KUALA LUMPUR – Pakatan Harapan (PH) is equally at fault for not taking the necessary measures to bring about changes in combating corruption, said Universiti Malaya Economics and Administration Faculty dean Prof Edmund Terence Gomez.
He said, among others, PH did not do enough to dismantle a structure that allowed government participation and interference in the private sector, which has been blamed for creating a system of patronage.
This is despite Barisan Nasional (BN) being the one that created and normalised public-private relationships through the setting up of government-linked companies (GLCs).
Gomez said the failure on PH’s part is not limited to the coalition’s short stint in the federal government from 2018 to 2020, but also in state governments.
“In 2008, when the opposition took control of state governments, we thought state-level changes would occur.
“What about DAP? What did DAP do about the GLCs when they took power in Penang?” Gomez said, adding that PH also failed to introduce political financing legislation, as promised.
He said this during a webinar organised by the Sekhar Institute and The Vibes, titled “Battling Corruption and Patronage” today.
The political economy professor added things may also have taken a turn for the worse after Perikatan Nasional seized power last year.
“When Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin came to power, he said he was going to eradicate corruption. Instead, he gave out GLC positions to politicians,” he said.
“There has been no political will to bring about these changes.
The webinar was moderated by Petra Media Sdn Bhd executive director Patrick Teoh and The Vibes consultant editor P. Gunasegaram.
Petra Group chairman and CEO Datuk Dr Vinod Sekhar, in his opening remarks for the webinar, similarly said there needs to be strong will to address the culture of corruption in the country.
Sekhar, who is also Sekhar Institute chairman, said this is an issue due to a “failure in leadership across the board”.
“Whether it is the prime minister, the inspector-general of police or anyone else, they need to have the will and resolve to fix the problems, all the way down (to the lowest institutional levels).
“It is not enough just to be a good, honest and courageous man. They need to have the will to fix things. That is what the country needs now.”
He added that corruption must not be compromised on, regardless of how small the amount.
“There is no such thing as just the right amount of corruption to help the society and the industry. We must deal with it head on and pragmatically.
“Yes, we can’t eradicate the whole body, but we must get rid of the cancer. Whether this is through surgical procedures or others, this is the debate we need to have.” – The Vibes, February 4, 2021
Additional reporting by Amar Shah Mohsen