Corruption worse now than in my time, says Mahathir

Dr Mahathir Mohamad has declared that the rate of corruption in Malaysia has increased compared with the period when he was prime minister.

Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister (centre, in photo) said punishments were meted out and the law enforced smoothly and without delay during his 22-year tenure, as opposed to the current practice.

He said it was important for the people’s perception of the government to see quick action being taken against bribery and corruption.

“It (corruption) heavily depends on the law and punishment.

“One of the most important things in battling corruption is to expedite the investigation process,” Mahathir said at a press conference at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur today.

He was commenting on the matter when asked to comment on the Corruption Perception Index Report, due to be released tomorrow.

Mahathir, who is also a former Umno president, claimed that money politics was also on the rise, as seen in the recent party elections.

He said that while the Umno voting pattern seemed to have change, the problem of money politics persisted and was expanding.

However, he refused to elaborate further on the matter and instead said he had an “idea” on how to combat the problem of corruption in Umno and the country.

“I have an idea and I will seek out a platform to explain the idea,” Mahathir added.