Tag: Transparency International

An overwhelming majority of Australians have lost trust in federal politics and want a strong, well-resourced anti-corruption commission, new polling shows. Integrity experts and Transparency International Australia will on Monday launch a sustained push on the major parties to make substantial commitments to boosting integrity in the lead-up to next month’s election, including the establishment of a properly empowered federal integrity commission, reforms to donations and lobbying, and better protections for whistleblowers. Their push coincides with polling released by the Australia Institute showing trust in Australia’s federal parliament is low and declining further. Coalition's plan for anti-corruption body a 'sham' set up to protect MPs, former judge says Read more Respondents strongly supported (76%) the commission having the power to hold public hearings – something which the Coalition has ruled out in its proposal. I’ve never before known 34 judges to agree to a letter such as this.” The Coalition used its recent budget to give $104.5m in funding over the forward estimates for an integrity commission – though additional money will also be given to existing integrity bodies to enhance their functions. Australia's global corruption ranking sparks urgent calls for federal integrity body Read more Labor’s model would give the anti-corruption commission the powers of a royal commission, including an ability to hold public hearings where it is deemed in the public interest. Top of the list was a “strong, properly resourced national integrity commission”, with the power to hold public hearings, a wide jurisdiction and proper funding. It also wants greater control on political donations by introducing real-time donation and campaign expenditure disclosures, and lowering the threshold amount requiring public declaration. Transparency International also wants to see a properly resourced whistleblower protection authority. Brown was critical of the low level of resourcing announced by Labor and its decision to employ the five staff through the office of the commonwealth ombudsman.

At the very bottom of the region, Syria scores 13, followed by Yemen (14) and Libya (17). Political corruption remains a central challenge, despite the work of many governments across the region to focus their national priorities on fighting corruption and increasing transparency. A pillar of democratic practice, checks and balances serve an important function in keeping governments honest. As in previous years, Syria remains at the very bottom of the CPI, having experienced violent conflict in the last few years. Facing challenges of terrorism, war and conflict, Sudan remains at the bottom of the index. With a score of 49, Jordan increased a point on the CPI since last year. In a report published by our chapter, Rasheed for Transparency and Integrity, which reviewed Jordan’s commitment to SDG 16, the chapter made several recommendations to the government to improve its anti-corruption efforts. Specifically, the report recommends financial and administrative independence of all public institutions that serve anti-corruption functions, additional protections for civil society, and a legislative review to ensure freedom of expression is upheld. Political corruption and conflict of interest remain among the main challenges to any improvement in Lebanon. Recommendations For the region to fulfil its anti-corruption commitments, there needs to be a serious change in the way countries in the region approach institutions, political rights, checks and balances and other pillars of democracy.

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)Bring Back our Girls activist and former Nigerian minister Oby Ezekwesili has thrown her hat into the election ring for Nigeria's upcoming 2019 elections and says her candidacy will "disrupt the politics of failure" in Africa's most populous nation. "It's totally unacceptable. Incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, who is also running for a second term, vowed to tackle corruption in his first term, a promise many Nigerians say he has not fulfilled. You prevent opportunities for corruption; you reduce corruption. "What my agenda is to deregulate the economy in the kind of way that public officials don't have too much presence in the economy to be able to utilize it for personal gain," she said in the interview. Her record of fighting corruption and plugging financial leaks in Nigeria's public sector, when she served as a minister proves she will deliver on her campaign promises, she said. "I believe I am the candidate of the Nigerian people as I am not running alone. We are all running together. All of us that want a new direction for our country are running together," Ezekwesili said. I'm simply a candidate who is providing a direction for the rest of society to take on these folks."