Malaysia's slip in ranking in an index on defence corruption risk - from  D (high risk) to E (very high risk) - is due to changes in measurement, the Performance and Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu) has explained.

NONE According to anti-corruption unit director D Ravindran (left) , the Transparency International United Kingdom index did not previously measure whether the defence budget and procurement were publicly debated, for example in Parliament.

However, he said, Pemandu is already in talks with the Defence Ministry to put in preliminary measures to monitor at least the non-arms defence procurements.

“The ranking drop reflects how much (defence procurement) is debated as opposed to how the procurement is done,” he said.

“If you go into the details, TI had scored us well on the audit process involving the auditor-general, whose processes they deem as sound.”

Ravindran  also said it was this aspect which brought down Singapore which, like Malaysia, was ranked as a country at “ very high risk” of corruption in defence.

While parliamentary debate on the defence budget does not come under Pemandu's ambit, the agency has in the past two months tried to push for integrity pacts for non-arms defence contracts.

azlan “This would include things like uniforms and boots. This is an immediate and straightforward measure we can put (into place),” Ravindran said.

Pemandu is also in talks with the ministry to place these types of procurement on the MyPerolehan portal, which lists all government contracts.

“It is something we are talking to them about, to see how much of the contract is non-security related,” he said.

Defence and security remain a “critical and sensitive” matter, he noted, especially after the Sulu incursion into Lahad Datu, Sabah, last year.

TI-Malaysia, in commenting on the slip in rankings today, pointed out that even countries which have superior military might -like the US and Australia - were high in the rankings.

It argued that this means that secrecy in government procurement is not crucial for national security.

Asked to comment on this, Ravindran: “This is related to overall defence and security policy, and Pemandu is not in the position to comment on that.”

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