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Media  Statement

by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Parliament, Tuesday):Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Barisan Nasional secretary-general, Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said yesterday that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is not alone in his fight against corruption and that the whole Cabinet is behind him.

Refuting my statement  that the Prime Minister was alone and isolated in his commitment to fight corruption and uphold national integrity, Radzi said all ministers have initiated or participated actively in programmes organised at the ministerial level to promote good governance, enhance integrity and check malpractices.

If a national poll is conducted among Malaysians whether ministers are supporting the Prime Minister in making the battle against corruption  the priority agenda of the present administration and that the Ministers are leading the national integrity campaign in their respective ministries, I have no doubt that the answer to both questions would an unanimous and thunderous “no”.

I challenge every Minister to make public his/her record in the past two years of the Abdullah premiership  of what had been done or achieved on the anti-corruption front in the respective ministry, and I will not be surprised that the majority of Ministers would have very little to report.

I challenge Radzi to submit in  Cabinet tomorrow the proposal requiring  every Minister to individually present a two-year report of what each had done or achieved  on the anti-corruption front in their respective Ministries  before Parliament adjourns on Dec. 8.

I am sure there is no possibility such a proposal would be accepted by the Minister for the simple reason that the overwhelming majority of Ministers would fail this test.

It is clear that Radzi is quite half-hearted in refuting  my statement that Abdullah is very alone with little  tangible and  visible support from the rest of his Cabinet to fight corruption as the centerpiece of the present administration, or Radzi would not have taken two weeks before trying to respond to my statement.

I am not interested in a war of words with Radzi as I am more concerned that Abdullah should be supported, truly and visibly,  by his Cabinet Ministers in the campaign to create a new culture of political integrity with zero tolerance for corruption.

Ministers who are lukewarm, and seen and known to the Malaysian public as  unenthusiastic in the war against corruption, should be dropped immediately from the Cabinet to pave the way for a total  Ministerial revamp and reshuffle.

The Opposition is prepared to give Abdullah full co-operation and support in the war against corruption, and Malaysians want to know whether  Cabinet Ministers are prepared to show greater enthusiasm and commitment  to support the Prime Minister in the fight against corruption by making a Cabinet policy decision tomorrow requiring every Minister to spearhead the national integrity drive in their respective ministries.

            
(22/11/2005)