While Malaysia is embroiled in controversy over 1MDB, the tiny Pacific nation of Vanuatu is showing the world it is walking the talk against corruption with a dramatic judicial blow to its corrupt political leaders.
It is in stark contrast in terms of concrete results to what is taking place in Malaysia. It begs the question, ‘How serious is Malaysia in tackling its problem of endemic and high-level corruption?’
When instead a government cracks down on whistleblowers and civil activists and clamps down on opposition politicians who are often the vanguard in the war on corruption - it is indeed baffling - and raises the criticisms and suspicions there is something to hide and someone to protect.
It is a criminal act against the rule of law and an abuse of power to punish those who expose corruption. It turns law enforcement upside down and results in legal anarchy.
The charging of Bersih 4 leader Maria Chin Abdullah is an illustration of the problem. The innocent become political victims when lawful acts of patriotism are deemed crimes when they are spuriously charged with various offences and double standards are applied.
Allegations of wrongdoings rot the fish from tail to head and leave an odious stench in a country’s governance. Unresolved and unconvicted cases of flagrant corruption weaken a country’s administration and give rise to more incidences of corruption.
Yet in Malaysia convictions of big fish despite a boost in anti -corruption government funding are rare. The recent jailing of former Selangor menteri besar Khir Toyo for corruption is proof there are corrupt activities at the top, something that is public knowledge. But so far while high profile former government leaders are sometimes charged, convictions are rare.
Thus in the Malaysian ‘political soap opera’, the incumbent government grapples with its receding credibility and PM Najib Abdul Razak, the star attraction in the 1MDB drama desperately clings to power while his former boss, Dr Mahathir Mohamad tries equally hard to unstage him and constantly harps on his wrongdoings, with justifiable reasons.
If the government is sincere in its political rhetoric against corruption it must prove beyond doubt that no one is above the law and that it will turn on its own to either convict or clear a leader from the taint of wrongdoings.
That has been the Vanuatu lesson to the world, and importantly and relevantly, Malaysia. But that may be a hard ask in Malaysia unless you have a leader of the calibre of Singapore's late Lee Kuan Yew, who would tolerate no hint of corruption in his government.
Malaysia’s record in its efforts to stem corruption is unimpressive.
White sheep the exception
Like a spider’s web the practice of political and economic largesse spreads its network over the entire nation. In ‘you scratch my back, I scratch your back’ country, if Ali Baba falls there is a domino effect among the 40 thieves and vice versa. When a white sheep is the exception in a flock, corruption proves hard to eradicate.
It is time for money politics, the giving of ‘political bribes’ in cash to voters and leaders be outlawed and political donors publicly disclosed. But laws are only good if enforced properly, otherwise they become weapons of abuse in the wrong political hands.
During the days when former PM Mahathir was country leader, he threatened to put the ‘fear of God in the hearts of civil servants’. He created the much-publicised but now failed and forgotten ‘clean, efficient and trustworthy’ slogan for the public sector.
It was a slogan of genius that gave hope to a nation riddled then with corruption. Corruption leaches untold billions from government revenue and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) would not have been needed to increase government revenue. But like all good slogans, aspiration often turns to despair.
Ironically proof of his failure to build a squeaky clean government vis-a-vis Singapore was in Mahathir himself damning his legacy as ‘a rotten administration’ and ‘police state’ when later ‘deposed’ former PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was in power.
It is true Mahathir was then unwittingly guilty of an act of self-condemnation, after all, the system of governance of the country then and now, is virtually all his legacy, besides today’s fattened and burgeoning ‘government-within-a government’ - the Prime Minister’s Office.
The system Mahathir designed when he was in power corrupts absolutely and it seems like poetic justice the absence of efficacious checks and balances is the bitter medicine he now has to taste. When judges can be ‘fixed’ and the police can be corrupted as two royal commissions revealed, what guarantee is there for ‘clean, efficient and trustworthy governance’ when the modus operandi of ‘dirty politics’ undermines the rule of law?
