KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — Malaysian civil servants bear the country’s hopes to usher in a cleaner government in the general election to come, the local chapter of Transparency International said today.

Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Muhammad Mohan said the civil servants have always played a key role in fighting corruption from whistle blowing, investigating, prosecuting, rescuing audit reports and meting out strict and fair punishments to the corrupt.

“The civil service must continue to play this role as the independent facilitators in the conducting and policing of the electoral process, and as voters, to save this nation from a fate of moral and financial bankruptcy.

“As the check and balance, civil servants must report all forms of extortion, threats, vote buying, misuse of public resources and machinery, and all abuse of power to the Election Commission and the MACC.

“We must remind our elected representatives that a dissolved Parliament is not a dissolved state, devoid of law and order,” he said in a statement.

Muhammad expressed TI-M’s disappointment but said it was not surprised that Parliament was dissolved before it could pass next year’s Budget.

He said the dissolution was questionable as it was announced three days after the government tabled its proposed Budget 2023that promised cash handouts and other election goodies.

“However, the rakyat must understand the proposed budget hasn’t been passed by Parliament and the new government will have to present a new proposal, which could be entirely different, so the attraction to vote in a government which will carry on with those handouts and goodies becomes an election incentive to vote in the ‘right government’,” he said.

Parliament was dissolved on October 10 despite objections from MPs from both sides of the political divide warning of the dangers of a monsoon polls since floods have been predicted.

Fresh elections have to be held within 60 days of dissolution and Umno has suggested early November before the monsoon rainstorms strike.