Dompok Vs Nazri = Integrity Vs Sandiwara

The recent turn of events regarding the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity has brought into stark relief the dichotomy between what is preached and practiced by the Federal Government.

On one side we have the select committee chairman Tan Sri Bernard Dompok who believes that it is within the scope of the committee to request clarification from government officials on matters brought up by the public to the committee at forums. On the other there is the ever-ready-for-a-squabble Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz who passionately believes that sandiwara is the main focus of such parliamentary committees when he said its scope of duties was only to get feedback from the people for the Government to formulate unity programmes! And to give his views a bit of validity he added conspiratorially that Dompok was seen as being influenced by the committee’s deputy chairman and opposition leader Lim Kit Siang. And this was causing uneasiness among other members of the committee. Lim however said that Dompok’s resignation was a red light warning that the Prime Minister’s national integrity and anti-corruption campaign had run aground after 42 months.

The most telling statements on the issue came from Transparency International Malaysia president Tan Sri (Dr) Ramon V. Navaratnam who said that the PM's vision to improve the delivery system and overall efficiency would be extremely difficult if the attitude towards Dompok was deemed permissible. "The integrity, accountability and transparency of our government will be opened to wide speculation, doubt and unfavourable comments, both domestically and internationally, if this matter is not treated with seriousness and utmost priority as it has led to a dead-end to the problems of illegal immigrants and foreigners. "Public opinion at home and abroad will be adversely affected if prompt action is not taken to improve the integrity, accountability and transparency of the country's administration," he said. The refusal by the National Registration Department to appear before the committee, Ramon added, indicated an unbecoming attitude of a government agency. It is also disrespectful to Parliament and reflects the standard and quality of administration of this country.

Those are indeed damning words coming from a former top civil servant who knows the actual machinations of government administration. This is not the first time that the NRD has behaved as if it is a government unto itself and accountable to no one. In August 2006, the NRD failed to turn up at a roundtable discussion by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) which focused on how illegal immigrants end up with Malaysian citizenship, and Sabah's abnormal population growth. Last June, in an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that neither he nor Umno had anything to do with Project IC or Project M (Mahathir) - the name given for the issuance of identity cards to foreigners in Sabah to pad up the electoral rolls. (Source: TheSun, TheStar, NST)

***** The one question which must be posed to and answered by Nazri and those who subscribe to his views is, who primarily benefits from hiding the facts, preventing responsible officials from investigating valid complaints and giving the courage to government agencies to go against the will of Parliament? A truthful answer to that will serve to differentiate between the proponents of substance and the promoters of self-serving sandiwara.
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