Corruption in Malaysia
Recently, the former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak had been found guilty on all 7 corruption charges in his first trial over the multi-billion dollar scandal involving the 1Malaysia Development Berhad state fund. A judge at the Kuala Lumpur High Court sentenced Nijab to serve 12 years on one count of abuse of power and 10 years each on six other charges including money laundering. Najib becomes the first leader in Malaysia's modern history to be convicted of a crime.
The politics of Malaysia is a country in which I do not have much experience in, never really hearing its politics mentioned on the news until fairly recently. Even at that, the news stories were slim. However, these charges of corruption bring to light the true extent of Malaysian politics. The trial was the first of five Najib faces and analysts said the successfu prosecution boosts the chances of him being found guilty in the remaining proceedings. In total, he faces 42 charges. A corruption scandal in politics on a scale that we have never seen before.
The outrage of this corruption has contributed to his defeat in the 2018 general election in Malaysia as prime minister. This election saw the return of 92 year old former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. It was the first time Najib's Barisan Nasional (BN) party had lost control of parliament since the founding of independent Malaysia in 1957. These allegations of corruption have hung over Najib for more than 5 years, showing the degree that this issue has lingered within the politics of Malaysia. The fund was set up in 2009 not long after Najib, whose father and uncle were Malaysia's second and third prime ministers, took office. It was designed to accelerate Malaysia's economic development. But the fund accumulated billions in debt and US investigators have alleged that at least $4.5bn was stolen from it and laundered by Najib's associates to finance Hollywood films and buy hotels, luxury yachts, artwork, jewellery and other extravagances.
This scandal could rather benefit the current government in power. The current prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, could have his reputation boosted. A prime minister that was fired as Najib's deputy for speaking out over the scandal. The scandal has made Najib the poster boy for corruption in Malaysia, an issue that is supposedly plastered over its politics. This year, Malaysia ranked 61 out of 180 countries on Transparency International's annual corruption index, showing that the rot goes far deeper than one man.
Bribery is a common transaction within the country. For years, many Malaysians have grown used to paying bribery to get things done. Accessing basic services which in the UK are normality such as schools and hospitals, often requires a bribe. Yet, this is put on a much larger scale within its political landscape. Many government-linked bodies have been accused of corrupt practices and for Malaysians, the names of these organisations symbolise the excesses of the state and the abuse of public trust and funds. But this has not resulted in the government putting in any radical measures. Reform agenda has been slow and promises have not been translated into reality.
In 2019, it only launched its National Anti-Corruption Plan. The government also repealed draconian laws such as Official Secrets Act of 1972 which had been used to shield officials from scrutiny and punish activists. The government has to lay a solid foundation to fight against corruption. Corruption runs deep in Malaysia and is an issue that the media in the United Kingdom fails to portray.
The notion of equality in Malaysia is a long shot within its political landscape. The country still openly discriminates against its ethnic and religious minorities in granting access to government benefits. The Malay people experience favouritism in every aspect of political life. Yet an embrace of equal justice under legislation could perhaps heal the corrupt past of the country. A country that needs to strive beyond corruption to mend its politics.
Malaysia has been defined by ethnic politics since its independence from the British in 1957. Ethnic Malays make up just over half the population, known as "bumniputera". The largest and most successful minority are the Chinese, who migrated to Malaysia during British colonial rule. Race riots in 1969 persuaded the government that policies favouring bumniputera and in particular, Malays were essential. There were even political parties such as Umno which defined itself as the party that looked after the Malays, who tended to be economically less successful than the Chinese. However, nowadays we see pro-Malay projects ubiquitous in its politics.
Malaysia now has a new Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, who came to power in February 2020, after the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition collapsed. Before this coalition emerged, the Barisan Nasional regime was a durable regime built on the back of a highly-cohesive grand coalition of 13 political parties that maintained a supermajority for decades. This was composed of prime ministers that ruled for decades such as Mahathir Mohamad, who ruled from 1981 to 2003. This was followed by Najib, who I have just mentioned is convicted of corruption charges. However, Najib retains significant influence in UMNO party with a group of MP's loyal to him. Those MPs could decide to withdraw support for Muhyiddin's rule, to bring him crashing down and force an election. Currently, Muhyiddin's Beratsu party is split between forces loyal to him and MPs loyal to former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who lost the job in February.
There is a chance that UMNO, a party that was booted from government two years ago after the corruption scandal could come back to power in an alliance with PAS and not the Beratsu party, as in the case with the current prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Ultimately, there is a long way to go before Malaysian politics is recovered. It has no clear political consensus. It had a reform agenda that was widely applauded by human rights activists - to end the death penalty, to have a better deal for the poor and to sign Malaysia to a host of international legal conventions. However, this has been stalled. There is still a need to resolve the leadership issue in the country which creates political instability, stymies legislative reforms, upsets financial markets and in the time of COVID-19 is a problem that citizens can do without.
Comments
Post a Comment