Last night, at the launching ceremony for Johor Pakatan Harapan in Tampoi, I challenged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad to explain at the Pakatan Harapan “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptokrasi” rally in Petaling Jaya on Oct. 14 what MACC had done about fighting corruption and abuses of power in the  1MDB scandal.

I was responding to his statement two days ago that the people are watching me to judge my commitment and seriousness towards fighting corruption and abuses of power.
 
I told Dzukifli that I had stood the test of being judged by the people for 52 years since my involvement in politics in Malaysia, and reminded the MACC head that the people are watching him and the MACC to judge whether they are fakes and phonies, who only dare to go after the “ikan bilis” and the “medium-sized fishes” but dare not touch the “sharks” of corruption.

Let us see whether Dzulkifli has the courage, commitment and zeal against corruption to come to the Pakatan Haeapan “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptokrasi” rally in Petaling Jaya on Oct. 14 to explain how the MACC had ensured that the 1MDB scandal do not turn Malaysia into a global kleptocracy.

 
 Three frequently asked questions (FAQ) on the 1MDB scandal are:

1.     Whether Najib received RM2.6 billion donation from Saudi royalty;
 
2.     Whether Najib returned RM2.1 billion to Saudi royalty; and
 
3.     Whether the RM144 million  pink diamond necklace for the “wife of MO1” came from stolen 1MDB funds.
 
 
The answers to all these three FAQs about the 1MDB scandal are available in great detail in the US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s largest kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland.
 
The answers to the three FAQs are:
 
(1) Najib never received the RM2.6 billion donation from Saudi royalty just before the 13th General Election, although he received other donations from Saudi sources which have not been given a proper accounting. The RM2.6 billion monies came from 1MDB funds.
 
(2) Najib never returned the RM2.1 billion to Saudi royalty, as the money did not come from Saudi sources, but were returned to Tanore account in Singapore  which was operated by 1MDB mastermind and Najib’s confidante, Jho Low, and were from stolen 1MDB funds.
 
(3) The RM2.1 billion returned to Tanore account in Singapore was used to buy, among other things, the RM144 million pink diamond necklace for the “wife of MO1”.
 
These details and evidence are  all to be found in US DOJ kleptocratic litigation  and are virtually “served on a silver platter” to MACC, and Dzulkifli should explain on Oct. 14 why he and the MACC had done nothing about these incontrovertible evidence.

Dzulkifli should know that there is nothing for MACC to be proud about integrity and corruption in Malaysia today, although for the past six years, Parliament had approved an annual budget allocation of over RM200 million for anti-corruption as compared to smaller sums for the earlier years, e.g less than RM30 million before 1997, less than RM100 million before 2006 and less than RM200 million before 2011.

What has the MACC and its predecessors to show for such allocations by Parliament on the anti-corruption front?

Absolutely nothing – as Malaysia is today known worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

The history of the 22-year annual Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 1995-2016 shows that Malaysia had stagnated and even regressed in integrity and principles of accountability and good governance in the past two decades as compared to some countries, like China and Indonesia, which had made significant improvements with steady strides.

In the first year of TI CPI in 1995, which listed only 41 countries, Malaysia was ranked in the middling position of No. 23 with a score above the midpoint – i.e. 5.28 in a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean).

China and Indonesia came in at the bottom end, with China ranked as No. 40 with a score of 2.16 out of 10 while Indonesia came in last ranking No. 41 out of 41 with a score of 1.94.

If Malaysia had made a decimal improvement in the TI CPI score of 0.1 point each year the past 22 years, Malaysia’s present score would have been 7.48, or roughly translated into 74.8 out of a scale increased from 10 to 100, which would have placed Malaysia in the rank around No. 18 out of 176 countries.

Unfortunately, Malaysia’s TI CPI worsened with the TI CPI ranking falling to No. 55 out of 176 countries while the TI CPI score fell below the midpoint to 49 in the new scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

In contrast, both China and Indonesia have made significant improvements in the TI CPI in the past 22 years, with China improving its score from 2.16/10 in 1995 to 40/100 with its TI CPI Ranking improving from No. 40/41 in 1995 to 79/176 in 2016 and Indonesia improving its score from 1.94/10 in 1995 to 37/100 with TI CPI ranking from 41/41 in 1995 to 90/176.

If for the next two decades, China and Indonesia improve in their TI CPI ranking and score at their pace in the past 22 years, while Malaysia stagnates, both countries would have overtaken Malaysia in both the TI CPI ranking and score well before 2040. We do not even have to wait for TN 2050!

Let Dzulkifli come to the Pakatan Harapan “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan kleptokrasi” rally in PJ on Oct. 14 to explain whether the MACC expects Malaysia’s TI CPI to stagnate or regress in the coming years and what counter-measures are being taken by MACC.

[Speech (2) at the DAP kopitiam dialogue at Plentong, Johor Jaya on Saturday, 30th September 2017 at 10 am]