Why is the Prime Minister not taking the lead in the war against corruption?
The Yang di Pertuan Agong is taking the lead in the war against corruption.
He said yesterday that all religions denounced corruption, as it is a cancer that can ruin civilisations.
Citing the historic Malay chronicle “Sulalatus Al-Salatin”, he noted how the centuries-old Malacca sultanate was brought to its knees because of the Bendahara Maharaja's corrupt practices.
His Majesty urged all institutions of higher learning to instil honesty, trustworthiness and integrity in their students.
He said instilling these values must begin at school and be nurtured during tertiary education.
The question arises as to why the Prime Minister is not taking the lead in the war against corruption, showing no concern about Malaysia’s plunging performance in Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) with Malaysia likely to record next year both the worse score and ranking in three decades since the start of the annual TI CPI series in 1995.
The National Integrity Plan (2004-2008) to make Malaysia among the top 30 nations with the least corruption was a dismal failure in 2008, and the National Anti-Corruption Plan (2018-2023) is heading to a flop.
What is worse, the Ismail Sabri Cabinet is not setting an example of accountability, transparency and public integrity.
On 27th August 2021, Ismail Sabri announced his Cabinet of 31 Ministers and 39 deputy ministers, but 10 months later, only 29 Ministers and 32 deputy ministers have publicly declared their assets available on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) portal.
Can Ismail Sabri explain this, as well as why the six persons who have been conferred ministerial rank - Chairman of the National Recovery Council, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for Law and Human Rights and the four Special Envoys to the Middle East, the People’s Republic of China, East Asia and South Asia - have not declared their assets?
I have suggested that Parliament should initiate a new anti-corruption campaign in the next meeting of Parliament beginning on July 18, 2022. Does Ismail Sabri agree with the proposal?