Opposition coalition targets to make Malaysia one of the 10 most corruption-free countries by 2030 if it wins power in next general election.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will be reformed and made answerable to parliament instead of the prime minister under a Pakatan Harapan (PH) plan “to clean up Malaysia” if PH wins the next general election.
MACC will also be given prosecuting powers and additional funding with autonomy to handle their own finances, said PH chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.
He said the anti-graft drive, themed “Bersihkan Malaysia dari Najis Rasuah” (Cleaning up Malaysia from the Scourge of Corruption), was aimed at making the country one of the 10 “cleanest” in the world by 2030.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference in the Opposition’s office in Parliament, the former prime minister listed five core steps to curb corruption, including the MACC initiative.
He said the steps would be implemented by PH if the coalition succeeded in forming the government after the next election.
“This is a guideline for us when we take over Putrajaya next year,” he said.
Mahathir listed “reforming political funding” as number two on the agenda.
“Funding will be given to the party and not to politicians. Each donor is limited to giving RM200,000 a year. Every additional RM10,000 will be recorded.
“The funding cannot be given by GLCs (government-linked companies) and any company that has a contract with the government.
“Each party must produce a yearly funding report and send it to the auditor-general who is tasked to report it to Parliament.”
Mahathir said another step was to enhance transparency in the country.
“We will amend laws to ensure transparency is advanced.
“We will formulate freedom of information laws to ensure transparency in the administration of GLCs.
“All MPs and government employees on Grade Jusa C (salary scale) and above will have to declare their assets to Parliament.”
Those on Jusa C include ministry deputy secretaries-general and state directors.
Mahathir said the fourth core step would be to have an open tender system and to use technology to curb corruption.
“We will use the E-Perolehan and E-Bidaan system for all government contracts for ministries and government departments.
“All the tenders will be open and online and can be accessed easily by the public.”
The last step is to promote an anti-corruption culture in society.
“We will use ISO 37001 (Anti-Corruption Management System) to manage government bodies and review rewards given to government employees for helping to curb corruption.
“We will also enhance the punishment for corruption for both those who give and take,” he said.