LETTER | Anwar should quickly walk the talk on corruption

LETTER | As our new prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, pledged to fight corruption, there is a need to strengthen laws against corruption, abuse of power, and even money laundering.

It is common for any prime minister and political party to take a position against corruption and abuse of power, but what they then do is more important.

Abolishing compounds for money laundering, corruption offences

Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) calls for the abolition of compounds for corruption and related offences, including offences under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla). These are serious offences, more so when it involves ministers and politicians.

Section 92 of Amla now sadly allows for all offences in this Act to be compounded.

It states, “…(1) The competent authority or relevant enforcement agency, as the case may be, may, with the consent of the public prosecutor, compound any offence under this Act or under regulations made under this Act, by accepting from the person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence such amount not exceeding fifty per centum of the amount of the maximum fine for that offence… to which that person would have been liable if he had been convicted of the offence…’

Such offences should be dealt with by the court, not by the finance minister or the minister-appointed authority or enforcement agency.

The decisions with regard compound are now administrative decisions of the minister or enforcement agency, not judicial decisions. It puts “pressure” on ministers, especially when it comes to a fellow party or coalition member.

Any accused, after being charged in court, can always plead guilty, and this plea will mitigate the sentence imposed. It is best when such accused, especially ministers and politicians, are dealt with by an independent judiciary.

The effect of an offer, and the acceptance, of a compound means an end of investigation and thereafter “…no prosecution shall be instituted in respect of the offence against the person to whom the offer to compound was made…” (Section 92(4) of Amla).

Avoiding trials and convictions via compounds

When it comes to sitting members of Parliament and/or senators, it must be noted that Article 48 of the Federal Constitution states that an MP or senator will be disqualified if “(e) he has been convicted of an offence by a court of law in the Federation (or, before Malaysia Day, in the territories comprised in the state of Sabah or Sarawak or in Singapore) and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year or to a fine of not less than RM2,000 and has not received a pardon…”. There is nothing said about compounds.

Thus, the administrative compound can wrongly be used to prevent a fellow politician from being charged, tried, convicted, and sentenced in court, thus saving current or future MPs or senators from being disqualified by reason of conviction, as is now provided in Malaysia’s Constitution.

It is reasonable to say that, generally, no innocent person would accept a compound offer and pay the stipulated amount, more so when it is a large sum. An innocent person would rather go to court to prove his/her innocence than “admit guilt” by accepting a compound offer.

For small offences, a person may choose to pay the small compound to save time and effort in having to go to court.

The availability of compounds for small offences like road traffic offences and violation of MCO requirement may be acceptable, but compounds should not be available for Amla offences, corruption, abuse of power offences and some other offences like occupational safety and health. Charge them and let courts decide.

On Sept 21 this year, then Pontian member of Parliament (MP) Ahmad Maslan was acquitted of charges of money laundering and giving a false statement after he agreed to pay a compound of RM1.1 million.

The oddity in this case was that he had already been charged when the compound offer was taken up. The prosecution will generally never charge any person unless they are confident that they can prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

When this happened, Ahmad not only escaped a trial,  but also the risk of conviction and potential disqualification as an MP/senator. He also obtained protection from being further investigated, and charged for the same offence ever again.

Sadly, Ahmad can be said to have also missed the opportunity to prove himself innocent in court. Doubts will remain in many minds.

Deterring corruption by PM and cabinet

At present, there are no laws or regulations that govern the conduct and discipline of the prime minister and cabinet members. Though cabinet members are public officers, they are excluded from disciplinary provisions that apply to Malaysian public officers.

Therefore, Madpet proposed that Malaysia’s new government extend the application of the Public Officers (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993 to also include members of the cabinet and maybe even MPs. Alternatively, a new law can also be drafted.

Regulations in the civil service even deal with “presents”, stating that a public officer “…shall not receive or give nor shall he allow his spouse or any other person to receive or give on his behalf any present, whether in a tangible form or otherwise, from or to any person, association, body, or group of persons if the receipt or giving of such present is in any way connected, either directly or indirectly, with his official duties…”. There are many provisions in the regulations that will deter corrupt practice.

It would be best if members of the cabinet or even MPs are also governed by such regulations. Or better yet, new laws which will also deter corrupt practices and keep our cabinet members clean.

Following former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s conviction for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 millions, crimes that were committed in office, trust in the prime minister and members of cabinet have diminished.

This trust will need to be restored and we need laws and regulations that will deter such crimes in the future.

Corruption and abuse of power

When a person or a corporation contesting for a government contract/project, pays money or provides benefits to a minister or a person with the power to decide or influence contract awarding, before or after the awarding of the tender, it is corrupt practice.

It should not matter whether the money or benefits flows directly into the said politician/public officer’s pocket or to his/her family members, his/her related “political funds”, or political party, NGOs, or charities which has links with the said politician or public servant. It is still corruption.

We are fed up of hearing politicians argue that the money taken were not for themselves but for political funding or charity.

Annual asset declaration

A law on regular asset declaration that provides for regular, preferable every year, is needed. Asset declaration is not for the public to know how rich or poor a minister or MP is but really is a means for the public to be sure that the said MP or minister did not use his/her position power to accumulate wealth wrongly.

This can only be done by comparing subsequent declarations with the first one that was made immediately when he/she gets elected/appointed.

It is sad that previous governments did not understand the reason behind asset declarations and chose to only require one asset declaration, making it impossible for the rakyat to compare and determine whether there was abuse and wrongful personal enrichment. Making false declarations must also be a criminal offence.

Political funding laws

The law on political funding, which was earlier reported would be tabled in October, must also be speedily tabled now. It must cover not just political parties, but also individual MPs and senators.

For years, Malaysian MPs received large amounts of additional funds, sometimes millions of ringgit, annually for the expenditure of their constituency. But alas there was no transparency as to how these public funds were used.

Many wonder how much of the people’s money went into the MP’s own pocket, directly or indirectly, or wrongly flowed to their party or supporters? Accountability and transparency is needed.

End endemic corruption in Malaysia

Madpet urges the PM to walk the talk and demonstrate that his pledge against corruption and abuse of power will be followed by speedy, concrete actions, including the tabling of needed amendments to laws and new laws that will also deter acts of corruption and abuse of power amongst the cabinet and also MPs in Malaysia.

Anwar needs to act fast, remembering how prime ministers and governments in recent times changed rapidly, having three different prime ministers since GE14. Delay is no more an option.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.