COMMENT | The world's total GDP is calculated to stand at US$51 trillion. Malaysia does not have a US$1 trillion economy yet. Indonesia does.

When Malaysia cannot breach a GDP of US$1 trillion - even with 2020 in sight -something is seriously wrong. Either leakages are abound, or, corruption is endemic.

Of course, under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak since 2009, both have been happening at grand scale, either directly or indirectly allegedly attributed to him.

But, as Henry Truman, the president of the United States once declared: "The buck stops with me." Najib does not have to say the same to make it valid. But leadership implies the need to take responsibility, and to delegate the right responsibilities to the capable and trusted lieutenants.

When Jho Low, aka, Eric Tan, together with gang of "Ocean 11", started raiding the vaults of the world's banks, in addition to working with Arabs like Ubaidi in Abu Dhabi to create IPIC Aabar - which is totally different from IPIC in Abu Dhabi, a valid sovereign fund - then some heads have to roll.

Heads have to roll

But none did. Instead, it was the former attorney general of Malaysia, Ghani Patail, Zeti Aziz and several heads of MACC, whose careers were prematurely ended in 2011.

This includes the political career of Muhyiddin Yassin and Mukhriz Mahathir too. When challenged to "Nothing to Hide", Najib went missing and hid from the glare of public scrutiny. Even in the Parliament, Najib again made the disappearing act.

Now, of the US$51 trillion economy, how much of it is driven and operationalised by corruption? Economists at the IMF and the World Bank tend to stick to a conservative estimate of two to five percent of the world's total GDP. That's nearly US$2.6 trillion.

But Prof Matthew Stephenson argued that this figure is not fully reflective of the actual seriousness of the situation. Indeed, there is a string of organisations that are committed to battling corruption. (https://globalanticorruptionblog.com/resources/).

Granted that nearly and allegedly, US$11 billion of 1MDB has been mismanaged, either in full or, in massive portions, a chain of accountability has to be re-established. One, either the prime minister cannot be the finance minister concurrently, or, the advisor or patron to 1MDB cannot be at the helm of 1MDB too.

BN - A massive electoral monster 

It is noteworthy to remember between 2009 and 2016, there were several Bersih demonstrations. Each called for electoral reform and clean government.

Thus, Najib cannot claim that he hasn't been warned, especially when Umno, together with its coalition partners in Barisan Nasional, has lost the popular votes of the two general elections. Of course, despite having merely 47.38 percent of the popular votes, it controls 59.9 percent of the seats in the parliament.

In this sense, Barisan Nasional is a massive electoral monster. But when the beast is gobbling up the entire fiscal spending of the government in one year, leading to a shortfall of RM42 billion, if GST is not imposed nationwide, then the government is amiss.

High stakes 

And, when you see "Warga Emas" like Dr Mahathir and Muhyiddin Yassin joining forces with the "Young Turks" like Mukhriz Mahathir, myself and Syed Saddiq, going all out to lock arms with the opposition to fight back, then it means Pakatan Harapan means business.

We want the business of government to remain governing, and to get out of business too; all of which are distorting the markets, unless there is a proper revamp of the chain of accountability and command.

The 14th general election is not about "enough is enough" but "enough is not enough." We need to destroy the government's systemic abuse of public funds, roots, trees and branches. Otherwise, our future US$1 trillion economy will be 50 percent corrupted by the more than US$2.6 trillion global corruption. The stakes are high.

This is why every eligible voter - young and old - must vote. Barring the exercise of our votes to end the corrupt government, the future of the "Warga Emas" and the "Young Turks" in Malaysia is gone.

And, the saying Tak Akan Melayu hilang dari dunia, (Malays shall not be obliterated from the face of the Earth), will mean the inverse: Malaysia will become a kleptocracy, which also means the end of the Malaysian democracy. Sad.

RAIS HUSSIN is a Supreme Council Member of Parti Peribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM). He also heads the Policy and Strategy Bureau of PPBM.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.