The GTP is delivering results
By Ravindran Devagunam, NKRA Director via The Sun
We refer to the survey released by Transparency International on the Corruption Perception Index and the Corruption Barometer last Thursday.
The Corruption NKRA is one of seven NKRAs identified by the government. In the 24 months since the GTP (Government Transformation Programme) was implemented, Malaysia has recorded outcomes that have impacted the rakyat positively across the NKRAs of reducing crime, improving urban public transport, rural basic infrastructure, improving student outcomes and rural basic infrastructure.
In July, the government announced a new NKRA to manage the cost of living, with cash aid and book vouchers as initial initiatives for families with schoolchildren.
We are under no illusion that the Corruption NKRA is a challenge but it is a challenge we are not backing down from. We should be mindful that the CPI reflects only one area of corruption, in this case Grand Corruption. It is not a measure of the entire Corruption NKRA and definitely not of the GTP on the whole.
A large focus of the media has been on the Corruption Perception Index in which Malaysia’s score dipped from 4.4 last year to 4.3 this year. However, little has been said about the Corruption Barometer, a public survey announced on the same day by TI.
The Corruption Barometer (CB) measures the perception of the public on the government’s efforts to fight corruption. Forty-nine per cent answered that they felt that the government’s efforts were effective.
This shows there has been an increase from 48% in the previous year when the Corruption NKRA was introduced. In that sense the momentum was not only maintained but showed that the Corruption NKRA proved effective, as the CB was only rated at 28% in 2009.
This also shows that public perception towards petty corruption, efforts and initiatives implemented last year and this year are being felt and acknowledged by the public.
Some of the deterrent measures such as the Name and Shame Database, the Whistleblower Protection Act and the establishment of compliance units within the five key enforcement agencies are building blocks that have contributed to the positive sway.
As with the Whistleblower Protection Act, enforcement agencies have begun to receive reports and compliance units run integrity testing on all their officers to ensure the highest standards of ethics and integrity.
The total score of 4.3 in 2011 is accumulated from 12 surveys, which is three more surveys done in comparison to nine last year. The three are the Political Risk Services Country Guide, the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index and TI’s Bribe Payer Index (BPI).
Benchmarking against the nine surveys of last year, Malaysia has increased its scores in five of the key surveys this year. Among which, the PERC Asian Intelligence Survey, Malaysia increased from 3.5 to 4.5. There was also an increase from 4.7 to 5.7 in the WEF Executive Opinion Survey. The Bertelsmann Transformation Index saw an increase from 4.5 to 4.6 this year.
Of the new surveys, the BPI is a survey introduced this year and done to measure the propensity of Malaysians to paying bribes to parties outside Malaysia. It is also the only one conducted among 28 countries instead of all the countries that have been ranked in the CPI.
Given that the CPI ranking is made up of an average score across all surveys conducted, the 28 countries in which had the BPI would naturally be impacted either positively or negatively.
The component that was used in the overall CPI was the perception of the businessmen surveyed of corruption in this country. Therefore, we do understand why TI has chosen the BPI and we accept their decision but we also have to examine all the other surveys to gauge our progress.
In 2010 and 2011, we put in place basic building blocks to effectively address the issue of petty corruption. As shown by the CB, there was a slight increase over last year’s rating.
We realise, however, a lot more focus is needed on the initiatives to combat grand corruption. If anything, the CPI has shown that we need to address Grand Corruption as it impedes our overall CPI scoring.
This requires institutional and structural reforms. The government recognises this and the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) is putting in place a transformation programme, which among other things aims to strengthen its forensic investigative capabilities.
We plan to also put more effort on delivering initiatives such as introducing a transparent consultation process for new laws as well as political financing. We are studying the details of the CPI report and we will continue to work with TI, MACC and other agencies to make required improvements.
The TI’s Bribe Payer Index is an interesting survey as it focuses on the giver, instead of the receiver. When the giving stops, the taking stops.
