SHAH ALAM – Integrity issues and corruption risks must not be compromised in the appointment of senior officers in the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) as they pose a direct threat to national security.
Former Defence Intelligence Staff Division director Major General (R) Datuk Ishak Yeop Hamzah said any compromise on integrity could undermine the MAF’s combat capability and defence readiness, particularly through questionable asset procurement.
He said the direct impact of corruption and weak integrity could weaken the country’s defence system, while indirectly affecting human resource development when unqualified officers were promoted.
“This situation not only damages personnel morale but could collapse the entire organisational structure of the MAF if allowed to persist,” he said when contacted by Sinar.
The Defence Ministry has recently been seen undertaking a transformation involving its three service branches following the retirement of top leadership, as part of efforts to restore public confidence in the country’s security forces.
Its minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin on Wednesday said the implementation of the 631st Armed Forces Council (MAT) meeting decision on the appointment of Army chief General Tan Sri Muhammad Hafizuddeain Jantan as Armed Forces chief had been postponed.
Khaled said the move was taken to uphold the rule of law and safeguard the integrity of the MAF while ensuring the country’s defence readiness and capabilities remained at the highest level.
On Saturday, Khaled said Hafizuddeain had been ordered to go on immediate leave pending the completion of investigations by the authorities into allegations involving him.
Khaled also announced on Wednesday that Malaysian Armed Forces headquarters chief of staff Lieutenant General Datuk Azhan Md Othman had been appointed as the 31st Army chief, effective Jan 1.
Commenting on existing screening mechanisms, Ishak said the MAF’s integrity assessment process was already strict and transparent, beginning from junior officers up to the highest ranks.
However, he said the process could still be improved and should not rely solely on a single reporting officer, instead proposing the appointment of a second reporting officer to ensure integrity assessments were free from manipulation.
On corruption prevention, he said there was a need to tighten asset declaration requirements before and after appointments to top posts, in addition to introducing periodic asset declarations after appointments were made.
Touching on the role of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Ishak acknowledged that the agency had carried out its responsibilities, but manpower constraints could limit its ability to monitor all corruption indicators within the security forces.
As such, he proposed that other independent bodies such as the Public Complaints Bureau be strengthened by placing specially selected security personnel to ensure the nation’s security forces remained clean without compromising defence strategy confidentiality.