UM lecturer clarifies 'asset declaration unfair' statement
Universiti Malaya lecturer Muhammad Asri Mohd Ali has clarified his statement that it is unfair to ask long-serving political leaders to publicly declare their assets, stressing that he didn't mean to defend them.
Universiti Malaya lecturer Muhammad Asri Mohd Ali has clarified his statement that it is unfair to ask long-serving political leaders to publicly declare their assets, stressing that he didn't mean to defend them.
Muhammad Asri (left) said he had meant that public asset declaration is connected to frequent changes in government - about once every five to 10 years like in Western democracies where there is no compunction about asset declaration.
"Without this condition, cabinet ministers will not declare their assets publicly because as long as they keep winning general elections, they would think there is no need to do so.
"(In addition) they would feel that it is ‘unfair' (to implement public asset declaration) because there are new ministers as well as ministers who have been in politics for a long time.
"It is there where I have given the example of (Prime Minister) Najib Abdul Razak and (Sarawak Chief Minister) Abdul Taib Mahmud," he said in a letter to Malaysiakini on Tuesday.
Muhammad Asri was reported to have said on an Oct 17 forum, organised by UM's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Studies, that in consideration of "local realities", it is unfair to ask the two senior politicians to declare their assets.
"You have to be fair. If you are the chief minister of Sarawak, do you want to declare your assets? How many years has he (Taib) been sitting there?
"(For) Najib, how many years has he been in politics since becoming the menteri besar of Pahang? It is not fair for them," he told the forum. [See video]
Our electoral culture
He said this when a member of the audience asked about means to curb excesses highlighted in the auditor-general's reports, such as asset declaration.
Prior to that, auditor-general Ambrin Buang (right) told the same forum that asset declaration is already being done but it is directly to the prime minister instead of to the public.
In his statement, Muhammad Asri explained that the "local realities" he mentioned refers to electoral culture in Malaysia.
He said Malaysia cannot emulate the example set by Western democracies without understanding the realities at home.
"If our electoral culture changes, the process of public asset declaration will happen," he added.
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