Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he won’t compromise on corruption as he sought to assuage concerns about a let up in his administration’s anti-graft drive after criminal charges against a key ally were dropped last week.

“I do not concede or compromise on this,” Anwar said at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore on Wednesday (Sep 13), when asked how recent legal decisions favourable to his allies fit into his anti-graft stance. “I will not stand to this nonsense. The country, which can be great, has been destroyed because of greedy, corrupt politicians,” the leader said during a one-hour conversation with Bloomberg News’ Haslinda Amin.

Anwar reiterated that it was the Attorney General appointed by his predecessor who decided to withdraw the 47 criminal charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. 

The optics worsened when Malaysia’s appeals court on Tuesday upheld former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s acquittal in a case related to the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal, after the prosecution failed to file an appeal within the deadline. The former leader remains in prison on other graft charges related to the state fund.

Anwar has made fighting corruption a key priority of his administration, and has cited graft as among reasons why high-income status has eluded the nation.

He’s separately pledged to go “all the way” to recover as much money as he can from Goldman Sachs Group for its role in the 1MDB scandal after funds meant for development projects were diverted. 

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“I would convey clearly to Goldman Sachs that we have to put an end to this,” Anwar said.

“We are a small nation, but you can’t take us for a ride.”

Anwar called the settlement unfair and vowed to “take a tougher line”, but stopped short of saying his government would file a lawsuit against the bank.

While Anwar’s predecessor had initially sought more than US$7 billion to resolve probes into the role Goldman’s bankers played in a scheme to plunder the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, the Wall Street giant had reached a deal for payment of US$2.5 billion. 

“Be fair to us, we’re a struggling economy” he said at the Milken forum, referring to Goldman. 

The government’s limited fiscal space has complicated its efforts to address rising living costs amid slowing economic growth. Gross domestic product expansion this year is expected to fall within the lower band of the 4 per cent to 5 per cent forecast range, the central bank said last month, after the economy performed below expectations in the April-June period.

Anwar reiterated that his coalition is strong and stable, and that his administration “can do much better than the 1990s because we start with good governance,” while adding that the country can “ill-afford extremist tendencies.”

Malaysia wants to attract investments in energy transition and digital transformation, according to Anwar, who said Tesla’s operations will commence by the end of October. 

The government plans to reduce subsidies and unlock billions of ringgit in additional funds that can be channelled more efficiently, the premier said. That’s the priority and not more taxes, he said, as Malaysia seeks to narrow the budget deficit to 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2025 and to sustain GDP growth at 5 per cent. BLOOMBERG, AFP