Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP- Ipoh Timur) today urged the government to present a quarterly report on corruption to Parliament, in line with the premier's campaign against corruption.

He said periodic assessment would assist Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to keep his pledge toward an accountable, transparent and people-oriented administration.

Debating the 2003 Supplementary Bill in the Dewan Rakyat today, he said the premier's drive for a new political culture of 'zero' tolerance for corruption would not be achieved otherwise.

"Malaysia's ranking in Transparency International's annual corruption perception index has plunged 14 places in nine years, from 23rd in 1999 to 37th last year," he said.

Lim cited the example of allegations that Barisan Nasional (BN) owes dozens of companies some RM100 million for election paraphernalia, saying this was a breach of a provision on election law that limits spending.

Last week, in an exclusive report, malaysiakini revealed a claim by these firms that they had not been paid for supplying election materials to BN.

Pledge 'violated'

Lim further questioned why 18 'high profile' corruption cases have been closed as well as why the government's pledge to award 'open' tenders was violated in the case of the Northern Selangor Landfill project.

The project has been awarded to a consortium led by a business tycoon with close ties to the government.

"The first report that should be made available to Parliament should be on (these two cases)," he said.

Lim had earlier complained that "Parliament is now a joke", when he was given 15 minutes for his speech. He also expressed dissatisfaction that only three days had been set aside for the debate on the Supplementary Bill.

"Why were you wasting five days to debate insignificant Bills? How will we become a 'First World Parliament' when such an important Bill gets only three days for debate?" he asked.

The government is seeking parliamentary approval for an additional RM27.2 billion allocation to cover its operational and development expenditure for last year.

Speaker Mohamed Zahir Ismail, however, explained that this was a rule.