Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on July 11, 2018

PUTRAJAYA: The proposed asset declaration by public officers will include assets owned by close family members, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.  

However, the government is still contemplating as to how much information can be revealed to the public, Dr Mahathir told the press at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday.

“[The asset declaration] may affect the privacy of many more family members [of public officers involved],” Dr Mahathir said.  

The federal government is expected to impose a compulsory asset declaration rule for public officers, as well as introduce laws prohibiting the receipt of lavish gifts that could double as bribes.

It is understood that all public officers will need to submit their declarations to the prime minister, and all reports — including that of the prime minister’s assets — will be submitted to the relevant authorities, including the MACC.

Additionally, Dr Mahathir said, while the asset declaration is only compulsory for cabinet members and members of parliament of the ruling political parties, no one is exempted from anti-corruption laws.

On Monday, Dr Mahathir revealed plans to categorise cabinet members, their deputies and political secretaries as “public officers” under the government’s code of ethics.  

It was reported last year that the High Court struck out a lawsuit by Dr Mahathir against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, ruling that Najib is not a public officer but just a member of administration.

“A good example must be shown by the nation’s top leadership,” Dr Mahathir said yesterday.

“If [cabinet members] do not participate in corruption, the probability of us reducing corruption will be higher than if the top leadership does not consider themselves as public officers and practice corruption, while instructing the underlings to avoid it.”

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