Malaysia needs a clean leader who is sincere in fighting corruption, otherwise it would not be effective, said Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) president Akhbar Satar.

"Corruption is rampant in the country, everyone knows this.

"We need a leader who is really clean and sincere in fighting corruption. If such a leader is not sincere, then it's very difficult (to combat corruption)," he said at the launch of his Malay-language book 'Corruption, Crime and Malaysia' in Kuala Lumpur today.