National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) to Achieve the Aspiration of “Malaysia to Be Known for Her Integrity and Not Corruption”
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BREAK THE CORRUPTION“ The Government’s commitment is to achieve “the aspiration for Malaysia to be known for her integrity and not corruption Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad CHAIN Prime Minister of Malaysia THOUGHTS FROM THE LEADERSHIP Statement of Vision Before 9th May 2018, most Malaysians were disgusted with the rampant corruption in the country involving the Government which was internationally described as kleptocracy. They expressed their disgust through the ballot box leading to the change of Government, removing a party/coalition which had ruled the nation since independence. It is therefore imperative for the new Government to always be reminded that the single most burning issue which was capable of bringing down a 61-year old Government was its corrupt practice. The new Government under the Pakatan Harapan coalition, is committed to combat corruption. For this it had, since it took over the nation’s governance, undertaken measures and introduced policies that are unique and innovative. The Government will ensure this effort is implemented to protect the rights of the people, to stop leakages of public funds, to strengthen our national security and to spur economic growth. This effort is also in line with Article 5 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the Kuala Lumpur Statement on Anti-Corruption Strategies in 2013. Moving forward, we have developed the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) to achieve the aspiration of “Malaysia to be known for her integrity and not corruption”. The plan was created after considering perspectives from stakeholders to enable us to align our strategies towards achieving its vision. We are also addressing corruption by promoting transparency, accountability and integrity in all Government’s administration as per outlined in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), Goal 16 which is to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. Leadership by example is an effective way to achieve a state where every citizen does not condone corrupt practices. Leaders of the country must show their commitment against corruption at the outset and followed down the line by various sectors, organisations, and every family unit in the community at large. It must be embedded in the mind of all Malaysians that it is critical for us to combat corruption if we want to achieve developed nation status. We strongly urge every head of departments, be it public sector, private sector, public interest entities, state-owned enterprises and non-governmental organisations to be together in this effort. We will uphold the rule of law, apply the principles of transparency, accountability, and integrity as well as good governance when exercising our authority or power. These will be the foundation in our effort to get rid of corruption and shape a corrupt-free ecosystem for the future generation. We sincerely believe if we are successful in this endeavour, Malaysia will regain its deserving stature. Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad Prime Minister of Malaysia 29th January 2019 STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT The National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) is an anti-corruption policy in Malaysia that reflects the people’s expectations for a greater corrupt-free nation that promotes transparency, accountability and integrity culture in every Malaysians. This integrated anti-corruption plan, is the first of its kind to be formulated in the country, is in line with Article 5 of the United Nation Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) to which Malaysia is a member party to the convention. To develop the NACP, we were guided by the “National Anti-Corruption Strategies: A Practical Guide for Development and Implementation” by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and received support from the relevant stakeholders in particularly the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the National Audit Department. Furthermore, a collaborative effort with myForesight®, Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) had produced a thorough and valuable future anti-corruption scenario planning until the year 2030. The strategies in this plan are the results of series of deliberations and consultations conducted with the public and private sectors, the business and media communities, NGOs, anti-corruption experts and academicians. In addition, a number of recommendations and reviews from international initiatives were also taken into account during the drafting of the plan. These include recommendations by the G20 countries as well as the recommendations made from our 1st and 2nd Cycles of the Review of Implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). In order to ensure the successful implementation of this plan, we would like to emphasise that various actors have been identified for the purpose of carrying out the planned initiatives. By collaborating to counter the debacle of corruption, we will be creating a new era of a fair and just system based on transparency, accountability and integrity. This, we believe will increase people’s confidence, thus bring Malaysia to a greater heights. This plan will be the main reference and acts as a guide for all Government agencies and other relevant entities in developing their respective Organisational Anti-Corruption Plan (OACP). The OACP should be thorough enough to cover issues that need to be addressed internally. We sincerely hope that this plan will help achieve Malaysia’s vision towards being a corrupt-free nation by the year 2023. Malaysia needs all our support and commitment to put an end to any form of corruption. Datuk Seri Dr. Ismail Tan Sri Abu Kassim Dato’ Sri Mohd Shukri bin Haji Bakar bin Mohamed bin Abdull Chief Secretary Director General Chief Commissioner to the Government National Centre for Malaysian Anti-Corruption of Malaysia Governance, Integrity Commission and Anti-Corruption Prime Minister’s Department Parameters of the National CORRUPTION Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) IN MALAYSIA: The word “corruption” originates from the Latin ‘corruptus’ (spoiled) and ‘corrumpere’ (to ruin; HIGHLIGHTS to break into pieces). By mid of 14th century, corruption or ‘corrupcion’ referred to both the Who Malaysians Think are Corrupt decay of the physical bodies and to the contamination of the soul and moral/spiritual state. In terms of the human-God and human-human relationships, corruption or fasad implies all manner of decadence and injustice, in regard to rebelling against the covenant with God and Percentage of respondents who think oppressing others, thus failing to recognise the rights of God, other humans and creations. officials mostly involved in corruption According to the Corruption: A Glossary Of International Criminal Standards released by the Organisation For Economic Co-Operation And Development (OECD), “the OECD, the Council of Europe and the UN Conventions do not define “corruption”. Instead, they establish the offences for a range of corrupt behaviour. Hence, the OECD Convention establishes the offence of bribery of foreign public officials, while the Council of Europe Convention establishes offences such as trading in influence, and bribing domestic and foreign public officials. In addition to these types of conduct, the mandatory provisions of the UN Convention also include embezzlement, misappropriation or other diversion of property by a public official and obstruction of justice. These conventions therefore define international standards on the criminalisation of corruption by prescribing specific offences, rather than through a generic definition or offence of corruption.” Regardless of how corruption is defined today, one thing remains clear: integrity and governance are the twin solutions to the phenomenon; integrity being the ultimate cure of corruption. Simply put, there will be no corruption if humans were to act with integrity, that is, consistently doing the right thing even when nobody is watching their actions. Have you bribed public officials** As such, integrity forms the nucleus of governance. Governance is defined by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its 1997 policy paper as “the exercise of economic, in the past year? political and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels. It comprises the mechanisms, processes and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences”. However, for the purpose of the NACP, given that integrity is recognised as a human issue, governance extended to also encompass, the human dimension as reflected in the principle of human governance. The premise that undergirds human governance is that once humans actualise human governance, they are in touch with their inner self and consciousness, resulting in the natural compliance with rules and observation of the mechanism, processes and procedures. The formulation of the parameters for the NACP is thus based on integrity and governance as being underpinned by this reality. With such an approach to developing the NACP, Malaysia’s desire to bring to practice the axiom of “Living Correctly, Not Corruptly” represents a holistic undertaking. It is for this very reason that the NACP was drafted; to bring together all issues concerning integrity, governance and anti-corruption in one plan. MALAYSIAN Corruption ANTI-CORRUPTION Perception JOURNEY 2004 Index