Pakatan Harapan has unveiled a five-point anti-corruption manifesto, vowing to make Malaysia among the 10 “cleanest” nations in the world by the year 2030.
- MACC answerable to Parliament not PM, power to prosecute
- Funding given to party, not politicians
- Amend laws to enhance transparency in GLCs
- Open and online tender system for government contracts
- Promote anti-corruption culture, enhance punishment for corruption for giver and taker
The measures the Opposition alliance would take to curb graft should they win GE14 were revealed by Pakatan chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the Opposition’s office in Parliament on Tuesday.
Top of the list would be a revamp of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to make it answerable to Parliament and granting it power to prosecute.
“The MACC should be an independent body and it should be responsible to Parliament and not the Prime Minister,” said Mahathir.
He also said it would go after “all corrupted individuals” within the alliance’s first 100 days in office.
Second on the agenda would be “reforming political funding”.
“Funding will be given to the party and not to politicians. Each donor is limited to giving RM200,000 a year. Every additional RM10,000 will be recorded.
“The funding cannot be given by GLCs (government-linked companies) and any company that has a contract with the government.
“Each party must produce a yearly funding report and send it to the auditor-general who is tasked to report it to Parliament.”
Another measure would be enhancing transparency in the country.
“We will amend laws to ensure transparency is advanced.
“We will formulate freedom of information laws to ensure transparency in the administration of GLCs.
“All MPs and government employees on Grade Jusa C (salary scale) and above will have to declare their assets to Parliament.”
Those on Jusa C include ministry deputy secretaries-general and state directors.
The fourth core step would be to have an open tender system and to use technology to curb corruption.
“We will use the E-Perolehan and E-Bidaan system for all government contracts for ministries and government departments.
“All the tenders will be open and online and can be accessed easily by the public.”
The last step would be to promote an anti-corruption culture in society.
“We will use ISO 37001 (Anti-Corruption Management System) to manage government bodies and review rewards given to government employees for helping to curb corruption.
“We will also enhance the punishment for corruption for both those who give and take,” Mahathir said.