After 100 days in office, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tries to show that he means business by bringing two high-profile figures to book for corruption. But how far will he go and how long will it last?

His predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad also attempted to reform the public service when he came into power 22 years ago. But his clarion call ' Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah ' (Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy) was soon replaced by cronyism and nepotism.

It is not a question of whether sharks or anchovies are being caught under the present anti-corruption dragnet. The issue here is that these catches depend on the political will of one man and not the systemic response of an institution.

If this whole campaign is merely driven by Abdullah's will, then there would be a limit to his will.

The de facto law minister Dr Rais Yatim has said that some ministers have called on the premier to go slow because they cannot take the heat.

But no matter how committed Abdullah claims to be, few would believe that the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) would go after Mahathir or his deputy Najib Abdul Razak should someone lodge a report.

It would inevitably be selective prosecutions, at least for survival calculation.

Statutory body

The answer to this is obvious: make the ACA a statutory body that answers to the Parliament and not the prime minister.

If this is done then the decision to charge a person for graft would not require the premier's approval while threats to his political survival would also not have a bearing on any case. Another pertinent point would be that cover-ups cannot be negotiated without political support.

These of course would also entail the need for an independent judiciary that cannot be purchased or commanded by the powers-that-be.

The call to statutorise ACA has been made by many quarters. It seems that Malaysians have to leave it all to Abdullah but this need not be the case.

Passing a law requires a parliamentary majority and if it is willed by the popular majority, it would be hard for any party to win the polls by ignoring it. Therefore the opposition parliamentarians must capture the electorate's support to make the corruption watchdog an independent body.

Private member's bill

They can do so by tabling a private member's bill in the coming parliamentary session next month, if it is not dissolved by then to pave way for the general election.

Under the Dewan Rakyat's Standing Order 49, any private member of the house can introduce a bill - leave being granted on a question put and carried - the bill shall later be printed and circulated to members and stand referred to the minister concerned, in this case Rais. Once the minister has reported to the house, the bill would be set down for second reading.

Our parliament has probably never seen any private member's bill passed, for the government backbenchers have conventionally left the legislating works to the frontbench while the opposition rarely proposes one knowing it will surely be defeated.

However, a private member's bill that is bound for rejection would still bring attention to the issue and put pressure on rivals, the famous example being PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's bill on apostasy in 1999.

Public input

A private member's bill for an independent ACA could therefore serve two purposes.

The first is to put Abdullah, Rais and all the other MPs and their acclaimed will to combat corruption to test.

It would be interesting to see what justifications will be provided should Rais delay reporting it to the house or if government MPs vote against it. If the government derides the bill for any technical shortcomings, it would then be obliged to commit its own version and a timetable.

Barisan Nasional may then need to promise this in its manifesto, although this does not guarantee that it will materialise given the ruling front's previous records in electoral commitments.

The second purpose is to bring public input into law-making.

Government bills have usually been drafted by the Attorney-General's Chambers and senior civil servants with minimum public consultation.

The opposition could do the opposite in drafting its private member's bill by involving not only MPs of all opposition parties, leading lawyers and NGOs, but also the general public by collecting their opinions via forums and focus groups.

It is high time that we fresh out what we want of an independent ACA after making such calls for so long.

Whether or not the private members's bill can be ready for tabling before the general election, its preparation alone will apply pressure on the BN.

By asking what the public want of an independent ACA, the opposition can bring forth the imaginations and expectations of real change. This would lead to calls on the premier to incorporate the bill in his campaign regardless of whether a private member's bill is raised in the parliament prior to that.

On the other hand, the private member's bill could probably unite the opposition on accountability issues and help them steal the limelight ahead of the polls.

Ultimate winners

Elections is the fundamental mechanism the citizenry can utilise to condition politicians in their focus and approaches.

It is also not wrong for Abdullah to hope for electoral gain with his anti-corruption campaign.

However, Malaysians would be foolish to vote retrospectively to reward him for whatever fish he nabs up to polling day, and not prospectively to support him on what boat and net he would use in his next term.

The opposition then has the duty to set the agenda on institutional reforms and not allow the BN to hog the attention with some flashy ad-hoc shows.

If parties compete in this elections based on their institutional offers for anti-corruption and accountability, then regardless of the scale of Abdullah's victory, Malaysians would emerge as the ultimate winners with the birth of a parliamentary-accountable ACA.

Trained originally in economics, he sees citizens as the bosses of the government, politicians the job-seekers and elections the interview session. Hence, the thou-shall-be-thankful-to-the-government line comes across as a lousy joke to him. Once running the secretariat of Suqiu Committee and writing a weekly column 'Because I Care' for Nanyang Siang Pau , he now reads politics in the University of Essex and remains an active member of Writers Alliance for Media Independence (Wami). His current interests are in electoral systems and ethnic politics.