A slew of good initiatives

12mp to improve governance and integrity in public sector

PUTRAJAYA: Legislation on the Ombudsman of Malaysia and the Malaysian Governance Index will be introduced under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) to strengthen the governance ecosystem by upholding integrity, transparency and neutrality at all levels of the public sector.

Improvements to the electoral system, digitalisation of the judicial system, and enhancing corporate governance in state-owned enterprises will also be carried out to further gain the people’s trust in the government.

Aside from advancing the whole-of-government approach, the 12MP also spells out initiatives to nurture a high-performing civil service, and enhancing budgeting and project management.

“A stronger public sector will create a more effective, accountable and efficient government machinery to fulfil the rising expectations of the people.

“This will support the achievement of the 12MP objective which is prosperity, inclusivity and sustainability,” it stated.

On integrity and corruption, all government agencies are to implement the Organisational Anticorruption

Plan to address governance, integrity and corruption issues within each organisation.

Enforcement of the Malaysian Anti-corruption Commission Act will be enhanced and more engagement via strategic partnerships with state-owned enterprises and political parties will be carried out to combat corruption.

“A new legislation on the Ombudsman will be introduced to boost the integrity and governance of public institutions,” it said.

The Malaysian Governance Index will be introduced to measure the country’s governance performance and to emphasise good governance within public institutions.

All these efforts will enhance public perception of the government and improve Malaysia’s ranking on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), said the 12MP.

To improve the electoral system, the Election Commission will be strengthened to ensure a fair, independent and transparent election process where rules, procedures and processes will also be reviewed and improved to ensure independence and transparency of the electoral system.

Digitalisation of the election management will be enhanced through better system integration and new applications, and this effort will enable effective implementation of the 18-year-old voting eligibility and automatic voter registration.

“The success of these initiatives is fundamental in building a corruption-free, fair, democratic and progressive nation,” said the 12MP.

To ensure more effective checks and balances between executive, legislative and judicial powers, a public service act will be introduced.

The 12MP noted the increasing demands and expectations of the people for an efficient and transparent government, which necessitated fundamental changes in the civil service.

“It is important to ensure civil servants remain apolitical, accountable and neutral in discharging their responsibilities to maintain the people’s trust.

“In order to achieve this objective, there is a need to have a clear demarcation of powers and responsibilities between members of the administration and civil servants,” it said.

Cuepacs president Adnan Mat welcomed the initiatives, including the proposed public service act that would clearly spell out the powers and responsibilities of members of the administration and civil servants.

“The separation of powers and duties actually exists but more often than not, it is misunderstood as there is no firmness in executing regulations. This new act is timely and should be supported to ensure transparency and integrity in public service governance,” he said.

On plans for a governance index, Adnan said this would ensure effective execution of government’s plans and policies.

On leakages and power abuse, he said while Cuepacs does not deny the existence of “bad hats” among civil servants, it is wrong to perceive that the entire service is tainted “as if it is a cancer beyond cure”.

“The percentage of those committing such crimes is 2% of the entire 1.6 million civil service.

“If we continue to blame the receiver (of corruption) and not much action is taken on the giver, it will only demotivate the rest of the public officers who carry out their work with integrity and honesty,” he added.