Anti-graft watchdog Transparency International Malaysia today said that the "highly-politicised" nature of the Malaysian civil service has led to recurring cases of gross mismanagement highlighted in each Auditor General report.

NONE In a statement today, its president Paul Low ( left ) said in the "highly-politicised civil service administration, civil servants' opinions are often disregarded and replaced by political expediencies".

Besides this, he said the situation in Malaysia is ripe for graft in the form of overpriced equipment as in several cases in the report, due to ineffective check-and-balance systems.

"Potential abusers believe that they can enjoy immunity from investigation and prosecution. Coupled with a lack of administrative reforms to strengthen accountability and the clarity of law and regulations, abusers can find it easy to extract economic rent from the state without the fear of being reprimanded," he said.

He noted that the existence of laws which contribute to the opaqueness of government decision making, like the Official Secrets Act, also undermine public accountability.

Manipulation by top dogs

He said that what was described in the AG's report is 'state capture' where manipulation may involve politicians, high-ranking officials and businessmen.

"(These parties) all act in a concerted manner to favour a bid (in case of tenders) of their choice," he said.

He added that in many cases, civil servants involved do not personally benefit from the manipulation but may carry it out "for fear of reprisal" or because they "want to be obedient to their bosses".

Low said that removing the apparatus which support state capture is the government's best bet at reducing such manipulation, and this includes reviewing the process of procurement.

"The process of procurement, especially for items involving large sums of money, must involve the participation of independent monitors at every stage of the tender process, starting from the need analysis, formulating the required specifications, pre-qualifying bidders, evaluation of tenders, and the implementation of the successful tender," he said.

NONE A good example of this, he said, is the implementation of the MRT project which includes independent monitors nominated by the MACC and the AG.

"With the increasing government budget deficit and the removal of subsidies, the public is demanding more accountability and public disclosure of how and what decisions are made," he said.

Meanwhile, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng suggested that since the BN has failed to stop the rot of wrongdoing, only a change of government can bring about a transformation.

He took a dig at Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for dishing out a lot of one-off goodies to the public ahead of the coming general election in his 2012 Budget.

“A government can only prove its sincerity about implementing good policies that benefit the people, by ‘institutionalising’ the people-centric policies by practicing it yearly, not once every five years or when there are elections,” said Lim.

“Giving money once every five years is obviously targeted to buying votes and an exercise in money politics,” he added in a written Deepavali message issued today.

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