But there is no excuse for any leader to perpetuate a ‘flawed legacy’, especially one who prides himself on being a change agent and ‘transformer’. Passing the buck is not the act of a leader. Neither is cowardice, hypocrisy or playing to the racist gallery. More than ever, Malaysia needs a decent, honest, caring and competent politician to lead the politically retrograde nation.
It is a nation full of talent and resources that lacks good governance and good leaders. The people are themselves to blame because they get the leaders they support. Leaders who don’t change the system become victims sooner or later.
This is where PM Najib falls short of his political rhetoric and promises because many see the ugly face of repressiveness instead of the positive changes and transparency he promised when he co-opted a former head of Transparency International Malaysia into his burgeoning cabinet.
Worse, it is for a leader to exacerbate a bad legacy with his own injudicious and unjust acts. Things will get worse before they get better is cliche, but reality in a country with a political system perfect for the spawning of a kleptocracy, though a constitutional democracy exists on paper and should be its blueprint for national development.
Political and moral crisis
Malaysia is in a political and moral crisis that began with the jailing of Anwar Ibrahim and the freeing of political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda.
And recently Mahathir slammed Najib for ‘sabotaging the financial system’ in his blog in apparent retaliation for the charging of his former political secretary Matthias Chang, the counsel for whistleblower Khairuddin Abu Hassan, also facing a similar charge.
While Malaysia struggles to tread water, bobbing in a turmoil of political infighting, trying not to sink, Vanuatu has given the world a timely lesson on corruption-busting.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation Law Report said: “The Vanuatu Supreme Court has sentenced fourteen government MPs to jail for corruption.
“But rather than being seen as a disaster, there was a collective sigh of relief as the politicians quietly accepted their fate.
“That dignified acquiescence was by no means assured, in the weeks leading up to the sentencing because the MPs had gone to extraordinary lengths to stymie the court process.
“This decision means Vanuatu is seen as a beacon for transparency in the Pacific region.”
Judge Mary Sey in the Vanuatu bribery was praised for her judgment against an African minister by Sierra Leone’s Anti-Corruption Commission some years ago, according to the Vanuatu Post.
It took a bold and upright judge to bring down half of Vanuatu’s cabinet.
The list of corrupt ministers jailed is a stark lesson that government ministers can be corrupt and given the right conditions their crimes can be exposed and the culpable punished (Source: ABC News, Australia):
- Deputy prime minister Moana Carcasses: 4 years
- Speaker Marcellino Pipite: 3 years
- Foreign minister Serge Vohor: 3 years
- Lands minister Paul Telukluk: 3 years
- Public works minister Tony Nari: 3.5 years
- Youth and sports minister Tony Wright: 3 years
- Climate change minister Thomas Laken: 3 years
- Sebastien Harry, Jonas James, John Amos, Steven Kalsakau, Silas Yatan, Arnold Prasad, Jean Yvees Chabot: 3 years
- Finance minister Willie Jimmy: 20 months suspended following guilty plea.
It is interesting that in Vanuatu bribing fellow MP's to influence their capacity as public officials is a crime. Carcasses had made illegal payments of 35 million Vatu (US$452,000) to his colleague politicians when they were in the opposition.
Upon sentencing, Justice Sey said those who “occupy a position of trust or authority can expect to be treated severely by the criminal law”.
“Furthermore, where an offence involves a breach of trust, the court regards it as a significant aggravating factor,” she said.
Justice Sey called “bribery a cancer and denounced the politicians’ actions”.
Others elsewhere may call a government that investigates itself, obstructs justice, ignores the compelling evidence of alleged wrongdoings, protects allegedly culpable colleagues, spin lies and punishes those who expose wrongdoings ‘a sick joke’.
STEVE OH is the author of the novel ‘Tiger King of the Golden Jungle’ and composer of the musical of the same title. He believes in good governance and morally upright leaders. -Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.