All lawmakers, public officials should declare assets in full - TI-M

The asset declarations made by Pakatan Harapan lawmakers thus far have been unsatisfactory, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Akhbar Satar said today.

Speaking at a conference to announce Malaysia's ranking on the 2018 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in Kuala Lumpur, Akhbar urged Harapan to take a cue from the full asset declarations of the Penang goverment.

“The rakyat is not happy, because the website (MACC's Asset Declaration Portal) only shows the total amount of assets and their salaries," he noted.

"Maybe this is the first step, and we hope we can improve from time to time.

“We have to follow in the good footsteps of Penang, where the assemblypersons declared their full assets on the website. What they declared is not just their allowances or salaries, they put up all the documents.”

In 2011, all Penang exco members declared their assets. Two years later, the state government decided that all assemblypersons should make public the value of their properties, vehicles, investments and fixed deposits.

He noted, however, that the Harapan administration has at least made a good start with the prime minister making an asset declaration for the first time in the country's history. 

“At the moment, I am quite proud to say that, after waiting for so many years, this is the first time the prime minister, ministers and politicians declared their assets to the MACC.”

Manifesto pledge

Akhbar added that compelling all lawmakers declare their assets will allow the MACC to detect "red flags."

According to the graft-busting agency's Asset Declaration Portal, nine Harapan MPs have yet to declare their assets. 

Akhbar cautioned if this remains unaddressed, Harapan could be negatively impacted in the next general election.

“For those Harapan MPs who haven’t declared their assets, this is your promise in your manifesto, but you have not complied. 

"The possibility of you winning the next election is in question. The rakyat is smart now, even people in the kampung have smartphones and they know their rights. 

“There may be a few reasons that you do not want to declare. Number one is you have too much money, and number two you are not sure which is yours and which is not,” he quipped.

Akhbar also suggested that the government should also make asset declaration mandatory for opposition lawmakers, and for top officials – such as the inspector-general of police, attorney-general and the MACC chief commissioner.

In the CPI rankings released today, Malaysia again scored 47 points, but saw itself move up a spot to 61 of 180 countries.

The ranking puts Malaysia third among Southeast Asian countries on the index, behind Singapore and Brunei. - Mkini