PM : assets declaration will be made public
Malaysiakini.com
Mar 19, 2008
Soon Li Tsin

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today said that asset declarations by all new cabinet ministers and deputy ministers will be made public.

He added that these ministers and their deputies would be asked to declare their assets twice during the five-year parliamentary term.

abdullah ahmad badawi pc 190308 02"We will make an asset declaration to be made available for public viewing. We will decide on the methodology and how to do it.

"I have asked the Anti-Corruption Agency to help prepare the relevant forms. When the forms are ready, we will need to discuss and understand what assets need to be included in the form," he explained.

Abdullah told this to reporters after attending the first cabinet meeting at his Putrajaya office today.

However, he did not state whether spouses and family members of the ministers should follow suit in declaring their assets as well.

Annual review

Flanked by his deputy Najib Abdul Razak, Abdullah said the government will also have an annual review of its policies beginning this year.

"We have also decided that for every year, we will review steps we took whether it was successful or effective and the problems faced.

"This is better than making a review after four years or before the elections. The problem with this (the review being done before elections) is that we won’t have any time to fix our flaws.

"We’ll do it on a yearly basis so that improvements will be better. I believe any corrective measures to be undertaken, we will be able to do it immediately," he announced.

Previously, the prime minister gave a report card to the citizens on the progress made by the government between 2004 to 2007.

Ruling coalition Barisan Nasional also gave its report card in the election manifesto that was released on Feb 25, three days before of the 12th general election.

Abdullah said the cabinet has unanimously decided that the government will address the major issues raised during the elections.

"We will address issues that were raised in elections such as inflation, crime, social problems and matters relating to the reform of the judiciary. These issue will be acted upon (by us)," he asserted.

Behave properly

The premier also warned new ministers to behave properly now that they are in the public eye.

"Minister must also behave well in the public eye. They should not fight among themselves in the open.

abdullah ahmad badawi pc 190308 04"Don’t embarrass the cabinet, don’t embarrass the people and don’t get involved with corruption. There is no compromise on that, reject corruption completely," he stressed.

He was quick to add that former ministers must also behave after thanking them for their services in the past years.

"Thank you to all the ministers that have served the people well. We acknowledge all the work they have done to benefit the citizens of the country.

"(However) former ministers should not air their grouses in public but take it to the cabinet itself because this is the best avenue for them," he added.

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