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Corruption in government and politics remains problematic in the Asia Pacific region. Results of the TI Global Corruption Barometer show that political parties are perceived to be one of the most corrupt institutions.

Political corruption is the abuse of entrusted power by political leaders for private gain. Corruption in politics and government takes many forms, ranging from vote buying and the use of illicit funds to the sale of appointments and the abuse of state resources.

TI chapters cooperate with political parties, parliaments, electoral authorities and other stakeholders to ensure public policy-making is accountable and representative of citizen interests. To fight corruption in government and politics, TI is working on political party reform and electoral law, and joins forces with electoral authorities to ensure fair and corruption-free elections. The wide-ranging work TI has carried out includes election monitoring, studies on transparency in political financing and introducing pledges to ensure public officials stand by their election promises.

TI Bangladesh has been carrying out a regular monitoring programme, since 2001, called Parliament Watch. The programme assesses and evaluates the day to day functioning and proceedings of the parliament in holding the government accountable.

To promote social accountability by public representatives and improve participatory governance, TI Bangladesh has introduced Integrity Pledges for public representatives, officials and service providers. Introduced at the local level, Integrity Pledges are non-binding social contracts where public officials voluntarily pledge to promote transparency and accountability in the delivery of services in vital sectors such as education, health and local government.

In 2006, TI Fiji carried out the Election Commitment Project to promote transparency and good governance in the government. Ahead of the general elections, political parties were asked to declare their commitment to the following anti-corruption tools: a Code of Conduct, Civic Education, Leadership Code, Freedom of Information, Anti-corruption Legislation and Anti-corruption Body. After the elections, follow-up activities to monitor government's performance in addressing these issues have taken place.

To strengthen public trust in democratic process and create incentives for greater political accountability TI India has adopted Development Pacts to ensure that government allocations for the rural poor are properly spent on their allocated projects. The Development Pact is an agreement and a commitment by elected representative to fulfil their promises on community development.

Following a year long study on corruption in political financing, TI Malaysia has launched a book and nation-wide campaign to improve accountability and transparency in political financing.

Ahead of the country's first democratic parliamentary and presidential elections, Transparency Maldives ran a comprehensive voter education programme entitled I Choose to Vote. The programme included an assessment of the electoral system; voter education and train the trainer workshops on domestic observation; a media awareness campaign and an online complaints database.

Access an Assessment of the Maldivian Electoral System (in English)

Access the Election Observers Manual (in Divehi)

Visit the Transparency Maldives 'I Choose' Election Observer website

From 2002 until 2005, TI Nepal ran an Anti-corruption Programme 2002-2005, which includes providing technical and professional support to selected state institutions to implement anti-corruption reform and making efforts to incorporate anti-corruption measures into Party constitutions, policies, and manifestos. The chapter also runs a campaign against nominating candidates involved in financial irregularities and corruption.

TI Pakistan has worked closely with the government to improve the country’s score in TI’s global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Following the release of the 2009 CPI results, the chapter met with the prime minister to propose recommendations to improve the country’s future score. Following the meeting, the prime minister formed a committee that included the chapter and chaired by the finance minister, to assess the recommendations.

To advocate for increased transparency in politics and governments, TI Papua New Guinea is working closely with governments to advocate for electoral and legislative reform. The chapter was invited by the national Electoral Commission to recruit and lead a team of civil society observers to monitor the by-election in the Enga Province.

In the run up to the 2010 presidential and general elections, TI Sri Lanka ran a programme on the Protection of Public Resources, which invited individuals to report complaints on the use of public resources by political candidates and party members.

In the lead-up to the ninth general elections held in the Solomon Islands in August 2010, Transparency Solomon Islands participated in the Observation of the National General Election.