Asset Declaration - Way to make sure politicians do not abuse power to enrich themselves?

Most disappointing that Anwar Ibrahim and many PH politicians yet to submit 'asset declaration'? Are they worried that wrongful earnings by means of kleptocracy or corruption will be known? How 'moneys' unexplainable are in their bank accounts in Malaysia?overseas? will finally be known? [ https://mydeclaration.sprm.gov.my/]. Time needed for such declaration should be about 1 day - worse case scenario is one week?

At the time of writing, the portal lists 48 MPs and members of the federal government as having declared their assets,

ASSET DECLARATION - This must be a detailed declaration of not just monthly incomes, but also the declaration of houses, land, shares, unit trusts, money in bank accounts, etc - i.e. the total current wealth of Ministers and peoples' representatives.

IT MUST BE NOW - IN FACT, AS OF 10th May 2018 - after the last General Elections...

And such declarations must be made annually ....WHY? So that we all will know that they did not use their position in government to enrich themselves, their family members and friends...

SO that we will know that they did not enrich themselves through KLEPTOCRACY, corrupting or any wrong use of the powers and knowledge as government  - So every year, we will look and see whether they are becoming richer by any wrong means...

So ASSET DECLARATION is not a one off thing...but is a continuous exercise every year...

How RICH an MP, ADUN or Minister is not an issue...but whether they are abusing their powers and enriching themselves..by KLEPTOCRACY, ABUSES OF POWER, CORRUPT PRACTICES?

Some get a lot of income - other than their salaries/allowances as ADUN, MP and/or Minister....THAT IS OK?

Some may be partners in law firms, or owners of business > so they may get money as partners/owners of businesses...or from their other investments >>> ALL THIS IS OK?

But, if they appoint themselves or MPs/ADUNs of their parties to be Directors of GLCs, Presidents of Universities, Members of Commissions,...and get additional income/allowances, then this is very wrong...very wrong. As paid public servants, MPs, ADUNs and Ministers, they should not be getting any additional income/allowances - if they are entitled, then this money should flow back to government to use for the people...

Noting that Malaysian minimum wage is RM1,100 - wonder whether high salary/allowances of public servants including MPs/ADUNs should maybe not be more than 10 times - i.e. no more than RM11,000 per month is just? Maybe not more than 15 times for PM and Ministers?

As I have advocated many times, all MP/Senator/ADUNs should be allocated a 'different sum' to cover operation cost of service centers/offices, and also a pay scheme for personal assistant/s, office/service centre employees and political research officers. The bigger the constituency, the more such service centres - maybe 1 for every 40,000 constituents.

Maybe even allocations of RM1 per month for number of votes obtained in last GE for the MP (and also for losing candidates) to be used to help the voters in their constituency. 

Now for an MP, there is not just salary but also 'allowances' whereby these allowances can sometimes be even more than salaries. Are there also further 'reimbursements' for certain expenses. 

NOW, besides this, they also get some benefits - pensions for life, healthcare as if they are 'public servants' for life, etc ...all this is OK?

But some benefits like AP(Approved Permits) , loans with special interests, etc ...to buy houses, cars...

 

Zuraida also stressed that the vehicles were bought at nearly 50 percent discount using facilities provided to all federal lawmakers.

"Every MP will get one AP (approved permit) for each term. We were also given a quota for one vehicle with reduced excise duty. The other facility is a RM100,000 loan to buy a car.

"So if I don't use these facilities, am I not stupid? In two-terms I have (bought) six cars," Zuraida said, - PKR's Zuraida Kamaruddin reveals disturbing concerns ...which PKR,DAP,PAS ...must explain?

Now, in the UMNO-BN time, all these benefits really mean loss of the Malaysian people's monies. Maybe all these benefits should be ABOLISHED...Really odd when a people's representative(wakil rakyat) gets so much more income/allowances/benefits than the very people that they representative....From being 'ordinary Malaysians', they suddenly rise to be 'RICH" ...and some also change lifestyles to adopt lifestyles of the 'rich'...with bigger homes, cars, dresses, ...and they may end up becoming less and less like the people...so sad.

