Biased methodology claim 'baseless', TI-M tells Zahid
Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi’s allegation that Transparency International had used a biased methodology when coming up with its report, released last week, is “baseless”, said Transparency International – Malaysia (TI-M) secretary-general Josie M Fernandez.
Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi’s allegation that Transparency International had used a biased methodology when coming up with its corruption report is “baseless”, said Transparency International – Malaysia (TI-M) secretary-general Josie M Fernandez.
She said the report, the Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index report released by TI-UK last week, was not based on perception surveys, but was an independent expert assessment that is peer-reviewed twice.
In addition, when the draft report was handed over to the Defence Ministry for its response last year, she said the ministry did not raise any issue with the methodology employed.
“The ministry was aware and the ministry participated. They probably know that this is not a perception survey, so the minister’s comments are baseless, or he has not been informed,” she told at a press conference today.
As such, she said TI-M will send a copy of the report to Zahid and hope the ministry would engage with the corruption watchdog to address the issues it raised.
The report rated Malaysia as having a “high risk” of corruption in its defence spending, citing issues such as restrictions under the Official Secrets Act and lack of doctrine and training to address corruption of a military in operations.
It is based on assessment and interviews using 77 questions, such as whether the national defence policy is publically available for debate, or whether there a transparent process to oversee military procurement.
Zahid, in response, said that the report was biased and based on TI-UK’s perception of his ministry.
Josie suggested that to reduce the risk of corruption in the defence sector, Malaysia should enact a Freedom of Information Act, revamp secrecy laws, and encourage debate on defence policy and defence budget.
In addition, she suggested that the Defence Ministry should work closely with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to implement anti-corruption measures.
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