So our de facto law minister Nazri Aziz opposes the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) recent proposal to have cabinet ministers make public declaration of their assets and that of their immediate families’. Many were quick to lambast Nazri for his defiance to this idea. The immediate perception to Nazri’s response was that the minister himself, along with a number of his cabinet colleagues, are involved in corruption and that he is trying to protect his peers. After all, there is nothing to fear if members of the cabinet are truly free from any corruption.

Nazri (left) said that revealing the asset declarations of ministers and their immediate family members to the public should not be done as this would pose “danger” to them.

"If we make these details public, it may endanger the individuals concerned," Nazri said yesterday.
 
This statement itself sends the wrong message (perhaps the right message depending on how you see it) for the BN government as it gave away the fact that many of his coworkers in the Cabinet are involved in corruption. It’s not a matter of ‘if’ but of ‘who’ and ‘how many’.

Nazri should know better on this matter since he is the National Key Results Area (NKRA) Anti-Corruption Lead Minister who had pledged to give his full attention to the efforts of combat corruption. However, looking at the country’s recent decline in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) obviously he has not done a good job in his appointed post. This is already a bad sign as eradicating corruption is a very vital part of not only the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) but also Umno-Barisan Nasional’s already rocky future.

Speaking of lousy job, as head of the Public Transport Commission who’s in charge of the country’s taxi service, we have yet to see improvements in our cab service. During the launch of an initiative whereby taxi drivers would become mini-ambassadors and informers on behalf of the MACC on Sept 13, Nazri said that over 30,000 taxi drivers would be the MACC’s informers and that around 200 taxi drivers operating in the Klang Valley would start the campaign.

“The government is committed to battling corruption through its transformation plan by establishing a National Key Results Area for corruption and reducing corruption via increased enforcement and prevention, while improving the people’s perception of the government’s and public services’ integrity,” Nazri announced said at the launch held during MACC’s Hari Raya Aidil Fitri open house.

Nazri’s participation in the ‘taxi snitch’ drive also drew flak with critics accusing him of participating in another thoughtless measure rather than confronting the problem of corruption head-on. It also earned him the “Defective Law Minister” moniker.

It’s sad that at this time of uncertainty facing the Barisan Nasional, as an elected representative and a senior minister at that, Nazri has not work the grassroots. He is still detached from the people. You can easily tell by the manner he responded to the asset declaration proposal that he was speaking on behalf of his BN colleagues in the Cabinet and not the rakyat. Just like when he stated in 2010 that his real boss is the prime minister and the president of Umno and BN instead of the people, as PKR vice president Nurul Izzah pointed out. With these sorts of half-baked statements issued by a senior minister perhaps another gag order by his ‘boss’ is in order for the sake of their party.

The MACC must be commended for coming up with a bold idea to detect corruption in the federal government. However, the same can't be said of our law minister. There is simply no honor in protecting white collar criminals as if they are less of a felon as compared to theives, robbers, drug peddlars, prostitutes, frauds and the likes.

*The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer.