‘GRAFT DIFFICULT TO TACKLE’
It is rife due to ‘cash is king’ culture allegedly practised by an ex-PM
TUN Dr Mahathir Mohamad said addressing corruption and abuse of power today was more challenging than when he was first appointed as prime minister in 1981.
Dr Mahathir said when he took over the country’s governance 37 years ago, the government machinery at that time was viewed as clean, unlike today.
He said the actions of a former prime minister in “promoting” corruption through the “cash is king” culture had resulted in the government machinery being involved.
“We have to choose and filter before we take action.
“If we are suspicious, we cannot sack all the government officers whom we suspect (to be involved in corruption) because we will have no machinery to carry out our duties and orders,” he said at a briefing on governance, integrity and anti-corruption at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) here, which was attended by 160 Pakatan Harapan members of parliament and cabinet ministers.
Dr Mahathir, who turned 93 yesterday, received birthday greetings from the guests present.
The briefing, held for the first time by the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and AntiCorruption, was aimed at providing exposure to aspects relating to corruption and preventive measures to MPs and administration officers of the new government.