Malaysia has scored a "D" grade on Transparency International's government defence integrity index (GDI) for 2020 which studies the efforts to curb graft in defence and security institutions in 77 countries.
According to TI's Malaysia chapter (TI-M), the study found that Malaysia had poor legislative oversight over budget, low competitive bidding for procurement, lacks an independent ombudsman and lack of data transparency.
In a statement, TI-M said Malaysia's defence sector is an opaque area of government activity where a published defence budget provides only a general outline rather than a comprehensive breakdown of expenditure across functions.
"We urge the government to seriously look at the high risks of corruption in the defence sector and take measures to mitigate the situation," said TI-M president Muhammad Mohan.
Muhammad said the government should make full disclosures on the procurement of the Littoral Combat Ships and the McDonnell MD503G helicopters, which has long been delayed.
"Demonstrating transparency and having accountability in these two cases would show that the government is serious about good governance in the defence sector," he said.
The "D" puts Malaysia in the company of Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Botswana, Chile, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Kenya, Kosovo, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Tunisia, Uganda and Ukraine.
A "D" grade suggests that the country is at a "high" risk of corruption in the defence and security sector.
Malaysia is behind regional neighbours such as the Philippines and Singapore which were given the "C" grade (moderate risk of corruption), while Taiwan is the only one in the Asia-Pacific region which received the "B" grade (low risk). - Mkini
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