Will Perikatan Nasional (PN) sweep the six state polls on August 12 with a 6-0 score or will the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional coalition take over the Kedah state government on August 12?
We will know on August 12, but if there is a 6-0 win for the Perikatan Nasional it will be bad news for Malaysia for it will affect the programme for Malaysia to rise again and become a great world-class nation.
It will not topple the Anwar unity government in Parliament but it will affect adversely the project, interrupted by the Sheraton Move political conspiracy in February 2020, for Malaysia to rise again to become a great world-class nation, especially in the war against corruption.
In 2018, Malaysia was ranked No. 61 out of 180 countries in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) with a score of 47 out of 100 points.
In 2019, Malaysia was ranked No 53. out of 180 countries in the TI CPI with a score of 53 out of 100 points.
In 2020, Malaysia was ranked No.51 out of 180 countries in the TI CPI with a score of 57 out of 100 points.
In 2021, Malaysia was ranked No.62 out of 180 countries in the TI CPI with a score of 48 out of 100 points.
In 2022, Malaysia was ranked No 61 out of 180 countries in the TI CPI with a score of 47 out of 100 points.
Under the 22-month Pakatan Harapan government, Malaysia’s score of TI CPI improved by 10 points and its ranking improved by 10 places.
But it has taken the two “backdoor” governments of Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri only 21 months to revert back to Malaysia’s worst ranking and score in the TI CPI.
Under Muhyiddin Yasin as Prime Minister in 2020, Malaysia’s TI CPI ranking fell eleven places and its score fell by nine points.
Under Ismail Sabri as Prime Minister in 2021, Malaysia’s rank in the TI CPI 2022 improved by one place and the sore fell by one point.
What is in store for Malaysia in the 2023 TI CPI?
Under Ekonomi Madani project, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim targets Malaysia to be in the top 25 countries in the TI CPI.
If the Perikatan Nasional sweeps the six state polls with a 6 – 0 score, then Malaysia TI CPI will nosedive and China will overtake Malaysia before 2030.
But there is a bigger question.
Malaysia has lost out to five countries since the first annual TI CPI 1995 but will Malaysia lose out to another eight countries, including Indonesia, China and India by the end of this decade?
The 22-month Pakatan Harapan government achieved a notable turnaround and achieved the best in 25 years and it was ranked 51 out of 180 countries with a score of 53 out of 100 marks.
It embarked Malaysia on the road to become one of the world’s top 30 countries in public integrity before 2030 but this turnaround was not sustained by the two “backdoor” governments of Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri spawned by the Sheraton Move political conspiracy in February 2020, and we are down to the rank of 61 out of 180 countries with a score of 47 out of 100 marks in the TI CPI 2022.
From the 28-year series of the TI CPI, Malaysia will lose to another eight countries by the end of this decade if there is no buck-up in the anti-corruption fight, i.e. China, Hungary, India, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey.
In the second annual TI CPI 1996, which ranked 54 countries, Malaysia was the top country in the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), but in the TI CPI 2022, Malaysia had lost out to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Jordan.
By the end of this decades, the TI CPI trajectory will indicate Malaysia will lose out to another 10 OIC countries, viz Tunisia, Kuwait, Senegal, Bahrain, Maldives, Guyana, Morocco, Suriname, Indonesia and Turkey if there is no drastic turnaround on the anti-corruption front.
And Perikatan Nasional and Muhyiddin Yassin and Hadi Awang do not promise any corruption turnaround for Malaysia under their coalition.
This is one of the reasons why there must be a strong voter turnout on Polling Day on August 12 to vote for the PH-BN coalition to ensure that there is no 6-0 sweep in the six state polls in favour of Perikatan Nasional.