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Parliament should respond to the King’s call for an all-out war against corruption by setting up a Select Committee Against Corruption headed by the Opposition to provide parliamentary leadership to the campaign so as not to be seen as a laggard in the anti-corruption drive   Media Statement by Lim Kit Siang (Penang, Sunday): The Yang di Pertuan Agong Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail has made one of the most exciting royal speeches in recent times when he called for a determined effort against the corrupt, irrespective of their rank or position in society.  Speaking at the investiture ceremony marking his official birthday, the King said the Government would treat all cases of corruption, whether they involved prominent personalities or unknowns, with equal vigour.  He said: “Corrupt practices, even though not rampant, should be fought to the end. My Government will continue its anti-corruption efforts strictly and transparently”. Parliament should respond to the King’s call for an all-out war against corruption by setting up a Select Committee Against Corruption headed by the Opposition to provide parliamentary leadership to the campaign so as not to be seen as a laggard in the anti-corruption drive.  Yesterday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also spoke about corruption in his interview with CNN’s Talk Asia programme, where he said  he would only be satisfied when  Malaysia’s corruption index has improved by leaps and bounds.  This reiteration of Abdullah’s election pledge to create a clean, incorruptible, efficient, trustworthy and people-oriented government, together with the King’s royal command  for an all-out war against corruption, should be  powerful wake-up calls  to all sectors of the Malaysian society to take a clear stand against corruption in all its forms.  This includes Parliament which in the past few decades, had completely failed to play any leadership or pro-active role to create a new culture of political integrity with zero tolerance for corruption.  In fact, in the past decade, no single Barisan Nasional MP had ever expressed concern about the lowly placing of Malaysia in the international corruption perception indices, especially the Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index which saw Malaysia’s ranking plunging from 23rd placing in 1995 to 37th placing last year!    When I was in Parliament from 1995 to 1999, I was the only Member of Parliament talking about TI’s Corruption Perception Index, and in the past five years, this concern had continued to be expressed by other DAP MPs in the last Parliament – but again with not a single Barisan Nasional MP showing any interest or concern!  In view of the King’s call and the Prime Minister’s CNN interview yesterday, I propose to meet tomorrow with the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Nazri Aziz, whose specific portfolio is parliamentary affairs,  to ask him to seek the agreement of  the Cabinet on Wednesday for the establishment of a Select Committee Against Corruption before the adjournment of the current Dewan Rakyat meeting on June 14.  It is most unfortunate and distressing  that the first three weeks of the 11th Parliament failed to communicate to Malaysians and the world the powerful message that there is now  a new-found political will on the part of the government and Parliament in an all-out war against corruption, because of three episodes:  The attempt by Nazri Aziz to explain away the “ another 18 high-profile corruption cases” disclosed by the then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim on February 13, 2004  after the arrest and the charging of former Perwaja Steel Bhd chief executive officer, Tan Sri Eric Chia and the former Land and Co-operative Development Minister, Tan Sri Kasitah Gaddam – as if the “another 18 high-profile corruption cases” have suddenly vanished into thin air. The denial of Barisan Nasional authorization and even knowledge of the multi-million ringgit series of “BN phantom election advertisements” in the Chinese newspapers, in particular those depicting Abdullah as “modern-day Justice Bao” to “cleanse” a  BN government which was “corrupt and rotten to the very core”.  This raises the question whether the Barisan Nasional government has lost all the anti-corruption fervour expressed during the election campaign. The lack of positive response to the proposal to establish a Select Committee on National Integrity to provide parliamentary leadership and support for Abdullah’s agenda of an all-out war against corruption. Parliament should rise up to the occasion to  respond to the King’s call and the Prime Minister’s CNN interview underlining  the seriousness of the national  commitment against corruption by setting up a Select Committee Against Corruption to place Parliament at the very forefront in the national campaign against corruption. (5/6/2004) * Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Member of Parliament for Ipoh Timor & DAP National Chairman