MACC vows 'serious attention' after poor corruption index score

 

The MACC has said it will pay serious attention to the country's two-year consecutive drop in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

In a statement today, the graft buster said it will review the findings of Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M), which released the 2021 index today, and come up with recommendations.

"MACC pays serious attention to the CPI score on Malaysia's ranking as announced by TI-M today. CPI 2021 shows Malaysia dropped (its score) to 48 from 51, which is a consecutive decline since 2019.

"We call on all parties to continue their cooperation and be in the same direction apart from having the political will to improve anti-corruption efforts in the country.

"MACC will review the finding of TI-M pertaining to the CPI 2021 score and will come up with suggestions in near future," MACC said.

Malaysia's score in the CPI has fallen for the second time in a row, dropping three points from last year’s report which resulted in a score of 48 out of 100.

In tandem with the drop in score, Malaysia also dropped five spots in CPI 2021, to the 62nd position out of 180 countries in terms of public sector corruption.

In 2019, the country saw a marked improvement in the CPI, increasing six points from the previous year to 53. This had been Malaysia’s highest score on the CPI since 2012.

According to the CPI 2021 report, a score of 100 means "very clean", while zero means "highly corrupt".

TI-M president Muhammad Mohan linked the country's drop in CPI score to stalled institutional reforms, with the last four governments lacking the political will to table the Political Financing Bill.

The proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill had also been watered down to an “ineffective” Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) Bill, while recommended reforms to MACC have not progressed since 2015.

There have also been acquittals with no clear clarifications in high-profile corruption cases as well as a lack of closure in the SRC International Bhd and 1MDB cases, according to him. - Mkini