Graft is most serious problem country faces, new poll shows

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — Corruption and abuse of power is the most important problem which needs to be solved, a new survey of voters in the country released today showed.

The survey by the independent Merdeka Center also showed a whopping 74 per cent of those polled were dissatisfied with the government’s handling of corruption and abuse of power issues.

Merdeka Center conducted the poll, commissioned by the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), between Sept 16 and Oct 12 this year, and has a margin of error of 2.78 per cent.

The poll was conducted before the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) charged a number of minor political figures and officials for corruption and abuse of power.

Among those polled, 52 per cent felt the country was headed in the right direction, while 47 per cent were of the opinion that Malaysia was headed in the wrong direction.

The economic recovery was cited as the main reason by those who felt the country was headed in the right direction.

For those who felt the country was going in the wrong direction, political instability and graft were listed as the top reasons.

A total of 13 per cent polled felt corruption and abuse of power was the most serious problem that needed addressing, followed by social problems at 12 per cent. Just 10 per cent thought crime and public safety was the country’s most pressing issue.

While 74 per cent were dissatisfied with the government’s handling of graft, a total of 67 per cent were also unhappy with how the administration dealt with social problems.

Among those surveyed, a very high 66 per cent were also dissatisfied with how crime and public safety were being addressed.

Unsurprisingly, 81 per cent of respondents felt corruption was a serious problem.

Notably, the kind of graft listed as most serious was petty corruption, with 42 per cent viewing it as “very serious.”

This was followed by nepotism (41 per cent), fraud (37 per cent), corruption among politicians (34 per cent), grand corruption (30 per cent) and administrative corruption (24 per cent).

An example of petty corruption faced by the public was given by a 24-year-old female in Kuala Lumpur who told of her experience when stopped by the police for a traffic offence.

“He asked how I wanted to settle it. Should it be ‘inside court’ or ‘outside court’,” she told the Merdeka Center.

The MACC was also perceived to be bias while one respondent pointed out that pinning an “Anti Rasuah” badge on the uniforms was ineffective.

Notably, one respondent pointed out that the Selangor Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) was “good because people now get to know what has happened in the past.”

On media reporting of corruption, 58 per cent could not name an incident of corruption that was widely reported in the media.

Of the 42 per cent who could, some 42 per cent cited the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

This was followed by corruption among politicians (12 per cent), allegations about former Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Khir Toyo (eight per cent), Teoh Beng Hock/MACC (seven per cent) and money politics in Umno (six per cent).