Status Of People Irrelevant When It Comes To The Law - Najib

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 9 (Bernama) -- The status of a person is irrelevant when it comes to the law, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said this was the reality that must be accepted and as normal citizens, everyone was bound by the law.

"Everyone is bound by the law and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is free investigate anyone no matter who they are," he told reporters here Thursday.

He said this after witnessing the signing of a pledge by the business community to fight corruption at the Putrajaya International Conevntion Centre here.

Earlier, in his speech, Najib had stressed that he had never interfered in MACC's work and that the commission was free to investigate anyone.

He said the MACC was professional body which knew how to carry out its functions and responsibilities.

"The question of "cover-ups" does not arise because the MACC has to answer to its Operations Evaluation Board if there are complaints of action not taken," he said.

He said there were people who liked to hurl accusations or engage in wild gossip and politicise corruption issuses which only further complicated the governments efforts to combat corruption.

"I hope they will not continue with such behavior because what is more constructive is to help the MACC, and not hurl innuendoes and accusations," he said.

To those involved in business, Najib said he hoped they would not hold the view that to succeed like in getting contracts or concessions from the government, they had to engage in corruption.

"I wish to advise businessmen not to engage in such practices and be clear that in order to get a contract or concession, they must submit the best offer," he said.

As for the government, he said, its procurement processes also need to be more transparent, open and objective so as to prevent corruption.

The tender process must be above board at all stages to ensure the right people got the jobs, he added.

Najib also said that based on the Doing Business 2011 report by the World Bank, Malaysia was in 21st place for ease of doing business, which was an improvement from the 23rd position the country was listed in the 2010 report.

And in the World Competitiveness Scoreboard 2010, he said, Malaysia was listed as the 10th most competitive nation in the world, a massive improvement from 18th position the previous year.

As such, he said efforts must be redoubled to ensure Malaysia's position in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) improved further.