.jpg "An attendee is pictured with a copy of the National Anti-Corruption Plan in Putrajaya, January 29, 2019. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Shafwan Zaidon")
PUTRAJAYA, Jan 29 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad dismissed views that the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) was motivated by an obsession with the abuses of the Barisan Nasional administration, saying it was to take lessons from the period.
The prime minister (PM) said it was imperative to ensure that previous events are not forgotten as these contain valuable lessons for civil servants on how to combat corruption.
“Many are of the opinion that we still think about what has happened. But what has happened has to be remembered because if we forget our history, then we will repetitively make the same mistakes.
“We have to remind ourselves of the mistakes that were made in the past and not only look at our tasks in the present,” he told a press conference after the launch of the NACP.
Malaysia is at the centre of a global corruption scandal stemming from 1MDB.
As this is the third time the Putrajaya has drawn up an anti-corruption action plan, Dr Mahathir said his administration is primarily receiving reports of past cases.
The PM conceded that corruption still existed under the present administration but asserted that there has been a notable decline.
“People now are less prone to corruption than before,” he said.
Earlier, Dr Mahathir launched the NACP, a five-year framework aimed at eradicating corruption and improving governance.
The NACP is touted as a continuation and a more holistic improvement of Malaysia's previous efforts to combat corruption and takes over its predecessors the 2004 National Integrity Plan (PIN) and Government Transformation Plan (GTP) 1.0 (2010) and 2.0 (2012).
