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Corruption in the news
| Corruption stories of note in the news this month: |
Surviving allegations of corruption in Taiwan
By Raluca Batanoiu
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| Taiwanese leader Chen Shui-bian has survived a parliamentary recall motion over corruption allegations, the Associated Press reports. The 21 June motion for the president to step down followed allegations of insider trading against his family. |
BBC News reported that the legislature had begun to debate the motion to remove President Chen from office because the opposition parties, Kuomintang and People’s First Party, claimed he had lost the public’s confidence.
According to the International Herald Tribune, thousands rallied for the president’s resignation in Taipei at the end of the month. The same source states that the allegations of corruption surrounding his family involve the First Lady, said to have received an estimated US $156,000 (5 million Taiwan dollars) in vouchers from a department store in exchange for political favours. One of Chen’s top aides has also been indicted for corruption.
The Christian Science Monitor noted that the president’s son-in-law, parents and siblings were all under investigation for using inside information to buy shares of Taiwan Development Corporation from a partly state-owned bank.
Lithuanian government collapses over corruption allegations
By Christian Pfeifer
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| Following allegations of corruption, the largest member of the ruling coalition in Lithuania, the Labour Party, withdrew on 31 May, forcing the prime minister to resign. As the Financial Times reports, President Valdas Adamkus had previously lost faith in two Labour party ministers because of allegations of corruption. He accused them of “deliberate and cynical confusion of private and public interest”. |
The Economist lists three accusations made against the Labour Party: taking kickbacks from European Union grants, breaching campaign finance limits in the 2004 elections and accepting money from Russia.
The Financial Times quotes academics saying that these developments are the “most serious political crisis” to hit the state since 1991. However, the Economist suggests that Lithuania is changing for the better because corruption has become a more important issue and public tolerance is decreasing.
World Bank freezes Cambodian funding over bribery allegations
By Christian Pfeifer
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| The World Bank froze funding at the beginning of June for three ongoing programmes in Cambodia due to allegations of bribery, writes the Inter Press Service News Agency . The programmes, focusing on infrastructure and administration, are worth nearly US $7.6 million. |
The World Bank is also reviewing the contracts of four other projects under investigation. In total, the Bank currently funds projects in Cambodia to the tune of US $244 million, according to Agence France Presse. The Bank called the decision to cancel its funding “difficult” because the project supports the poorest Cambodians.
According to Business Week, there are cases of fraud and corruption connected to the projects. Agence France Presse also quoted a World Bank statement, writing that “the problems included misuse of funds and mis-procurement, meaning that guidelines for paying for goods and services were not adhered to”.
Inter Press Service reports that the Bank’s punitive measure will not be permanent but can be lifted following implementation of an action plan that introduces new anti-corruption measures for the projects. This is in keeping with Cambodia’s other major aid donors, who stressed in March that development assistance would be given only on the condition that the Cambodian government fights corruption.