Second Finance Minister: CPI ranking questionable

The methodology used in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking in which Malaysia dipped four spots is "questionable", Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah said today.

However, Husni (left) agreed that the annual survey conducted by international body Transparency International was a good reference for Malaysia to improve itself.

"They way they are doing it is based on perception. Perception is hard to say because you are not interviewing the same person.

"You are interviewing a different set of persons in Malaysia and a different set of persons in Thailand," he said on the sidelines of Umno annual general meeting.

For example, Husni said, if the survey interviewed a company that operates in various countries, the company would be in a better position to make comparisons among those countries.

"But if you talk to different persons, they may be a critical-minded in one country and the others in another country may not be that critical-minded.

'Not the end of everything'

"I mean, we can use it for the purpose of improving our position, but we cannot say that it means the end of everything.

"When we do comparisons based on interviewing different sets of persons, it is questionable, but it is good for the purpose of improving ourselves," explained Umno's Tambun MP.

Malaysia's position in the CPI ranking dipped from 56th last year to 60th this year, the worst in 10 years, according to Transparency International Malaysia Chapter (TI-M).

According to the integrity body, renewed government efforts to stamp out graft have failed to stop Malaysia's fall in the ranking because of its failure to act on "grand corruption".

TI-M noted that this was prevalent in the awarding of mega projects without open tenders, inflated military procurement and the close nexus between business and politics that is shrouded in secrecy.

Ahmad Husni was also asked for his view on the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal, which is headed by the husband of Umno Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, but he declined to comment, saying "I am not good in political strategy".