The call follows a move last week by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and members of his executive council to make public declarations of their assets, which were later posted on the state government’s website.
Yesterday, Chief Justice Tan Sri Ariffin Zakaria’s also announced a move to weed of graft in the judiciary by requiring judges of higher courts to declare their assets with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
“TI-M has for many years repeatedly called for transparency and full public disclosure of assets of elected and public officials, towards improving the confidence of Malaysian citizens and foreign investors in integrity, accountability and good governance,” TI-M chief Datuk Paul Low said in a statement today.
“TI-M also believes that for a full picture, liabilities, borrowings and debts of officials should also be disclosed,” he added.
The MACC corporate communications unit said the declaration of assets would help strengthen the integrity of the country’s judicial institution.
“MACC has always been ready to assist any public agency or private sector in its review and provide advice on systems and procedures to improve the integrity of the institution,” it said, adding that a special task force has been set up to “identify appropriate mechanisms for the implementation and monitoring process of the declaration of assets by the judges”.
Yesteday, Ariffin said judges had nothing to fear if their work was clean, and reminded them to uphold the independence of the Judiciary and reject interference of any kind.
Under Section 9 of the Judges Code of Ethics 2009, a judge shall declare in writing all his assets to the Chief Justice of the Federal Court upon his appointment or any time thereafter, if required so.
The move would affect judges in the Federal Court, the Court of Appeal and High Courts and judicial commissioners.
Cabinet members should declare assets, says Penang CM
GEORGE TOWN, Jan 16 — Lim Guan Eng exhorted the Najib administration today to emulate the judiciary by ordering all Cabinet ministers to publicly declare their assets.
While expressing support for the move announced by Chief Justice Tan Sri Arifin Zakaria yesterday, the Penang chief minister said the declaration of assets was merely the “first step” in ensuring integrity in the administration.“I’d like to state that as the CM and the secretary-general of DAP, this is a step in the right direction. We hope the federal government will approve of it and do the same, particularly for all its ministers.
“This is the first step in shoring up public confidence in the integrity (of these institutions of government),” he told a press conference today.
Lim, along with his state executive councillors, had similarly gone public with their assets last week.
When announcing the proposal yesterday, Arifin said all judges of higher courts, including the Federal Court, Court of Appeal, High Courts and Judicial Commissioners, would be required to declare their assets soon. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, he added, would also be called in to check on the information.
Today, Lim pointed out that asset declarations were one of the six key “integrity measures” he had introduced in his administration of Penang, in line with its CAT (Competency, Accountability, Transparency) principles.
He told the Najib administration that, apart from the declaration of assets, the government needed to practise an open tender system when awarding contracts, enact freedom of information laws, and pledge not to mix business with politics.
“Business and politics must be separate. We see many parties involved in businesses... MCA can even give its members aged above 60 years RM100 each... is it a political party or a business enterprise?” he asked.
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