Next to political will, freedom of information and enabling the public to have access to it is vital in the fight against corruption, stressed anti-graft expert Jeremy Pope.

He said Malaysia should learn from those who scored better in the just-released Transparency International's (TI) corruption perception index (CPI).

"Although the CPI does not tell you what to do, Malaysia can look at the countries which fared better and see what they have which Malaysia does not," he told malaysiakini .

Pope (left) noted that most of the countries which scored high in the CPI, with the exception of Singapore, have the freedom of information legislation.

"Look at countries ranked below Malaysia. All of them do not have any legislation on freedom of information. So we can conclude that Malaysia should do better with a freedom of information legislation," he said.

In the 2005 CPI released on Tuesday, Malaysia retained its 39th spot.

Unhealthy statement

Pope, a TI founder member, has been involved in promoting good governance for 29 years.

He is now co-director of Tiri Network - a non-profit organisation specialising in the implementation of anti-corruption standards and conventions both within government and the private sector and civil society.

He was in Kuala Lumpur recently to conduct an integrity course, sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Integrity Institute Malaysia.

Emphasising the importance of access to information in fighting corruption, he said the statement by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz that the government has no intention of enacting a freedom of information legislation as 'very unhealthy' and 'destructive'.

"It's either you go for it (anti-graft) or you're against it. There is no such thing as sitting on the fence," he said, adding that if Nazri is not keen to support the enactment of a freedom of information act, then the premier should change his portfolio.

He said the cabinet also has to discuss all anti-corruption policies and to coordinate how to carry out implementation strategies at the respective ministries.

'There are different things that you have to do to move forward," he said referring to cutting red-tape in the government agencies and again, allowing access to information to those who need it.

Support Pak Lah

Pope said it must always be emphasised too that for the anti-corruption drive in Malaysia to make any headway, there must be sufficient political drive at the top in the Pak Lah administration.

" Political leaders also have to show their support to the PM (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) in his anti-corruption crusade," he said in the interview with malaysiakini.

Pope said other measures that Malaysia should emulate from others are the mechanism of ombudsman, public procurement and independent judiciary.

He said open contracting is particularly vital in Malaysia because the contracting procedure has been seen as 'close and secret in nature'.

"The government contracting system might be a key area why Malaysia has been ranked low in the CPI," he added.