Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah has pledged to publicly declare his assets provided he gets the nod from the Malaysian Anti-Corrruption Commission (MACC).

At a press conference to sign the election integrity pledge at Parliament lobby today, Saifuddin said he is "okay with declaring his assets" when quizzed by reporters.

NONE However, when pressed further, Saifuddin ( left)   said:Yes, I will, now I don't know (MACC's stance on the issue). If they say its ok tomorrow for minister and deputy minister to declare their assets, I am ready to declare," he said.

"Don't like that lah . Let's have one thing at a time," he joked, referring to election pledge that he inked just this afternoon.

Civil societies have been increasingly mounting pressure on ministers to declare their assets publicly with the recent National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal adding muscle to their cause.

Meanwhile today, Saifuddin became the first politician to officially sign off on the pledge, in front of TI-M president Paul Low who had made a special trip to Parliament just to meet him.

Neatly ducking tricky question

The pledge, launched last Saturday, is a non-binding social effort by Transparency-International Malaysia (TI-M) to ask election candidates to reject money politics and corruption.

Although Saifuddin had signed the pledge, he was, however, non-committal when asked whether he will attempt to persuade his president and party colleagues to emulate him.

"It is up to the individual to decide, but TI-M has made the call," he said.

Asked again on what he will do if money politics continues in his party despite his pledge, the Umno supreme council member carefully replied that individual must first be committed to the principle of integrity.

"What is more important is for us to take the steps. This is a tough journey, what we need to do is for individuals to do their level best (to uphold the principle of integrity).

"Yes, I am an Umno supreme council member, but this pledge comes from civil society, so we must support," he said.

The Temerloh MP also denied that he is an Umno lone ranger when it comes to pushing for political integrity, saying that many party leaders are also committed.

"Not at all, I can tell you why I am not a lone ranger. (This is because) there are quite a lot of Umno divisions which had conducted seminars on political integrity. I saw many Umno leaders and members attending these seminars," he said.

Saifuddin, who a self-proclaimed firm believer in political integrity, had told Malaysiakini on Saturday when asked that he would sign the pledge.

He then rang Low on Sunday morning to inform him of his intention.

The pledge requires signatories to own a Facebook or Twitter account which means they will be subject to public scrutiny through these social media platforms.