KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 — The Perikatan Nasional administration today reaffirmed their efforts of fighting against corruption and vowed to take action based on rule of law after the country ranked much lower in Transparency International’s (TI) corruption barometer.

The Prime Minister’s Office in a statement today said that although the country's score and position decreased slightly from 2019, it should be emphasised that the government's policy and commitment in combating corruption and improving government governance remains a clear and continuous effort.

"As informed in the early stages of the Perikatan Nasional government, the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) is still being pursued to improve government governance as well as reduce and close opportunities for corruption in government administration.

"The government through the Cabinet Special Committee on Anti-Corruption (JKKMAR) also looks at methods in improving governance in government administration,’’ the statement read.

The government also reaffirmed its stance that there will be no compromise towards those who engage in corruption and action will be taken based on the rule of law.

Yesterday, TI released their report on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) which placed Malaysia at 57th out of 180 countries for last year.

Malaysia ranked 51st in the international watchdog’s CPIi n 2019.

Its Malaysian outfit, the Malaysian Society for Transparency and Integrity (TI-Malaysia) said the drop in ranking underscores the country’s deteriorating score, from 53 points in 2019 to 51 last year.

Countries are scored from zero to 100, with zero being perceived as the most corrupted, and 100 marks for those perceived as the cleanest and most transparent.