Efforts of civil society groups across the Asia-Pacific region to combat corruption are reaping positive results, representatives of the different Transparency International Asia Pacific (TIAP) chapters said last May 21 at their regional meeting in the Manila Hotel.
Representatives of TIAP in Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, and Taiwan discussed the strategies used in their anti-corruption fight and cited the importance of building coalitions with other civil society groups as a key factor.
TIAP is a branch of Transparency International (TI), a worldwide nonpartisan & non-government coalition formed in 1993 that aims to counter corruption by increasing government accountability and curbing both international and national corruption. Its main office is in Berlin. TI has 120 national chapters.
Bangladesh and Taiwan have recently been embroiled in problems of corruption, as past leaders of these countries have been recently involved in corruption issues.
Former Bangladesh ministers Khaleda Zia, M.K Anwar, and Sheikh Hasina have been charged with corruption and put to jail, while Taiwan’s former president Chen Shui-bian is currently being investigated. All these leaders have denied the allegations against them.
In Bangladesh, TI director Iftekhar Zaman said they have moved for institutional reforms such as the reconstitution of their Election Commission, strengthening the independence of the judiciary, and challenging impunity, having filed over 200 corruption cases, 50 of which have resulted in convictions.
They are likewise active in anti-corruption research, campaign for policy and institutional change, and civic engagement.
Zaman said they have learned that youth involvement and the creation of local and national communication channels for citizens are vital.
Monitoring Taiwan elections
For their part, Dr. Lung-Teng Hu of TI-Taiwan said that they partnered with the National Clean Election Promotion Association in the promotion of a clean-election culture and in keeping an eye on elections in Taiwan.
TI- Taiwan, for one, required Taipei City mayoral candidates to sign the Agreement of Clean Election and Political Donation Transparency in 2002. In 2004, the group made the Taiwan presidential candidates sign the same agreement and released the Clean Election Index as well.
Furthermore, TI-Taiwan has lobbied with lawmakers to include declaring sources of funds in the Law on Property-Declaration by Public Servants in the years 2006 and 2007.
Grassroots electoral awareness
Michael Manning, chairperson for TI-Papua New Guinea, said that in order to ensure honest elections in his country, they conducted research and analysis on the extent and effect of corruption, solicited the support of youth groups, and disseminated corruption issues to voters.
One lesson they have learned, he said, is that the change of political values is a long-term process.- Kimberly Joyce R. Veloso, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak