KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — The National Governance Cabinet Special Committee (JKKTN) is planning a new format for Members of Parliament and other government office holders to declare their assets, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said today.

The PMO said that this was in line with the government’s aim to promote transparency.

"JKKTN has discussed the introduction of a new format for Members of Parliament and members of the administration to declare their assets.

"This new format will be tabled during a Cabinet meeting in the near future,” the PMO said in a statement.

The PMO also said that JKKTN had discussed steps to strengthen the governance of Federal Statutory Bodies (FSB) and agreed that the General Circular Letter Number 3 of 1998 would be replaced by new guidelines designed to strengthen all aspects of governance.

The PMO said the reforms would cover the appointment process involving FSB chairmen and board members based on transparent criteria and also mandate a thorough evaluation process in the form of an integrity review by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), as well as an insolvency and Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) screening.

It said FSB board of directors’ capacity development programme would also be emphasised in the guidelines.

"The role of internal audits at every level of FSB, including its companies and corporations, will be strengthened.

"The reforms will also include the strengthening of the structure and composition of the membership of the board of directors by mandating the involvement of the Implementation Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister's Department (ICU JPM), especially for those FSB that receive provisions under the Five-Year Malaysia Plan,” it said.

The PMO also said the reforms will focus on strengthening the detection, regulation and governance of FSB through a platform known as the Statutory Body System (SBSys) for the purpose of periodic reporting to the prime minister.

The PMO said that the statutory bodies need governance as they support the implementation of strategies by central agencies and other government departments as well as influence the country’s economic growth.

"Through Pantau Madani, the monitoring of FSB will be implemented more effectively via the empowerment of the Implementation Coordination Unit of PMO, the Ministry of Finance, the National Audit Department and the Performance Surge Coordination Unit of PMO.

"The implementation of these guidelines is a priority to support the Madani agenda through the empowerment of FSB,” it said.