PAS: Forget JITN, expedite political financing bill instead

PAS has questioned the need for the government to set up the National Integrity and Management Department (JITN).

PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said Minister in Prime Minister's Department, Paul Low, is better off expediting the Political Donations and Expenditure Act (PDEA) instead of trying to set up a new department.

Setting up a new government department is also at odds with the government's efforts to cut spending, Tuan Ibrahim said, even if it is only an upgrade for the existing Integrity and Good Governance Divison of the Prime Minister's Department.

"If the government has excess funds, PAS suggests that it is more beneficial to channel it towards increasing staff and allocations for the MACC, which is the main agency combating graft in the country.

"PAS views the proposal to set up the JITN, as approved by the cabinet on July 28, as a bid to control MACC, and this is a step backwards in the effort to ensure that MACC is a truly independent body.

"Forget JITN, Paul Low (photo). It is better if Low does something so that the cabinet would expedite the drafting of the PDEA. This Act is surely more helpful than JITN in eliminating graft," Tuan Ibrahim said in a statement last night.

Last Saturday, Low had said that JITN's focus will include administrative issues, delivery and governance, among others, as part of Putrajaya's Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

His explanation came after MACC chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad voiced opposition to the idea of setting up the JITN.

Low had also said that the PDEA, which would reform political financing laws in Malaysia, may be tabled in Parliament for its first reading next year.

Meanwhile, Tuan Ibrahim backed Dzulkifli's (photo) statement, saying that JITN has no role in either investigating graft or enforcing laws against it.

"Low's explanation regarding JITN's establishment is also vague. It is not clear what is its relationship with the GTP and efforts to combat corruption," he said.- Mkini