KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia needs an independent asset declaration unit that is separated from the Prime Minister's Department, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the police, says a coalition of civil society organisations.
CSO Platform for Reform in a statement said this is to ensure that the independent body has full access to facilitate investigations into the declared assets, similar to the existing system in Singapore.
"The declaration of assets by ministers and cabinet officers is also necessary and a good practice in showing elements of transparency and accountability to the people.
"The existence of an independent property declaration unit needs to be separated from the Prime Minister's Department, MACC and the police so that the body has full access to facilitate investigations into the declaration.
"The model can be seen in Singapore where the country established the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau for the purpose of conducting random audits to verify the accuracy of the property declaration," it said.
While commending the government for improving its global corruption perception ranking for 2023, the group called for more consultations with relevant stakeholders to ensure the government's commitment to achieving zero corruption.
The CSO Platform for Reform has outlined several recommendations for the government to enhance good governance, including a call for increased transparency in the appointment of officials in government-linked companies and statutory bodies, ensuring their accountability to parliament.
This also involves adopting the Ombudsman system, as proposed by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said soon to provide checks and balances, it said.
It also called for the tabling of bills for the separation of powers between the Attorney-General Chambers and the public prosecutor's office, along with the Freedom of Information Act.
On Tuesday, Transparency-International Malaysia announced that the country scored 50 points in the 2023 corruption perception ranking compared to 47 points in 2022.