Never-ending cases of abuse of power and corruption

 

From Moaz Nair

Politicians and those vested with authority should stop pulling wool over the people’s eyes in terms of abuse of power and widespread corrupt practices at all levels of society.

When wrongdoers are revered like heroes, we see a symptom of societal decadence. When religious hypocrites consider a clampdown on corruption as not being an integral part of their faith, they will surely invite more people to become wrongdoers.

A report says that bribery and corruption are held to be acceptable among almost half of all workers in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) region and India. Corruption has cost developing countries US$1.26 trillion every year, and yet half of EMEA workers think it’s acceptable.

It seems like abuse of power and corruption are intensifying, affecting virtually every facet of people’s lives.

A corrupt nation usually has an extremely weak institutional setup and this can be due to those vested with authority not taking the issue of corruption seriously. What more if the anti-graft agency itself becomes dysfunctional due to lack of integrity and political interference.

The MACC

Of late, the reputation of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been stained. It only took a few from among the MACC personnel exposed by the press for wrongdoing to make the public lose faith in the credibility, integrity, professionalism and independence of the agency.

As reported, a senior officer was accused of misappropriating US$6.4 million (RM25.1 million) seized by the commission four years ago. He was accused of criminal breach of trust with monies entrusted to him at the MACC special action branch chief’s room in 2019. The officer in the theft case was also probed for drugs.

Two MACC officers were arrested in connection with a heist at a businessman’s house involving RM700,000. Before that, two other MACC personnel were arrested and remanded over the case.

The MACC’s senior-most officer is under investigation by the Securities Commission for his statement that his brother had used his name to purchase shares in 2015.

To salvage this negative impression of the institution, for better accountability and to ensure the autonomy of the agency to function with independence and integrity, MACC should not come under the Prime Minister’s Department but should be an institution answerable to Parliament where it could be scrutinised by a bipartisan parliamentary select committee.

The MACC, as the bastion of hope for a corruption-free nation, must be staffed with personnel with high integrity and not those subservient to politicians or those drowning in personal interests.

MACC personnel can be asked to appear before the parliamentary committee to explain any controversies facing the agency, their actions or their failures to act in battling corruption. Such a move will allow MPs to voice their discontent on issues raised by the public. This is necessary to preserve the good name of the agency.

Putting MACC under the scrutiny of the parliamentary committee will also help the commission to conduct its investigations into any public official without fear or favour.

In fact, the authority of both the national audit department and the MACC should be off-limits to the prime minister. The empowering of Parliament and limiting the power of the prime minister over these two main agencies is vital in fighting corruption and the abuse of power.

Besides that, the MACC with officials of high integrity, competence and impartiality should be given a free hand to independently investigate and prosecute its cases without recourse to the office of the attorney-general. The country seriously needs reform to this effect.

Downplaying corruption

The public impression today is that corruption is taking place at all levels of society in the country. This is disconcerting to the minds of those who rely on the integrity of their leaders and the very institutions set up to curb the wrongdoings. They are no more oblivious to the fact that the abuse of power and corruption will lead to the disintegrating of the country.

Those “fearing God” feel that corruption has become a plague of crime to the people fermenting their hatred more for those vested with authority. They may have the view that religious doctrines can help rein in corruption better in the country but again corruption among the religious fraternity is not something new.

They are also corrupting the minds of their followers into believing what they promulgate – right or wrong. When politicians with religious credentials are themselves involved in corrupt activities and turn a blind eye to corruption, this is just unthinkable.

For instance, a leader of a religious-based political party downplayed the issue of corruption, redefining the term from his religious perspective and sending an ambiguous signal that “givers not for personal purposes whether individuals or the general public should not be included in the meaning of corruption” by religion.

Short of defining the meaning of “personal purposes” a statement of this nature will send a wrong signal to the corrupt.

Using theological precepts alone is inadequate when it comes to good governance. Mere lip service to religion and its precepts is not going to put a stop to corrupt practices.

Society has to be based more on the moral foundation of humanity – sturdy principles, integrity, transparency and accountability. Stricter laws on offenders must be put in place. This is the recipe for success in bringing down corruption.

Distrust of politicians

The list of the world’s 10 least corrupt countries has remained virtually unchanged for the past 10 years with Finland, Iceland and New Zealand tied for the lead, followed closely by Denmark, Singapore and Sweden. These countries do not spend billions to promote religious doctrines to make them thus.

The people may be exposed to political and religious rhetoric, dubious facts and statistics given by politicians and all these are being spun by the media to sound that “all is well” with the country.

The fact remains that all spheres of society are today affected in some way or another as corruption undermines political development, democracy, economic development, the environment, people’s health, education and so forth.

Trust and confidence in our institutions have worn out badly, hence leaders should deal with the abuse of power and corruption with stricter laws as it is going to be detrimental to society in the long run.

Ignore abuse of power and corruption and Malaysia will head towards the lowest ranking in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, the 2021 edition expected to be announced soon. This will deter more investors from investing in the country.

To an extent, public figures, whether political or government, have failed the people badly in terms of trust and integrity. There exists today a general feeling of pessimism among the people and a national feeling of doom and gloom. There is a growing distrust in politicians and those vested with authority.

Voters thus should be wise and be aware that voting for corrupt leaders would bring more misery and despondence. - FMT

Moaz Nair is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.