Walk the talk on combating corruption, Kit Siang tells PM

 

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang says Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim must produce results within a year through Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index.

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim must walk the talk in combating corruption and produce results within a year through Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI), says DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang.

Noting that it would be too late for Anwar to improve Malaysia’s CPI for 2022, Lim said the prime minister would have “no excuse” if he fails to improve the nation’s ranking for this year.

“This is one important area where Malaysia has suffered a severe national decline after six decades, with Malaysia falling from the top half of the globe to a lagging nation in Asia,” he said in a statement today.

Lim pointed out that Asian countries like Indonesia, China and India have been improving their rankings in the CPI, while Malaysia had been on the decline of late.

“Is Malaysia going to lose out to China, Indonesia and India in Transparency International’s CPI by 2030?” he asked.

The former MP said Anwar’s statement that he would not compromise in the fight against graft, even at the risk of his own position, was reassuring.

“The ministerial retreat next week and the parliamentary meeting next month should have more news about how Anwar proposes to end the nation’s decline on the anti-corruption front,” he said.

Malaysia’s global rank in Transparency International’s CPI had dropped five rungs in 2021, a stark contrast to the improvement seen after the 14th general election.

Malaysia ranked 62 out of 100 in the latest report – the lowest since the methodology was revised in 2012. In 2020, it had ranked 57, a slight decrease from 51 in 2019.- FMT