With Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) set to elect its new president on Friday, its secretary-general Josie M Fernandez is once again expected to vie for the top spot in the largely male-dominated NGO.

Since its formation in 1998, all its presidents have been men, and illustrious figures such as Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim, Ramon Ravaratnam, Param Cumarasamy and Paul Low, with outspoken secretary-general Josie currently the only woman in the executive committee.

NONE "Isn't it time for a woman to lead the organisation? It is time to do away with an all boys' club," said a member, who requested anonymity.

In the recent presidential election on April 28, Josie lost to Low ( right ) by four votes and it will be no surprise if she vies for the post again during the coming polls, which is being held following outgoing chief Low’s appointment as a minister in the Prime Minister's Department.

"It's a challenge being a woman in a men's world. I am the only woman in the executive committee."

“As a woman, I often have to speak louder to get the room full of men to hear me. I sometimes have to be very assertive to get the message across," she told Malaysiakini in an interview.

Josie, an expert on the non-profit organisations sector, an independent researcher, writer and consultant, also chairs the National Coordinating Committee for Asian Public Intellectuals in Malaysia, and has been the organisation's fellow.

In 2010, she served as a consultant to Asean for a roadmap on consumer protection and has undertaken consultancies for government agencies in Malaysia and several United Nations (UN) agencies such as the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

Involved in TI-M work since 2003, Josie researched and authored the organisation's first Strategic Plan and is actively developing another for 2012-2015.

Community engagement

She is mainly responsible for sourcing funding for the organisation, representing TI at various conferences and has also written widely on corruption, ethics and accountability, a notable one being a memorandum on reforming political financing in Malaysia.

NONE Given the chance to lead the organisation, Josie ( right in photo ) said one of the changes she hopes to bring to it is to focus more on engaging with and developing programmes with various communities.

Since last year, Josie has brought 23 organisations in various fields - corporate bodies and NGOs, including indigenous groups - into the TI membership.

"With community engagement, we can strengthen our research so that we can be more effective in policy reforms. We were lacking in that, for relied mostly on secondary sources in the past," she said.

Josie achieved this by initiating community dialogues through the Forestry Governance Integrity and Tasek Chini projects and ensured that the focus in such dialogues was on human rights, especially that of the indigenous communities.

NONE "Lack or no respect for human rights will result in more cases of corruption. There is definitely a direct link there," she noted.

She said her networking skills and her ability to work well with other TI chapters around the world would help the Malaysian chapter grow.

"And I am not afraid of telling it as it is, or telling TI if it is doing something that is not right," she said boldly.

Josies was one of the exco members who insisted that TI-M rejects its appointment as an election monitor by the Election Commission for the 13th general election.

"We declined after looking at the EC's terms and conditions, which were "undemocratic". For example, we were not allowed to voice out our concerns in the media," she said.

NONE She also took part in protests in Kuala Lumpur by Bersih, the coalition calling for clean and fair elections, even though such demonstrations were not so kindly looked upon by her elder, former Transparency International vice-president Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim.

When the explosive video by Global Witness ( right ) was released showing the alleged involvement of Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and his relatives in shady land deals, Josie urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to act on the matter.

"I was criticised by the more conservative people in the movement. Of course,the Sarawakians were pleased.

"It was a tough call to make but I believe in doing the right thing. I have my own positions and principles.

"These stands would not compromise TI's position but would only strengthen it and make it more progressive," Josie stressed.

‘Weak advocacy’

She also said it was time to call for a restructuring of the EC as the present form is "undemocratic", and allows the same government to sustain power for over five decades.

"With the restructuring, political parties have to change. Right now they are registered under the Registrar of Societies and this needs to be looked at to strengthen the transparency and integrity of the various political organisations."

One of the areas that has been lacking in TI-M, she said, is to campaign very strongly for freedom of information, while working closely with civil societies and media organisations.

"Without access to information, work against corruption will have many impediments. 

"There are still many publications that are unable to accept such related information," said Josie.

NONE The other area where she plans to work on is strengthening defence and security projects, through a closer engagement with TI-UK, to ensure more transparency in the government's defence budget.

She further claimed TI has been "reluctant" to work in addressing the issue of corruption in labour migration.

Josie supports the project on enhancing business integrity, which involves training the corporate sector, which is often seen as most corrupt.

As such, TI-M, she ventured, must also intensify its monitoring of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and increase dialogues with MACC staff.

“The current perception is that MACC is not independent because it is slow in addressing grand scandals, especially those allegedly related to political leaders.

"Advocacy work too has been weak. For example, we have a parliamentary committee on corruption, but no one really looks into the area of working with the MPs, building their capacities and improving their understanding and working relations with MACC.”

Malaysia could only improve in it corruption index if it has the “political will” to take action.

"MACC must stop saying ‘we are investigating’ and start taking action," Josie added.