By Malaysiakini
Malaysia has dropped another four notches in the latest 2015 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking compared to the previous year, announced Transparency International’s Malaysia chapter today.
Chapter president Akhbar Satar said Malaysia ranked 50th among 175 countries in 2014 but dropped to 54th among 168 countries in 2015.
Besides that, Malaysia’s overall score slipped from 52 in 2014 to 50 in 2015, he said.
“Parts of the reasons (for the decline) are the 1MDB affair, the RM2.6 billion donation issue and the transfer of and raid on Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers,” he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.
Asked on attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali clearing Najib of any wrongdoing in the RM2.6 billion donation from the Saudi Arabian royal family and SRC International affairs, Akhbar refused to comment.
“Frankly speaking, the best answer is that you ask the AG himself. He knows the best.”
Pressed on whether TI-M was satisfied with Apandi’s decision, Akhtar again skirted the issue.
“I did not read the investigation papers and have no right to read it. I need to get the report and then comment,” he said.
Mohamed Apandi Ali
Yesterday, Apandi announced that Najib had not committed any offence with regard to the RM2.6 billion (US$681 million) donation and RM42 million from SRC International deposited into his personal bank accounts.
The top prosecutor further stated that Najib had returned US$620 million to Saudi Arabian royal family as this amount was not utilised. However, accounting for the remaining US$61 million is unclear.
On the worsening CPI ranking, Akhtar said Malaysia’s position could have been lower.
As Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Puerto Rico and St Vincent were excluded due to not meeting three minimum secondary sources for research, he said Malaysia was therefore ranked at 54.
‘Progressive transformation’
“Those five countries rank higher than Malaysia. If you put them into the ranking, Malaysia ranking will be between 59 to 60 instead of 54,” he said, adding that Malaysia ranking was based on eight international bodies’ secondary sources.
While Malaysia scored the second best among Asean countries with Singapore in top spot, Akhtar noted that Thailand and Indonesia made impressive jumps of nine and 19 notches respectively.
“This proves both nations are serious in tackling corruption.”
In an immediate response, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low said the government viewed TI-M’s report seriously.
“The government wishes to assure the public that progressive transformation to improve governance through structural changes and process reforms are ongoing, although many of these measures will only become increasingly visible to the public in the near future as their implementation progresses,” he said in a statement.
Low, a TI-M former chief, said the government also recognised there was also a pressing need to regulate political funding within the country, for which the National Consultative Committee on Political Financing had been specifically formed last year and was now undertaking a comprehensive review.
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