Yesterday, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s Kembara Jelajah Anti-Rasuah Konvoi 2017 came to Johor Baru, with the slogan “Say No to Corruption”.
MACC should change its Kembara Jelajah slogan from “Say No to Corruption” to “Say No to 1MDB scandal” for five reasons:
Firstly, the 1MDB scandal is the country’s largest financial scandal in history, in fact, it is the subject of United States Department of Justice (DOJ) largest kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in US, UK and Switzerland;
Secondly, it is the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal which has turned Malaysia overnight into a “global kleptocracy”;
Thirdly, “Say No to 1MDB scandal” embraces “Say No to Corruption” while “Say No to Corruption” does not include “Say No to 1MDB scandal”;
Fourthly, there is no single issue which will as forcefully and powerfully send out the message to Malaysians and the world that the MACC is serious about fighting corruption than to launch an all-out battle against the 1MBD scandal; and
Fifthly, so long as MACC does not directly address the 1MDB scandal, it will never get the trust and confidence of Malaysians and the world that it has finally come of age and become a truly professional world-class anti-corruption agency dedicated to the war against corruption “without fear or favour” of the powers-that-be.
The 1MDB scandal will be Malaysia’s badge of shame so long as the government and the various national institutions, including Parliament, the Judiciary, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Police and the Anti-Corruption Commission keep up the charade that while the 1MDB scandal continues to hog international headlines with new twists, turns and developments all over the world, there is no 1MDB scandal within the four walls of Malaysia.
Such a charade may succeed before globalization and the information era, but it is just fool-hardy, myopic and downright foolish to keep up such pretences in the modern world!
The world today is replete with examples of nations with Anti-Corruption Commissions which are the among the most corrupt countries in the world, just as there are so many nations with Human Rights Commissions which are among the worst violaters of human rights of their citizens.
There is a new book on corruption and kleptocracy in the world which details how nations had set up Anti-Corruption Commissions as part of their lip-service commitment to fight corruption.
This new book, The Corruption Cure by Robert Rotberg, pointed out that Anti-Corruption Commissions are no panaceas to end the problem of corruption. In fact, in many countries, Anti-Corruption Commissions have been worse than ineffective as they have been “weaponized to punish opponents of corrupt regimes”.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission must not be co-opted by the Executive to play such a role, and this is why it must be in the vanguard to “Say No to 1MDB scandal” if it wants to convince Malaysians and the world that it is leading the anti-corruption battle of “Say No to Corruption” in Malaysia.