13MP: EAIC Welcomes Govt's Emphasis On Integrity Issues

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 1 (Bernama) -- The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) welcomes the government's serious emphasis on issues of integrity, abuse of power and leakage in the tabling of the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), which is in line with EAIC's role as a monitoring body for enforcement agencies.

Its chairman Tan Sri Dr Ismail Bakar said the government's commitment to strengthening governance and ensuring that actions taken are transparent and based on accountability is very timely in efforts to bolster the people's confidence in national institutions.

"As stated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, sometimes what damages the people's trust is not simply misconduct, but failure to act when injustice occurs.

"A culture of integrity is not only the responsibility of civil servants or enforcement agencies, but must be implemented at all levels including the private sector and society. This is important to ensure that the people's confidence in the country's institutions continues to be maintained," he said in a statement today.

Commenting further, Ismail also described the initiative to establish the Malaysian Ombudsman as a very timely move, in line with the institutional reform agenda that is being implemented.

"EAIC supports this effort to strengthen the system of checks and balances in the delivery of public services and to address citizens' complaints more comprehensively, independently and effectively," he said.

The measures to improve governance and strengthen governance through the 13MP directly contribute to the achievement of the MADANI Government's aspiration to place Malaysia in the top 25 countries in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

According to the 13MP document released by the Ministry of Economy yesterday, the emphasis on strengthening integrity and accountability, improving the efficiency of public service delivery and strengthening fiscal management also targets Malaysia to be in the top 12 in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook.

In addition, these measures to improve governance are expected to help reduce the fiscal deficit to below three per cent and ensure that the debt level does not exceed 60 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.

Among the improvement efforts are initiatives under the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2024-2028 and the CPI Special Task Force which will be intensified to address corruption issues and improve the country's position in the CPI.

"The role of the Integrity Unit will also be strengthened to combat corruption in the public sector with an emphasis on initiatives based on a behavioural insights approach towards forming civil servants with integrity and responsibility," according to the document.

-- BERNAMA