Are MPs/ADUNs full-time people's representatives? Sadly some still are 'part-time' even with all that salary/allowances and benefits - some continue to be involved in their private business/profession...etc..remember the time when MPs were absent for voting on POTA - some, I believe, could not make it because they had to deal with one of the patient's tooth problems...[MPs still protect each other - still no transparent public disclosure of attendance records of MPs - which also should include reasons for absence...it is disturbing to see so many absent MPs in Parliament when after all their primary function should be attendance and debate and vote in Parliament. If your employee do not turn up for work, we will most likely terminate him/her...but MPs get away with so much - MPs with less than 90% attendance should be dismissed as MPs - and this calculation of attendance will be 90 percent of the hours Parliament sits not the number of days{some MPs are smart turn up for an hour and then are not in the Dewan Rakyat]

ASSET DECLARATION - Not just income BUT also current accumulated wealth and money(maybe also a declaration of monies in overseas accounts, house and property in other countries)...

BELIEVE THAT SOME MPs MAY HAVE 'DIRTY' MONEY obtained by their previous involvement in past BN governments(or maybe even PR Governments) - COME CLEAN NOW, ADMIT, APOLOGIZE AND RETURN ILL-GOTTEN MONIES BACK TO THE GOVERNMENT BEFORE END OF 2018 - then, maybe we could forgive and forget? The delay in submitting Declaration of Assets should raise this presumption and the relevant agencies and the AG should immediately commence investigations..

REMEMBER in NEW Malaysia - no one is above the law - not even if you are MInister, MP or politician from the PH parties?

CRIME has no limitation - so even if you committed a crime 40-50 years ago, you still can be charged, tried, convicted and sentenced...

  

MACC releases MPs' asset details; Guan Eng top, Dr M third

Published 1 day ago on 01 November 2018

By Ida Lim

MACC's asset declaration portal lists Lim as having a declared income of RM86,464.92

 as of October 10. ― Picture by Azuniddun Ghazali

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng is currently ranked as having the highest income out of the 40-odd MPs from the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition and its allies who have publicly declared their assets, while Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is at the third spot.

The list of MPs, along with the date of their declaration of assets, as well as whether their spouse and children have made similar declarations, is available for public viewing on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's dedicated portal here.

The MACC's asset declaration portal lists Lim as having a declared income of RM86,464.92 as of October 10, while Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has a declared income of RM77,629.68 as of October 18.

Dr Mahathir has a declared income of RM75,861.57 as of October 19.

Lim is listed as having declared his spouse and his children's income as well while Saifuddin has declared his own; Dr Mahathir has declared only both his and his wife's assets.

This is the first time in Malaysia’s history that the assets of MPs or ministers have been made public, in what is seen as a move to curb the alleged culture of corruption prevalent under the previous administration.

A screengrab of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s asset declaration portal with the MPs ranked according to their income as of 1pm, November 1, 2018.

At the time of writing, the portal lists 48 MPs and members of the federal government as having declared their assets, with the top three coming from DAP, PKR and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) respectively.

According to the current list, DAP MP and Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow is the fourth-highest earner with a declared income of RM73,576.15, followed by PPBM MP and Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at RM72,276.37, DAP MP and Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok at RM68,142.66, and Parti Warisan Sabah MP and Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi at RM67,483.43.

Rounding up the top 10 highest-earners in the current list is PKR MP Datuk Mansor Othman (RM60,719), independent-turned-PKR MP Larry Sng (RM59,065.39) and finally at the 10th spot, PKR's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail at RM59,048.33.

The MP with the least assets in the MACC list at the time of writing is former polls reform activist Maria Chin Abdullah at RM21,000. The figures for two of the 48 MPs were not listed at the time of writing - DAP MP Wong Shu Qi and Hindraf's minister in charge of national unity and social well-being Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy.

The commission did not define the periods for which the incomes were declared.

The MACC asset declaration portal states that detailed information regarding asset ownership will be displayed after technical problems are resolved. It appears that the portal is being updated incrementally, with names subsequently added on to the initial list of 48 names at the time of writing.

According to a pie chart on the MACC asset declaration portal at the time of writing, only 47 or 38.2 per cent of MPs from the ruling parties have declared their assets, while 76 or 61.8 per cent of these MPs have yet to do so. (This is despite 48 names being listed as having made their asset declarations).

Another pie chart showed 20 or 40.8 per cent of members in the administration have declared their assets, while another 29 or 59.2 per cent have not done so.

Based on the MACC portal, MPs who are not listed at the time of writing as having declared their assets include the prime minister's son Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir (PPBM-Jerlun) and the deputy prime minister's daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR-Permatang Pauh).

The MACC had repeatedly deferred the public display of asset declarations from the initially scheduled date of October 1 to October 15, and finally to November 1 after the Cabinet decided to give MPs and ministers more time to make the declarations. - Malay Mail, 1/11/2018