Lack of political will obstacle to fighting corruption in S Asia

Five national chapters of Transparency International (TI) said this in a statement yesterday.

The TI's national chapters in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka issued the statement after a three-day TI regional workshop on National Integrity Systems that ended in Karachi on December 20.

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At the workshop, they identified reform of the judiciary, creation of permanent and independent anti-corruption institutions, clampdown on political corruption and transparent rules on public procurement as priority areas to strengthen national integrity systems.

In the joint statement, the five TI chapters called for 'rational and transparent recruiting process' in the judiciary, country-specific strategies to address weakness in the judiciary, separation of the judiciary from the executive and special anti-corruption courts.

"Civil society should continue to exert pressure on the public and private sectors to ensure transparency in public procurement and be encouraged to play a monitoring role."

The workshop concluded that anti-corruption bodies should be permanent and independent "with a constitution mandate". It also suggested participation of civil society groups in monitoring the work of these bodies.

It called for reforms in political culture, including the depoliticisation of the civil service and mandatory asset declarations by public representatives and officials, and strengthening parliamentary committees.

The workshop noted that Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the signatories to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and Sri Lanka has ratified the convention.

It urged Nepal and Pakistan to ratify the convention and Bangladesh and India to sign and ratify it soon.