The short-lived PN government showed a distinct lack of interest or desire to change Malaysia’s governance for the better. Three years of power struggleīetween the three governments in power throughout the national anti-corruption plan’s timeline, the PH government has shown itself the most willing to initiate and propose institutional reforms but ultimately failed to truly commit to sweeping changes. READ MORE: Gearing up for general election: What reforms do voters want?ĭespite making progress on a few fronts, it is notable that Ismail Sabri’s government completely failed to legislate on police accountability, replacing the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill with a watered-down Independent Police Conduct Commission IPCC Bill. PN law minister and Pas secretary general Takiyuddin Hassan later announced that all MPs who do not hold positions in government would be made heads of government-linked companies, essentially declaring the reemergence of patronage politics openly. PN governmentĪfter the downfall of PH, the new unelected Perikatan Nasional government, led by Prime Minister Mahiaddin Yasin, came into power. Noticeably, PH was not able to follow through on several of their other vows to enact certain laws and constitutional amendments such as the parliamentary service act as the coalition collapsed in 2020. Nevertheless, PH failed to table the ombudsman bill and a political finance law in October 2019’s parliamentary sitting as promised. Overall, PH successfully tabled the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission Bill while also creating two parliamentary select committees on elections, major public appointments and the national budget. PH under Dr Mahathir Mohamad stumbled through numerous contradictions and reneged pledges, such as the decision not to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the appointment of Azhar Harun as chairman of the Election Commission and Latheefa Koya as the chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission without obtaining Parliament’s approval.Ĭoncerning the 13 major reform areas outlined by C4 Center, PH successfully initiated 11 of them, with the anti-party hopping law and environmental governance being the notable exceptions.

However, this appetite towards reforms eventually receded. READ MORE: Prison reform: Consequences of poor governanceĪmong their efforts would be the establishment of the council of eminent persons, the institutional reform committee and the 1MDB investigative committee alongside the national anti-corruption plan to correct the many ills that endured within Malaysia’s administrative system. These findings have been compiled into a report, allowing readers to observe the various promises made and ultimately discarded by successive governments since 2019.Īlongside the 11 major areas of reform, C4 Center has included two other initiatives that we believe are also important to the overall reform plan of Malaysia: the anti-‘party hopping’ law and environmental governance.

Throughout this process, the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center) has tracked the developments of a select 11 out of the plan’s 115 initiatives through our MyGovt Reform Tracker. However, with just a year before the plan’s stated date of completion of December 2023, not only is Malaysia regressing in its reforms but also performing disastrously in keeping to its reform agenda. The Pakatan Harapan government sought a holistic solution to corruption by launching the National Anti-Corruption Plan 2019-2023. Following the historic results of the 2018 general election, a renewed sense of hope for reforms against corruption towards better governance emerged, following the scandal-ridden days of Barisan Nasional and Najib Razak’s administration.

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