May 19, 2021 (PN)
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), on May 19 2021, announced that 29 out of the 115 initiatives in the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) 2019-2023 have been completed with 86 initiatives still in progress, as of December 31 last year.
MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Azam Baki said that among the completed NACP initiatives are the introduction of asset declarations for administrator members and improvements to the policy on gifts, allowances and payments to administrative members.
The NACP’s goals of reforms include:
- Accountability and Credibility of the Judiciary, Prosecution and Law Enforcement Agencies;
- Efficiency and Responsiveness in Public Service Delivery; and
- Integrity in Business.
In May 2021, the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC), Prime Minister’s Department published a Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the NACP (May 2021) to document the progress made so far.
The following table shows some of the achievements marked in the report:
The table above, overall, showed marginal, or rather, insignificant progress to the main objectives outlined by the NACP with ‘Integrity in Business’ declining one spot to the 5th place in 2020 from 2019’s 4th place in Asian Corporate Governance Association’s (ACGA) Corporate Governance Watch 2020 Report.
Guided by international standards indices and measurables, the achievements (or the lack of) in both 2019 and 2020 may likely be attributed to the country’s operating environment at the time of evaluation i.e: the political situation and Covid-19 pandemic, among others.
Based on the MTR ‘Statement of Commitment, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government under Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, revealed that focus had been placed on recovering the country’s economy which has been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic whilst reassuring its commitment towards improving governance and integrity according to the Plan despite the change of government.
On top of earlier objectives proposed by the NACP upon its 2019 introduction, 12 additional initiatives were introduced during PN’s administration as listed in the MTR (May 2021).
Some of the new initiatives (considered critical) included, among others:
- To strengthen the elements of human governance, integrity and anti-corruption in continuing professional development programmes implemented by relevant Regulatory Agency for Statutory Bodies, Government Interest Company (GIC) and Government Established Company Limited By Guarantee (CLBG) and private sector. *Note: This new initiative is a combination of the initial initiative 2.4.14 and 6.2.2 in NACP 2019-2023.
- To introduce mechanism in vetting contractors’ registration and renewal in terms of capability, based on the contractors’ applied registered class.
- To impose tender bond/tender deposit as an additional mechanism to gauge contractors’ financial capability for Facilities Management and Maintenance (FMM) projects worth exceeding RM 10 million and selected prestigious, complex projects and projects that are related to national security as identified by the implementing agency.
- Undertaking a study on enacting new legislation on political funding contributions.
- Empowering Local Authorities through amendments of the Local Government Act 1976 (Act 171).
- To improve the provisions in the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 (Act 711).
- To issue a Prime Minister’s Directive in implementing integrity vetting requirement as a selection criterion for top management positions and to govern disclosure of conflict of interest as well as efficiency and transparency in Statutory Bodies, Government—Interest Company (GIC) and Government Established Company Limited By Guarantee (CLBG). *Note: This new initiative is a combination of the initial initiative 6.1.1 and 6.2.5 in NACP 2019-2023.
- To promote, develop and provide training for the implementation of Adequate Procedures in accordance with Section 17A (5) (Corporate Liability) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (Act 694) by commercial organisations.
The Government has mandated the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC) to monitor and evaluate the implementation of initiatives by various lead agencies designated under the Report.
Nonetheless, the current political crisis and upheaval in Malaysia have caused any concrete progress of the policies being mooted to fall behind. Whether or not the goals can be achieved by 2023 as targeted by the NACP, is a cause for concern.
As it is, a severe lack of public confidence towards the government remains to be one of the main obstacles facing the country as it fights to eliminate corruption and strives for good governance across the board in all areas of public and private sectors.
In light of the current political crisis, the continuing trend of slow-moving progress for reforms to the country’s decades’ old laws, institutional and statutory bodies seem to be the common sentiment of the day.
In the meantime, the question remains: Is Malaysia’s National Anti-Corruption Plan – real or cosmetic?
Related news:
NACP 2019-2023: MACC has completed 29 out of 115 initiatives – Azam Baki