The government needs to have "stronger political will" to combat corruption, a watchdog said today, warning it is the country's poor who will suffer.

"To put it bluntly, we need a much stronger political will because the poor will suffer otherwise," Ramon Navaratnam, president of Transparency International (TI) Malaysia, said.

"We also need to amend the legislation on corruption and enforce it, in order to make it much more effective," he added after releasing a worldwide survey on the public's perception to corruption in their country.

Navaratnam said the 1,250 Malaysian people surveyed for TI's Global Corruption Barometer felt the police and political parties were among the most corrupt.

"Sixty-three percent of Malaysians surveyed think corruption will increase in the next three years, while only 18 percent felt it will decrease," he added.

White-collar crime

Navaratnam said the survey found six percent of those interviewed claimed they or someone in their household paid a bribe in some form in the last 12 months.

The results of the TI survey came after Malaysia's white-collar crime police chief was charged with abuse of power last month after already facing corruption charges for not declaring shares and property.

Ramli Yusoff is the most senior police officer in the country to be charged for corruption. If convicted, he could face a possible 20-year jail term and up to RM10,000 in fines.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmand Badawi was elected on an anti-corruption ticket in March 2004, but opposition leaders say progress has been slow, with few meaningful reforms.