Civil society has to say enough to corruption

Civil society has to say enough to corruption

Good governance and public accountability are major issues for
Indonesia, one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Prof.
Graeme Hodge from the Privatization and Public Accountability
Center at Monash University in Australia spoke with The Jakarta
Post's Fabiola Desy Unidjaja about these issues, as well as a
program he is leading to help teach civil servants here about
good governance.
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Question: What is the main factor for reducing corruption and
ensuring the accountability of the government?

Answer: The main factor in ensuring transparent government is
distributing power and involving as much public participation as
possible.

Things like establishing a stronger, independent
anticorruption commission, giving stronger legal teeth to the
commission, strengthening the role of the public and also other
commissions, they are all important.

I think there are no magic silver bullets to reduce corruption
in a short time, but when the civil society says enough is enough
and puts pressure on the government, there will be some changes.

Ensuring greater transparency begins with shining lights in
many different areas.

The more involved community groups, the more involved
citizens ... the more feedback we will get on whether services
are good.

The number one thing is to let the people know what is going
on inside the government, and also where the money has been
spent.

How should we encourage the public to play a role in creating
a transparent and accountable government?

We have a common practice in Australia called the declaration
of interests, which specifies whether a person has any personal
connections which may jeopardize their duties.

Another form also specifies that their family does not have
any interests, and I think these public declarations are an
effective measure.

Aside from that, I think the establishment of an
anticorruption commission is very sensible.

I think there is much more to be done in ensuring that the
commission has legal power and adequate resources, and not just
the authority to supervise the use of money.

We must put pressure on the government to make sure that the
commission is established properly. When there is pressure from
citizens, the government will support change.

What is the most effective way to minimize political influence
in the establishment of the anticorruption commission?

In many countries that have established independent
organizations, which are separate from the political process,
politicians have been involved. That's true. But the members
should be appointed for specific terms by independent
organizations. They do have resources, do have legal power and
responsibility in finding corruption.

What usually happens in other countries is that you establish
two or three independent organizations. We have many independent
organizations because politicians can represent one view, but you
need someone else to counter that and you can do that through
these independent organizations.

If you have more than one independent organization, they will
strengthen each other in ensuring transparent and accountable
processes inside the government.

Could you provide some details of the training program that
you, in conjunction with AusAID, are running for government
officials here?

The program is coordinated through Monash University. We have
run the program for 15 years, and many of them (the participants)
have been involved in several projects before in the country.

The program itself is called good governance and public
management. What it really aims to do is to get people to
understand the principles of practices of good governance and to
be able to take practical steps toward better accountability,
which include public accountability, better management practices
and the participation of stakeholders in making decisions and
management change.

There are a series of ideas on good governance and we share
just the principles, and then they will share these ideas with
their coworkers.

There is an evaluation at the end of the program and there are
also a series of action plans that they develop. We monitor the
implementation of these plans over the next six months, so we
have a whole new design for them.

Are you optimistic that the program will further efforts to
build good governance?

Of course. There should be a series of programs which involve
strengthening the mechanisms and increasing the participation of
the people.

It is important for a strong political commitment to
transparency, as all good governance issues are tied up to the
fact that good governance means democratic political processes
and government accountability mechanisms.

It is a difficult issue in most countries in the world, but in
building good governance you have to rely both on the political
process and public participation.

So with these programs we try to spread the idea of good
governance among civil servants, as part of the overall process
in the country of achieving good governance.