Do not insult the police force by implying that they cannot be trusted to ensure the safety of public officials, says Ideas chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan.

Wan Saiful was responding to Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor's statement that he does not want to declare his assets publicly due to security concerns.

"The police force have done their job effectively for decades and they haven't failed us.

"I am confident they will continue their excellent service to provide the necessary protection.

"Show them some respect and trust. Don't use them as an excuse to hide information from the public," Wan Saiful said in a statement.

He added it is the duty of public officials to be held accountable to voters.

"The people have been demanding for the public declaration of assets since former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's time, but officials and politicians from both the government and opposition sides have continuously skirted and evaded the issue.

"As the saying goes, 'hendak seribu daya tak hendak seribu dalih' (if you want to do something you will have 1,000 reasons to do it, but if you do not want to do something, you will give 1,000 reasons not to do it)," he said.

He pointed out that other countries with greater security concerns still have public asset declarations.

In Indonesia, he said, the practice of declaring one's assets has been done for many years and their public officials rarely cite security concerns as a reason not to do so.

"Being a politician or public official imposes an expectation of accountability and duty upon oneself. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen," Wan Saiful said.

Ideas study of May 2015

He said an Ideas study published in May 2015 had highlighted the important features of a strong asset declaration system, which included legal backing.

The features include an asset declaration law, a strong verification mechanism and public access to the assets declared, he said.

"The current practice of merely declaring to the prime minister or chief minister is insufficient and does not follow international standards.

"The Selangor state government has already started the process of having state legislative assemblypersons declare their assets. This is a good move and I hope it will succeed," he said.

Tengku Adnan said Sunday that he declared his assets annually to the prime minister, whereas Kuala Lumpur mayor Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz declared his assets to the chief secretary of the federal government.

The minister said this in response to PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil’s call on him and Amin Nordin to lead by example, by declaring their own assets to the public.

The call was in response to Tengku Adnan’s statement that each department in his ministry would review its asset declaration procedures and re-scrutinise its officers’ asset declaration forms, after a corruption scandal erupted in the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).