PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) can improve with actions by the authorities to fight corruption and abuse of power, says Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (pic).

       The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) said action by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the police, among others, has resulted in a positive perception of the country’s fight against corruption.

       “I am confident that our ranking on the CPI will improve as action by the authorities will give a positive impression (that) corruption is (being) dealt with,” he said on Friday (Jan 28).

       He said the CPI is based on exposure and awareness that corruption is happening in a country.

       “If there is corruption in a country but cases and issues are not raised, then the perception is that such incidents do not or rarely happen there.

       “Perception can also be positive when there are actions by the authorities to tackle corruption,” he said.

       Malaysia dropped five places to 62nd place out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s CPI 2021 report.

       In 2020, Malaysia was ranked 57th out of 180 countries, scoring 51 out of 100 points.

       Transparency International-Malaysia had said earlier that this was a worrying trend, as the country had seen a decline for the past two years following changes of government in 2020 and 2021.

       TI-M president Dr Muhammad Mohan said Malaysia had regressed as institutional reforms stalled owing to a lack of political will to table the Political Financing Bill, the watering down of the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill and the lack of progress on reforms to the MACC.