Even though it is not an election year, Malaysians still think politicians can be more corrupt than the police in the country.

A Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) 2014 Malaysia Corruption Barometer survey found political parties to have, for the first time ever, outranked the police force as the most likely to take money.

“There is a probability that people see what has happened during the by-elections,” TI-M president Akhbar Satar said when releasing the results of the nationwide survey done in March and April in Petaling Jaya today.

“If they are serious in fighting corruption, both (BN and Pakatan) parties have to spend less money on by-elections because this directly encourages you to get funds from illegal sources,” he added.

He noted that Malaysia has mostly failed to address the issue of political financing, with the line between party funds and personal funds often blurred.

Twelve key instiutions were ranked

In the survey, about 2,000 Malaysians were asked to rank eight key institutions, giving a 1 to 5 figure for the least corrupt to most corrupt.

About 45 percent of the respondents ticked levels 4 and 5 for political parties, compared with 42 percent for the police, who have almost always ranked as the most corrupt in Malaysia and elsewhere, Akhbar said.

In comparison, TI-M's Global Corruption Barometer report in 2013, had 76 percent denouncing the police as corrupt to extremely corrupt. Back then, only 69 percent thought political parties were so.

Akhbar said the survey did not augur well for democracy in Malaysia.

“It is sad when political parties being the driving force of democracy are perceived to be the most corrupt institution in the country,” he said.

Political parties and the police topped other 10 institutions in the survey by far. The others surveyed included public officials/civil servants, Parliament, private sector, judiciary, media, medical/health services, military, NGOs, the education system and religious bodies.

Medical and health services saw a notable jump in corruption perception, up to 19 percent said they were very corrupt, compared to nine percent who believed so in the last survey.

Akhbar, who is also an expert criminologist, said TI-M recommended the government run psychometric test for all public servants as a solution. This test can predict if an official will turn bad, he said.

“You must be whiter than white, only then can you truly fight crime,” Akhbar told reporters after presenting the survey.

“Are you honest? Do you have integrity?”

The 2014 Malaysia Corruption Barometer survey was conducted in March and April with the help of consultant firm Frost and Sullivan.

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