PM Anwar proves his seriousness in combating corruption - Academician

Senior lecturer at the Perdana Centre of the Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics (RFTI), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Dr Mazlan Ali said the statement also demonstrated that the government under Anwar's leadership was sincere with the people.

"It also serves as a reminder for the Cabinet ministers that the Prime Minister will take stern action if they are found to have been involved in corruption and on moral grounds, they are not qualified to become a minister.

"Some people enjoy fraternising with ministers and offering them an undue reward or anything of value, such as political contributions, for their own personal gain. But, the Prime Minister does not want such a practice to exist," he told Bernama.

According to Mazlan, the Prime Minister's stern stance against corruption would also indirectly restore investors' confidence in the country and help revitalise the economy.

"One of the important factors for foreign investors to invest in our country is the country's Corruption Perception Index score. If the current government's anti-corruption policies are made public, it will boost investors' confidence.

"Investors will avoid investing in countries with a high level of corruption because it may result in policy changes, favouritism and unnecessary bureaucracy, all of which can have a negative impact on their investment," he said.

Echoing the same sentiment, Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) president Dr Muhammad Mohan said the Prime Minister's statement was in line with the wishes of the people, who can no longer tolerate corruption cases that have resulted in leakage of government funds involving politicians.

"This is what the people want because we have been dealing with cases of leakage and corruption involving politicians for a long period of time.

"What is more important, however, is for the government to 'walk the talk'. People will lose faith in him (Anwar) if no action is taken against Cabinet ministers involved in corruption," he said.

Muhammad also said all ministers and their deputies in the unity government must be given clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to achieve.

"The KPIs will help give clear guidance on the objectives of the government and provide a method to assess their performance," he said.

Yesterday, Anwar in his speech at the Pertemuan Mahabbah Perdana Menteri Bersama Ulama dan Asatizah programme stressed that he would not tolerate the culture of corruption and abuse of power in the government he leads.