KUALA LUMPUR: The newly-formed Pakatan Harapan (PH) government will emphasise anti-corruption policy in its administration.
"There will be an anti-corruption movement," Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.
He explained that while PH did collect donations prior to the 14th General Election (GE14), now that they have won, no parties can accept any more donations unless it is with the Cabinet's approval.
"Sometimes people may want to give gifts, like food or flowers, but not valuable items because we do not want elements of corruption in the government," he said in a special briefing session to Bernama and RTM at his residence here, today.
Dr Mahathir said if there were any activities rooted in corruption, investigations will be carried out and action taken if there is evidence.
"Not just those receiving (bribes), but those giving will be investigated and legal action will be taken against them," he said, adding that the rakyat had lost trust in members of the administration because the government was not clean.
"In the previous regime, many were wrongfully pressured. Many were forced to pay more than what is required by law in taxes," he added.
"We want to know who they are and how much have they paid and we will try to pay them back," Dr Mahathir said.
He informed that they will find out whether or not some were forced to pay, if they had their passports and bank accounts revoked and their businesses affected.
"With regard to laws pertaining to businesses, we want to minimise this as there are too may restrictions that hinder the formation and running of companies.
"All these will be reviewed so we can lessen the process involved in starting up businesses," he said.