Corruption: A Global Issue

ARUSHA, TANZANIA - This week, I attended the 2nd Global Conference of Parliamentarians Against Corruption, where over 200 Members of Parliament from all over the world came to discuss how to fight corruption at the parliamentary level. Only a few days earlier, I was at the World Bank meeting in Singapore, where corruption and good governance were at the top of the agenda.

The issue of corruption has increasingly taken center stage in recent times, and rightfully so. All over the developing world, corruption is leaving in its wake desperately impoverished people and weakened public institutions.

It has robbed people of precious little resources that could have otherwise funded schools, clinics, and roads.

The Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) is a network of parliamentarians formed four years ago in Ottawa, Canada with 170 founding members. As the only Asian representative in GOPAC's Executive Board, I initiated the organization in April 2005 of the South East Asia Parliamentarians Against Corruption (SEAPAC), with 26 parliamentarian-members from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

As in many other endeavors, leadership spells the difference. In Southeast Asia , the attitude of government also determines whether the efforts will succeed or not. Multilateral institutions like the World Bank, IMF and ADB have long come to the conclusion that there is a linear relationship between corruption and development; that the public sector cannot do it alone - the private sector and civil society must get firmly on board. But most importantly, there should be a national strategy so that the various sectors can perform their roles in a concentrated and coordinated manner.