Amid widespread criticism against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak at the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) in Putrajaya, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) adviser Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was worse off.

Tunku Aziz, who was former Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) chairperson, said Mahathir had in his 22 years in power used "every repressive apparatus of the state to keep the people down".

Nonetheless, he told the international delegates, during his time with TI-M, he had taken on Mahathir and even convinced him to meet with TI's international chapter.

"He was, like all corrupt politicians, saying that corruption was bad. I never came across any head of state or head of government saying, ‘I'm sitting in office and corruption is good, let's all be corrupt’.

"It's always (said that) corruption is evil, we must fight corruption but half an hour later, they will be collecting money from all over," he said at an IACC session in Putrajaya today.

Tunku Aziz, who is the MACC advisory board chairperson, said this during the session titled ‘Grand corruption: How to stop the corrupt stealing from you and me’.

In contrast, he said, the current government under Najib has done better.

"Under the present government - for all its flaws and repressive laws - there is much more openness and space.

"The fact that the day of your arrival you saw people demonstrating in the streets. Now, that wouldn't have happened in Mahathir's time.

"There would have been water cannons, there would have been police in riot gear. So, for me, this has to be a tremendous success in terms of achievement," Tunku Aziz said.

A former DAP senator, Tunku Aziz has been defending Najib in recent months.