KUALA LUMPUR: Many political parties have welcomed the move by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to introduce a special corruption-free pledge (IBR) in conjunction with the 14th General Election.
MIC deputy president Datuk S. K. Devamany said the move indicates a positive progress in the country’s political culture.
“This is important as it shows that we are moving to a more matured democracy and good governance.
“All members of parliament must sign the IBR to show that they are serious to embrace transparency, accountability, and statesmanship,” he said when contacted today.
Perak Pas Youth chief Mohd Akmal Kamaruddin also lauded the move by the anti-graft body stating that it was important for the election candidates to be free from corruption.
“We do not have any problem to sign the pledge as all of our future candidates for the upcoming general election were internally vetted.
“We fully supported the MACC’s initiative to ensure a good and clean election,” he said.
MCA religious harmony bureau chief Ti Lian Ker said the initiative should have been done 10 years ago when the perception of the people towards the politicians was high.
“I think the IBR is the second most important thing right now as the MACC must focus on enforcing and combating corruption,” he said.
MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad said the graft buster would introduce a special IBR for the looming general election to ensure a transparent and clean election.
“There's no laws that required them to sign the pledge but we welcome and will give full cooperation to any political parties that want to do it,” he said after witnessing the IBR signing ceremony by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama).
In a separate matter, Dzulkifli also revealed that it has been two years since the inception of the IBR and the Selangor state government had yet to sign the pledge.
“We will not give up and continue to wait for them (Selangor state government) to response.
“All agencies under the state government have signed the IBR and hopefully the state government can follow suit before the next general election,” he added.
On Monday, Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said the IBR alone was insufficient and the state government had introduce their own additional measures to combat corruption.