document’s Statement of Commitment, the NACP is an anti-corruption policy that reflects the people’s expectations for a greater corrupt-free nation that promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in every Malaysians.
The Statement of Commitment was jointly issued by Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Bakar, National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Director-General Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed and Chief Commissioner of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull.
The integrated anti-corruption plan is also the first of its kind to be formulated in the country, in line with Article 5 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).
“In order to ensure the successful implementation of this plan, we would like to emphasise that various actors have been identified for the purpose of carrying out the planned initiatives.
By collaborating to counter the debacle of corruption, we will be creating a new era of a fair and just system based on transparency, accountability and integrity.
This we believe will increase people’s confidence, thus bring Malaysia to a greater heights,” the statement said.
It also stated that the strategies in the plan were the results of series of deliberations and consultations conducted with the public and private sectors, the business and media communities, NGO, anti-corruption experts and academicians.
“We sincerely hope that this plan will help achieve Malaysia’s vision towards being a corrupt-free nation by year 2023.
Malaysia needs all our support and commitment to put an end to any form of corruption,” it said.
Malaysia’s anti-corruption journey began in 2004 with the introduction of the National Integrity Plan (PIN), followed by Government Transformation Programme (GTP) 1.0 in 2010 and GTP 2.0 in 2012.
According to the document, RM1.8 trillion were reportedly lost through illicit financial flow between 2005 and 2014 of which some portion was corruption related, while statistics by MACC revealed that 63.3 per cent of corruption complaints received involved the public sector.
The NACP’s vision is to create a corrupt-free nation through three specific goals which are accountability and credibility of the judiciary, prosecution and law enforcement agencies, efficiency and responsiveness in public service delivery and integrity in business.
NACP is divided into four chapters.
Chapter one focuses on some of the efforts and various initiatives that had been carried out since 2004.
However it noted that lack of political will had led to some of the initiatives not being followed through in its implementation, including transparency in asset declarations and gift management policy by members of the administration, the introduction of Misconduct of Public Office provision, the setting up of an independent agency in managing seized and forfeited assets, the initiating of proper guidelines on lobbyists, and demarcation of power between ministers and secretary-generals.
“With the strong commitment shown by the new government, the NACP was drafted to give a clear focus and direction for the government to fight corruption between now and 2030,” it said.
Chapter 2 captures the corruption scenario in the future, with six key strategies formulated in effort to root out corruption by 2023.
Chapter 3 of the plan features six priority areas that are vulnerable to corruption, namely political governance, public sector administration, public procurement, corporate governance, law enforcement and legal and judicial.
These strategies led to 17 strategic objectives when then produced 115 initiatives that will be implemented in the next five years to address corruption.
Chapter 4 focuses on the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) aspect to ensure that the implemented measures are the most suitable initiatives to undertake. — Bernama