I have been following closely the big Brazilian Petrobas corruption scandal that has engulfed the entire political classes, both government and opposition, left and right wing parties. Brazil like Malaysia has a history of total impunity when it comes to political corruption. Newspapers are reporting this US$5 billion scandal to be the world’s biggest ever. I believe that 1MDB when it finally comes to full light, may even eclipse the Petrobas scandal.
There are two things Malaysia can learn from the Petrobas scandal; (a) that all politicians are corruptible, and as such the most important thing is to reform the system and not merely replace the Prime Minister; (b) reforming the system (as per the Brazil model) means appointing an independent Attorney General and reforming laws to enable the independent anti corruption agency prosecutor and judges to negotiate, plea bargain and deny bails to force top executives to reveal payments to all the top politicians.
If you have the time, please do read this fascinating article on how a small arrest of a Petrobas executive eventually led to the arrests and investigations on 50 congressmen and four former Presidents.
To eradicate corruption, Malaysia must first change the government, and if we do get to change the government in GE14, we must then demand the new government deliver full and comprehensive reforms on eradicating corruption.