Demanding a more transparent government

Posted 2 February 2011

A time of transition
An anti-corruption assessment
Recommendations from the studies
Pushing reform
Resources

When Mohamed Bouazizi set himself ablaze in defiance of bribe-seeking police, he demonstrated with alarming effect that corruption can kill. The death of the 26 year-old Tunisian fruit vendor served as a catalyst for a surge of protests that unfurled across North Africa and the Middle East. It is now clear that these protests will have lasting effects on the political landscapes in the region. They have shone a spotlight on a pressing need for transparent state institutions that citizens can hold to account. While meeting the deeper grievances that drove people into the street will take time, there are immediate steps that can be taken to avoid a return to “business as usual”.

A time of transition

Around the world, new leaders in 2011 will try to develop strong democracies and restore the trust of citizens. These new pushes towards transparency, accountability and integrity are a great opportunity to stop the corruption that plagues the daily lives of ordinary people. Government efforts to fight corruption will only succeed if public power is monitored by independent oversight institutions and a vibrant civil society. Transparency International strongly supports pro-accountability groups in these difficult times in Egypt and Tunisia.

An anti-corruption assessment

Transparency and accountability cannot be built overnight, but what first steps can be taken to lay the foundations?

Fighting corruption requires sustained focus and commitment across sectors and communities. Transparency International (TI) is addressing corruption in North Africa and the Middle East on two fronts: from the top-down and bottom-up.

Our National Integrity System studies provide a comprehensive evaluation of a country’s anti-corruption architecture: its governance system, its public institutions like the judiciary and parliament and non-state actors like the media and civil society. The studies examine the independence, transparency and accountability of key institutional pillars in a given country, including the legislature, executive, judiciary, anti-corruption agencies, business sector, media and civil society. They identify which areas need improvement: giving governments a good anti-corruption to-do list.

While strengths and weaknesses vary from country to country, our studies in Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Palestine published in 2010 reveal that nepotism, bribery and patronage are deeply entrenched in social and political life. This creates stark imbalances in power and wealth, holds back economic growth, and corrodes a state’s social fabric.

From education to healthcare, citizens are forced to pay bribes for services that should be free, yet with heavily restricted access to information, many people do not know their rights or how their tax payers’ money is spent. Meanwhile, critical whistleblower protection laws are almost entirely absent from the region, and anyone who wishes to hold the powerful elites to account risks putting themselves in danger.

Recommendations from the studies

States should strengthen the independence of oversight bodies and increase the participation of citizens in the governance process
States should respect the freedom of association and fundamental rights of citizens, non-governmental organisations and the media to engage in the country’s public affairs
The executive should allow for the strengthening of parliament and the judiciary to act as effective checks on its power
States should introduce whistleblower protection and access to information legislation
Governments and civil society should promote the implementation of UNCAC – an international standard that provides the ideal target for new governments who want to fight corruption
Civil society organisations should commit to the highest standards of accountability and transparency in their own projects and operations.

Pushing reform

Our national chapters work to confront corruption in many different ways. Some recent achievements include:

Our chapter in Lebanon, the Lebanese Transparency Association, trained more than 500 young activist leaders to address corruption by educating them in areas such as citizenship, good governance, budgeting and project management. The project also provided participants with 28 grants of US $5,000 so they could implement community projects to encourage transparency and bridge sectarian divides.

Transparency Maroc, the TI chapter in Morocco, launched an advocacy campaign to raise awareness of the country’s lack of judicial independence and to mobilise civil society, the private sector, donors and the media behind reforms to strengthen judicial power. With 10 partners, the chapter is drafting a memorandum on judicial reform, aimed at decision-makers and public opinion, which makes recommendations on transparency, access to information and fighting corruption.

To enhance transparency and citizens’ access to information, the TI chapter in Palestine, AMAN, organised a public hearing for the Minister of Finance to present the 2009 budget and the government’s commitments towards Gaza. The event was attended by representatives from government, the private and public sectors, academia, civil society and international NGOs.