Mahathir's anti-graft plan

Editorial
Sin Chew Daily, Malaysia

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad launched the 2019-2023 National Anti-Corruption Plan recently. The five-year plan is aimed at improving the business environment, having good and clean governance and reforming the public service system.

It is commendable for the government to show its resolution in fighting corruption. However, it remains questionable whether the objectives can be fulfilled within five years.

The culture of corruption has been deep-rooted in many government institutions. Some of the practices have been widely seen as gifts received for the convenience or assistance provided, without the realisation that such acts of gift acceptance actually constitute corruption and bribery.

The public service sector is a high-risk area for corruption, especially with civil servants involved in decision-making and procurement.

The anti-corruption plan puts a lot of emphasis on education, and will involve drawing up strategies to make public procurement more transparent and effective.

Nevertheless, the government must also come to the realisation that streamlining the public sector and enhancing operational efficiency are equally important to restore the dented image of the country's public sector.

One thing that we cannot afford to overlook is that money politics is still very much rampant in Malaysia. It is absolutely necessary for the government to closely monitor political donations. Election expenses must be more transparent, and ruling parties must not make all kinds of promises with any development project in an election.

To ensure the success of the anti-corruption plan, the government should form a watchdog committee made up of non-governmental organisation representatives to oversee the effective implementation of every single strategy, initiative and objective, instead of making big promises without any solid action.

Do bear in mind that Malaysians will be constantly evaluating the government's performance throughout the next five years.

Recovering stolen assets

Editorial
The Jakarta Post, Indonesia

Indonesia, perceived to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and Switzerland, previously known for having one of the strongest banking secrecy policies and as a safe haven for ill-gotten gains, signed early this week a mutual legal assistance agreement (MLA) on tracing and recovering stolen assets.

Yet more significant for Indonesia, which was ruled for more than 30 years by a corrupt authoritarian government until 1998, is that the agreement is retroactive. This means the MLA could also apply to corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and illegal monetary gains over the last four decades.

The government deserves high commendation for concluding the MLA. The MLA - which simplifies and accelerates procedures for tracing stolen assets, particularly by reducing formal requirements - is truly a strategic partnership between a developed country and a developing country.

The MLA will imbue the government with the authority to pursue unlawful money gained primarily through corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and other financial crimes. This does not, however, mean that the government can immediately ask the Swiss authorities for information on the financial assets of Indonesian citizens at Swiss financial institutions.

The first - and perhaps the biggest - challenge for the government is for the MLA to be ratified by the House of Representatives, which is perceived as one of the most corrupt institutions in the country.

Given the presidential and legislative elections in April, we do not believe the House members, 80 per cent of whom are seeking re-election, will have the time to deliberate the MLA before its new lawmakers are installed in October.

The second challenge is that only corruption, money laundering and tax evasion cases that have been tried and handed final and binding court rulings are eligible under the MLA.

Since such cases involve very complex transactions that may require more than two years to prosecute from the district court up to the Supreme Court, Indonesia may need technical assistance from the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR) to build the institutional capacity of its legal institutions.

StAR is a programme that the World Bank and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime launched in 2007 to help developing countries recover assets stolen by corrupt leaders and officials.

Despite the challenges, the MLA is nevertheless a big boost in the drive against corruption.

• The View From Asia is a compilation of articles from The Straits Times' media partner Asia News Network, a grouping of 23 news organisations.