(i) Introduction
During the past year Cambodia made its first
appearance on several international rating systems: Transparency International’s
Corruption Perception Index and the World Economic Forum Growth Competitiveness
Index to name two, Cambodia ranked near the bottom on both of these. In
addition, a team of international technical advisors, approved by the Ministry
of National Assembly-Senate Relations and Inspection (MoNASRI) to provide
technical assistance on the draft Law on Anti-Corruption, has recently assessed
that the draft law is below international standards and will not meet the
monitoring indicators agreed upon in last years CG meeting. Given these findings
and promises from the government to make the fight against corruption an
essential party of its Rectangular Strategy, it is disconcerting that the draft
Law on Anti-corruption, currently before the Council of Ministers, fails to meet
international standards.
(ii) Key
Issues
● Transparency
and Corruption: The RGC
recognizes that corruption is a common, pervasive and destructive phenomenon and
has made fighting against it as part of the heart of its rectangular strategy to
promote growth, employment, equity and efficiency.
For the first time, Cambodia has appeared on Transparency International‘s
Corruption Perception Index, ranking 130 out of 158.
● The
Anti-Corruption Law and Political Will: An
Anti-Corruption Law that meets international standards has not yet been passed
despite government’s pledge to do so in the last year’s CG meeting.
International experts, including the United Nations Office of Drug and Crimes
which houses the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, have concluded
that the draft law as released to the public in November 2005 is below
international standards and will not fulfill the monitoring indicators set by
the government in 2004. Few corruption cases have made it to the courts.
● Public
Administration Reform: The reform and streamlining
of public administrations are often undertaken for reasons other than combating
corruption, and many examples of useful programs can be found in the work of the
development agencies of Governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations. Reforms undertaken for other purposes will usually be consistent
with the additional goal of reducing the opportunities for corruption and, in
many cases, will have anticorruption elements specifically incorporated.
● Independent
and Effective Auditing:
Responsible management of public funds
builds trust between citizens and government. Audits provide a check and balance
against corruption and public audit reports increases government transparency.
For an audit authority to be effective, it must be independent. Although the
National Law on Audit passed in 2000 provides appropriate stipulations for an
independent NAA, some external factors hinder this independence. The law
mandates that the NAA develop and manage its own budget, but the Ministry of
Economy and Finance, whom the NAA audits annually, approves its budget and
disburses the funds monthly. Although an article in the law asserts that
reports issued by the Auditor General are public documents, subsequent articles
provide exceptions that have resulted in no publicly available audit reports to
date.
● Financial
Disclosure: The principle of disclosure can also
be effectively applied to the making of political contributions. Disclosure
ensures that such contributions are legitimate attempts to support a particular
political faction and not attempts to bribe or buy influence with politicians
who are already in government or may later assume power.
(iii) Recommendations
Recommendations for the RGC:
-
Strengthening the Political Will to Fight
Corruption: The leadership of the RGC must guarantee that the law on
anti-corruption includes internationally agreed upon standards. These include,
among others, the establishment of an independent anti-corruption body with an
autonomous budget and full investigative powers to carry out its investigative
mandate. The law should also provide for protection of whistle blowers. A law
meeting international standards should be passed by the second GDCC meeting in
2006.
-
Transparency within Political Parties and
government appointments: Political parties should undergo major reforms to
be more transparent. As in other poor countries, party nominations for
elections in Cambodia are often determined by the amount of money given to the
party treasury. Without strong, accountable, transparent, and effective
political parties, government institutions act for personal benefit rather
than the national interest. This results in a stifling of political debate;
removes necessary checks and balances, and erodes the rule of law.
-
Access to Information Act: It is
impossible to fight corruption and ensure good governance without a free and
impartial media. Access to information, and freedom of expression in both
public and private media should be guaranteed. But it should be remembered
that as Cambodia is a poor country, free access to all public information is
still not possible. Some information, like laws should be supplied free of
charge; and some information, like the history of correspondence of the
government should be available for a fee that reflects at least a part of the
cost of collecting the information. Civil society recommends that that the
government move forward with a policy paper on Access to Information as soon
as possible which will provide the framework for a Access to Information Act.
-
Whistleblower Protection Act: In cases
where the informant/whistleblower is a "breakthrough", particular precautions
may be taken, in some cases, there may be additional legal liabilities for
disclosing the information involved. The protection may apply for the
informants/whistleblowers from both the public and private sectors. Additional
protection in such cases must include shielding the informant/whistleblower
from civil litigation in areas such as breach of confidentiality agreements
and libel or slander, and in the case of public officials, from criminal
liability for the disclosure of RGC or official secrets. Such protection may
extend to cases where the information was incorrect, provided that it was
disclosed in good faith.
-
Independent and Effective Auditing:
National Audit Authority’s audit reports are a critical tool in the fight
against corruption. The National Law on Audit must be clarified through
implementing sub-decrees. Procedures for collaborating with the National
Assembly and other government bodies must be developed. Most importantly,
for the work of the NAA to have a positive impact on the Cambodian government,
its reports must be made public through the National Assembly as mandated by
law, and the findings within must be acted upon by the RGC.
-
Financial Disclosure. In such cases,
disclosure requirements can be used to assist in the enforcement of legal
requirements, such as bans on large single donations or the anonymity of
donors, particularly if both the donor and recipient are required to make the
necessary disclosures
Recommendations for International Financial
Institutions and Donors:
-
Donors must ensure that their funds are having a
positive impact on the poor and the vulnerable, that they are not fuelling
corruption. To do that, donors need to have better harmonizing among
themselves, and need to be more active in promoting integrity and preventing
corruption. Donors also have a key role to play in encouraging and deepening
the government-civil society dialogue. Donors are encouraged to conduct spot
audits of their funds to ensure that the funds are reaching the intended
targets.
-
Make increases in development aid conditional on
progress in governance reform (not only legal and institutional formalities
but their effective implementation or enforcement), political accountability
and financial transparency.
-
Ensure that all aid funds are reflected in
recipient RGC budgets and subject to legislative and other oversight
mechanisms.
Recommendations for Civil Society:
-
Monitoring Government Transparency and
Accountability: Civil society, including independent media, has a critical
role to play in monitoring a country’s public financial accountability and,
especially in public expenditure tracking. More generally, it is very
important to recognise that public accountability depends on a strong and
vigilant civil society that has the skills and the resources to monitor the
RGC’s performance and challenge it when it detects malfeasance. Donors should
actively and determinedly nurture relevant civil society organisations,
helping them build the capacity to play this role
-
Civil Society Outreach: In order to
ensure the proper enforcement of law, as well as proper civil administration
procedures that are free from all forms of corruption, NGOs and the RGC should
proactively engage in an education campaign to solidify and consolidate civil
society’s knowledge of legislation that affects them and their interactions
with Cambodia’s public. General messages about corruption, legislation and
tools might be published or broadcast in the general public news media, while
more intensive measures such as public meetings or more targeted materials can
be directed at those directly involved in processes seen as vulnerable to
corruption, using media appropriate for the purpose.
For more information on the issues raised in
this paper, please contact:
The Center for Social Development (CSD)/Mr. Heav
Veasna, Managing Director
Tel: (855) 23 364 -735, Fax: (855) 23 365 736
Email: csd@online.com.kh website: http://www.online.com.kh/users/csd
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