KUALA LUMPUR The government will be considering 10 initiatives relating to the introduction of new legislation and constitutional amendments to be included in the new National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) development paper.
Deputy Minister in Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Ramkarpal Singh said the NACS was currently being developed and various aspects were also taken into account to comprehensively combat corruption in the country.
He said the consideration of the initiatives would be done in line with the government's current policy.
"A total of 10 initiatives, particularly related to the amendments of the Federal Constitution and the introduction of new legislation will be reevaluated for consideration in the new NACS document, in line with the government's current policy.
"The development of the paper will also consider both domestic and international research findings, as well as the perspectives of various stakeholders to obtain a more comprehensive view.
"This effort is crucial to ensure we have the best position in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), where we aim to be within the Top 25 on the scale in the upcoming 10 years," he said during minister's question time in Dewan Rakyat.
Ramkarpal said this in response to Kalam Salan (PN-Sabak Bernam) on the current status of the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) and further action to ensure NACS allows Malaysia to rise up the Corruption Perception Index.
At the same time, Ramkarpal said the Special Cabinet Committee on National Governance chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on July 6 has also agreed that the development of NACS would be the continuation of NACP, which is scheduled to conclude this year.
In terms of initiatives outlined in NACP, Ramkarpal said 68 out of 111 had been completed and implemented by the second quarter of this year, representing a 61 per cent completion rate.
He added that this covers six key sectors of the country, including public administration, politics, public procurement, law enforcement, corporate institutions, justice and legislation.
"The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will continue to monitor the implementation of NACP until its completion in December as stipulated in the Prime Minister's Directive No. 1 of 2018 and Series 2, No. 2 of 2019 on NACP's implementation.
"The government through MACC is also optimistic that the remaining NACP initiatives can be implemented by the leading agency and expects 91 per cent readiness for these initiatives by December 2023."