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DAP welcomes Cabinet decision to ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption  in Mexico next week and calls on  Malaysia to be the first country in the world to establish  a National Commission on UN Convention Against Corruption  with political party  and  civil society representation to implement the Convention  principles of zero tolerance for corruption Media Statement by Lim Kit Siang (Penang,  Thursday): DAP welcomes the Cabinet decision to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in Mexico next week and calls on Malaysia to be the first country in the world to establish  a National Commission on UN Convention Against Corruption  with political party  and  civil society representation to implement the Convention  principles of zero tolerance for corruption.  The Cabinet stand was announced by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the 4th Regional Anti-Corruption Conference for Asia and the Pacific in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.  Malaysia’s accession to the UN Convention Against Corruption, the first international instrument to combat corruption,  promote integrity, ethical conduct and good public and private governance and the criminalization  of bribery, is  a step in the right direction and DAP commends Abdullah for his continued personal commitment to fight corruption since becoming Prime Minister on November 1.  Abdullah is right when he said that the fight against corruption should take a “systems-wide approach” that includes the family and education system, but he should be open to views, ideas and even criticisms that such a proper systemic approach should not   be an excuse for not taking immediate,  strong and effective actions to fight corruption at all levels in our society.  In my media statement of 20th November 2003 calling  on Abdullah to state whether the Malaysian government would give full support to the UN Convention Against Corruption and will be one of the signatory countries at the High-Level Political Conference for the purpose of Signing the UN Convention Against Corruption in Merida, Mexico on December 9-11, 2003, I had also proposed that  Malaysia should  use its position and influence as Chair of both the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and OIC (Conference of Islamic Organisation) to ensure that the majority of the member states of these two global movements  would  sign  the Convention next week so that it could immediately come into force.  Malaysia should also become the first country in the world to establish a  National Commission on UN Convention Against Corruption  with political party  and  civil society representation to implement the Convention  principles of zero tolerance for corruption, as a study of the Convention will show that Malaysia falls far short of its principles and provisions.  This is understandable as otherwise, Malaysia’s international ranking on the Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) would not be so dismal, currently at the lowest 37th placing. The UN Convention Against Corruption has rightly pointed out that corruption undermines the legitimacy of public institutions and strikes at society, moral order and justice as well as at the comprehensive development of peoples; and  the need to enhance accountability and transparency especially as globalization of the world’s economies has led to a situation where corruption is no longer a local matter but a transnational phenomenon.  The UN Convention Against Corruption commits every signatory nation to implement effective policies and best practices to prevent corruption including protection for whistleblowers; ensure the existence of meaningful anti-corruption agencies and a public service based on principles of efficiency, transparency and objective criteria such as merit, equity and aptitude.  Malaysia will have to undergo  a major reform of government in  policies and practices to meet the principles and standards set in the UN Convention Against Corruption and be in the international forefront in the fight against corruption so that the country can be universally recognized as one of the world’s ten least corrupt nations.   Abdullah announced two other anti-corruption initiatives yesterday: firstly, a RM17 million allocation to establish an academy to train anti-corruption officers which will also become a regional centre for the development of anti-graft measures and will be under the purview of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).  There is no objection to  Malaysia hosting  a regional centre for training anti-corruption officers, but it would have been better if Malaysia had been able to establish an impeccable anti-corruption record, and not slipping down the Transparency International’s annual CPI from the lowly 23rd position in 1995 to the dismal 37th position in 2003.  What has Malaysia, for instance, to teach Singapore about fighting corruption, when the island republic had been consistently placed among the world’s ten least corrupt nations in the Transparency International  CPI in the past nine years, as shown by the following comparative  rankings: Malaysia and Singapore – TI  CPI Ranking from 1995 – 2003:                  1995   1996   1997   1998   1999   2000   2001   2002   2003 Malaysia       23       26      32       29      32      36      36      33      37 Singapore      3         7        9        7        7        6        4       5        5 Hong Kong    17       18      18       16      15       15      14      14      14 Although Malaysia has a better Transparency International  CPI 2003  ranking for 133 countries  than other Southeast Asian countries, like Thailand (No. 70), Philippines (No. 92), Vietnam (No. 100),  Indonesia (No. 122) and Myanmar (No. 129), Malaysia is not only behind Singapore but also Hong Kong (No. 14). Malaysia  would have a higher moral ground to host such a regional centre for anti-corruption officers if we have been improving on our initial 23rd ranking on the Transparency International  CPI instead of regressing for the past nine years. Abdullah next announced the National Institute for Public Ethics which would also formulate and implement a National Integrity Plan.  However, both these initiatives cannot be substitute for political will and full commitment by the government to fight corruption by establishing  a new culture of zero tolerance for corruption. The  Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), for instance,  cannot on its own improve the country’s  human rights record without the full support and commitment of the government and society, and this is why Malaysia is  placed 104th out of 166 countries in the second worldwide press freedom index of Reporters sans Frontiers in October this year four years after the establishment of Suhakam. Similarly, the National Institute for Public Ethics and a National Integrity Plan cannot on their own  improve Malaysia’s ranking as a clean and incorruptible nation if the government has no  political will to declare an all-out war against corruption, which must be manifested now and not some time in the indefinite future. Two current issues raise concerns about whether there is the political will to go beyond tokenism and symbolism to effect systemic changes to wage  an all-out war against corruption and all forms of malpractices and abuses of power: The  unresolved  first test for Abdullah in the award of the RM14.5 billion electrified double tracking rail project, the country's single largest privatized construction project, to latecomer Malaysia  Mining Corporation Bhd -Gamuda consortium (MMC-Gamuda JV) in utter disregard of the  interests of fair play, competitive pricing, transparency and integrity and Malaysia’s long-term economic relationships with China and India – as well as the principles of the UN Convention Against Corruption on transparent and competitive “public procurement and public financial management”; The penalty faced by “whistleblower”, former Kuala Lumpur Deputy Fire and Rescue Services Department deputy chief, Mohd Ali Tambi Chik, on alleged corruption and abuse of power by the department’s director-general Jaafar Sidek Tambi in relation to use of department personnel and facilities to organize lavish wedding receptions for his son.  Mohd Ali, 48, was told last month by the Public Services Department to go on early retirement from Dec 1 for his pains as a “whistleblower”, raising  questions about the professionalism and independence of ACA as well as  contravening  the UN Convention Against Corruption providing protection to  whistleblowers. Abdullah should give personal and urgent attention to these two cases to  take prompt and effective remedial actions to ensure that his pledge of a “clean, incorruptible, modest and beyond suspicion government” as well as Malaysia’s ratification of the UN Convention Against Corruption in Mexico next month would not suffer in  credibility  because of such conflicting and contradictory developments. (4/12/2003) * Lim Kit Siang, DAP National Chairman