Liow and Mah seem to have an unwritten agreement with Hadi that they will not rock Najib’s boat and will not raise any issue about the 1MDB money-laundering scandal even if Malaysia is known as a global kleptocracy

I can report that in the second day of my 72-hour proposal to MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and the Gerakan President Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong for a separate or joint meeting to discuss how we can co-operate in the larger national interests to save Malaysia from a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, I have received no contact from either one of them.

I have also received no response from Datuk Seri Hadi Awang to my statement in Penang on Sunday during my “Jelajah Desa” at Sungai Gelugor in Penang that I am prepared to co-operate with the PAS President to save Malaysia from becoming a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state – apart from negative statements from his subordinates in PAS.

It would appear that Liow and Mah have an unwritten agreement with Hadi that they will not rock the boat of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and will not raise any issue or question about the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal even if Malaysia is as a result regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

Am I wrong? We will know when my 72-hour offer to Liow and Mah expires at noon tomorrow!

Actually, there is no better time than now for all the political leaders, whether in government or opposition, to demonstrate their patriotism and love of the country by uniting on a common national agenda to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, especially with the release of the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2016 in Berlin yesterday which showed that Malaysia is hurtling downwards in a unchecked decline in national and international perceptions about integrity, good governance and the war against corruption.

Malaysians are shocked although they should not be surprised that the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of integrity, Datuk Paul Low immediately sought to “white-wash” Malaysia’s decline in both ranking and score of the TI CPI 2016.

Low said the one-point drop in Malaysia’s CPI 2016 score, from 50 out of 100 in 2015 to 49 is “marginal” and “not significant”. Malaysia’s ranking in the TI CPI 2016 also dropped one position from 54th in 2015 to 55th in 2016.

Let me remind Low that when he abandoned Transparency International Malaysia to join Najib’s cabinet after the May 2013 General Election, Malaysia was ranked No. 54 with a score of 49 out of 100 in the TI CPI 2012.

When Malaysia improved its ranking from 54th to 53rd position in the TI CPI 2013, his Cabinet colleague and the then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and CEO of Performance Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu), Datuk Seri Idris Jala was ecstatic and declared that Pemandu was aiming for Malaysia to be in the top 30 by 2020.

Now Malaysia has slipped down to No. 55, and the goal of Malaysia to be in top 30 countries in TI CPI is no where in sight.

Furthermore, Low was completely oblivious of the adverse commentary in the TI CPI about the corruption problem in Asia-Pacific and Malaysia.

When the report described the corruption woes in Asia-Pacific, it was describing Malaysia’s plight, viz:

“The majority of Asia Pacific countries sit in the bottom half of the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016. 19 out of 30 countries in the region scored 40 or less out of 100.

“Poor performance can be attributed to unaccountable governments, lack of oversight, insecurity and shrinking space for civil society, pushing anti-corruption action to the margins in those countries. High-profile corruption scandals, in addition to everyday corruption issues, continue to undermine public trust in government, the benefits of democracy and the rule of law.”

For Malaysia in particular, the TI CPI 2016 report has this to say:

“Malaysia’s Prime Minister has long been embroiled in the 1MBD corruption scandal with an unexplainable US$700 million in his personal bank account, contributing to the country's lacklustre score of 49 out of 100. The Prime Minister’s deficient response, and what role this will play in upcoming elections, is something to watch in 2017.”

Any comment from Low on this TI CPI 2016 commentary?

Yesterday, the Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Akhbar Satar made an unfounded and unsolicited attack on politicians when commenting on the TI CPI 2016, saying that “All politicians corrupt, so choose the less corrupt” – asking Malaysians to choose between the lesser of two evils in the upcoming general elections.

Najib and the Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders may not be offended by Akhbar’s remarks but DAP leaders and I are extremely outraged and offended by such a baseless and unfounded statement.

Akhbar should know better, especially as two of his predecessors as President of TI-M are walking disgraces to the cause of public integrity, good governance and battle against corruption. If he has any proof of corruption of Opposition politicians, produce the evidence but do not make baseless and sweeping generalisations.

This bring me back to the imperative need for all political leaders to commit themselves to the common national cause to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state.

The eighth consecutive year of the Najib premiership (2009 – 2016) has registered a lower TI CPI ranking than under the two previous Prime Ministers, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah as illustrated by the following chart of TI CPI 1995 – 2016:

The TI CPI 2016 is the latest proof that corruption is worse now than during Mahathir’s 22 years as Prime Minister and Abdullah’s five years as Prime Minister!

Together with Malaysia ascending to the world’s top 20, if not top ten, as a global kleptocracy because of the “1MDB corruption scandal” (TI CPI 2016 report), the new TI CPI 2016 report furnishes a new potent reason for my preparedness to work with Najib, Liow, Mah, Hadi and others to save Malaysia from a global kleptocracy and a rogue and failed state.

We will know by noon tomorrow whether they are capable of rising to the occasion to be patriots who love Malaysia more than themselves or even their political parties.