India Chennai authority restructuring / Malaysia Selangor fast-track order / Nepal conflict of interest in parliament

CMDA goes in for restructuring to curb corruption.  “In what could be a massive internal restructure of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), 17 officials, including three chief planners, were transferred for the first time in 10 years. Sources said the move is aimed at ensuring transparency”

The New Indian Express: https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2021/aug/07/cmda-goes-in-for-restructuring-to-curb-corruption-2341341.html  

 

Speed up trials on corruption cases, says Selangor Sultan.  “[In Malaysia, the] Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, has ordered the trials of corruption cases to be speeded up. He said courts should not entertain postponement of cases without solid reasons because the people were fed up and tired of seeing prosecutions being dragged on for too long.”

Free Malaysia Today: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/08/05/speed-up-trials-on-corruption-cases-says-selangor-sultan/  

 

Conflict of interest continues unchecked in Nepal’s government, parliament.  “The discussion started after two Nepali Congress leaders who were businessmen were made federal and provincial ministers… Many called these appointments wrong as they suspected the use of influence and money. Likewise, legal experts say a conflict of interest will arise with these appointments.”

Rabindra Ghimire and Raghunath Bajagain/Online Khabar: https://english.onlinekhabar.com/conflict-of-interest-continues-unchecked-in-nepals-government-parliament.html

Malaysia 1MDB asset recovery / Philippines anti-human trafficking campaign / Pakistan opposition anti-corruption report

US Justice Department Returns More Than $1 Billion in Stolen Malaysian Funds   .  “The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday it has returned an additional $452 million stolen from Malaysia’s investment fund known as 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), bringing the total amount of money repatriated to the Malaysian government in the last five years to at least $1.2 billion.”

VOA News: https://www.voanews.com/usa/us-justice-department-returns-more-1-billion-stolen-malaysian-funds  

 

Christian group slates Duterte over human trafficking.  “A group of Catholics and evangelicals in the Philippines has challenged President Rodrigo Duterte to end human trafficking by stamping out corruption by state officials.”

Joseph Peter Calleja/Union of Catholic Asian News: https://www.ucanews.com/news/christian-group-slates-duterte-over-human-trafficking/93544#  

 

PML-N will launch ‘corruption paper’ on 3 years of Imran Khan govt to reveal its ‘financial irregularities’.  “The opposition party in Pakistan have planned to launch a ‘corruption paper’ on alleged financial deceits done by Imrah Khan’s party during its three-year term.”

ANI News: https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/pml-n-will-launch-corruption-paper-on-3-years-of-imran-khan-govt-to-reveal-its-financial-irregularities20210805062932/   

Audit institutions independence index / Nepal judiciary corruption report / Republic of Korea new secretary of state

Supreme Audit Institutions Independence Index : 2021 Global Synthesis Report.  “This report aims to inform and better equip World Bank task teams and development partners to support the strengthening of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in client countries… The report also responds to yearnings of several development partners to better understand the degree of SAI independence in countries and regions.”

World Bank: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/36001?deliveryName=DM111286 

 

Supreme Court panel reports rampant corruption in judiciary that begins with justice selection.  “A team commissioned by Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher Rana has reported that corruption and irregularities are rampant in [Nepal’s] judiciary…The around-250-page report has identified the existing justice appointment process as the most significant factor behind corruption in the judiciary.”

Krishna Gyawali/Online Khabar: https://english.onlinekhabar.com/supreme-court-panel-reports-rampant-corruption-in-judiciary-that-begins-with-justice-selection.html   

 

Moon picks new secretaries for civil affairs, fight against corruption.  “Lee Ki-heon, secretary to Moon for civil participation, was tapped as secretary for civil affairs and justice, to replace Lee Gwang-cheol, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. Lee offered to resign early this month after being indicted on suspicions that he was behind an allegedly illegal travel ban on a former vice justice minister involved in a bribery scandal.”

The Korea Herald: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210730000314  

Philippines local government complaints / Anti-corruption in Security Sector Reform / Pakistan judiciary criticism

Most complaints received by anti-corruption task force involve LGUs’ intervention in public works.  “[The Philippine Justice] department’s Task Force Against Corruption (TFAC) has endorsed several complaints to the Office of the Ombudsman, mostly involving local government officials who are meddling in public works projects.  ”

Bianca Angelica D. Añago/Business World: https://www.bworldonline.com/most-complaints-received-by-anti-corruption-task-force-involve-lgus-intervention-in-public-works/  

 

Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption in SSR (Blog).  “This post discusses what an approach to mainstreaming anti-corruption in SSR could look like in practice...1. Design corruption-responsive [Security Sector Reform] assessments…2. Take measures to address corruption-conflict systems…Looking at the wider picture”

Julien Joly/Tufts University: https://sites.tufts.edu/ihs/mainstreaming-anti-corruption-in-ssr/  

 

Govt, other stakeholders influence judiciary: US State Dept.  “In its latest report, ‘2021 Investment Climate Statements: Pakistan’, the State Department says, “Pakistan’s judiciary is influenced by the government and other stakeholders. The lower judiciary is influenced by the executive branch and seen as lacking competence and fairness. It currently faces a significant backlog of unresolved cases.””

Ansar Abbasi/The News: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/867766-govt-other-stakeholders-influence-judiciary-us-state-dept

Thailand police anti-graft campaign / Philippines pre-State of the Nation Address / Pakistan on UK sanctions

Deal struck to cut police graft.  “The head of [Thai] national police force and National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)…agreed to join hands in an effort to suppress corruption at the 88 Metropolitan Police stations across the capital…[NACC] signed an agreement with national police chief…to undertake an Integrity and Transparency Assessment at each of the stations.”

King-oua Laohong/Bangkok Post: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2153903/deal-struck-to-cut-police-graft  

 

Duterte administration's fight against corruption: For real, or for reel?.  “As the [Philippine] President's last [State Of the Nation Address] approaches, questions on whether he can really lick corruption or not heats up, especially amid his estrange political ally, Senator Manny Pacquiao stated that the volume of corruption under the Duterte administration has tripled.”

Sherrie Ann Torres/ABS-CBN News: https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/07/23/21/duterte-administrations-fight-against-corruption-for-real-or-for-reel  

 

Nawaz’s London flats fall under UK’s global anti-corruption sanctions: Farrukh.  “[Pakistan’s] Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib on Friday welcomed the sanctions imposed by Britain on the most corrupt individuals of the world under the UK’s global anti-corruption sanctions regime and called for similar action against Nawaz Sharif.”

Pakistan Today: https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2021/07/23/nawazs-london-flats-fall-under-uks-global-anti-corruption-sanctions-farrukh/    

Philippines authoritarianism, corruption psychology / Duty-bearers integrity motivation / Nepal anti-corruption watchdog targets

Understanding Authoritarianism and Corruption in the Philippines (Blog).  “Duterte, Marcos, and other political elites have exploited religious and other psychological predispositions by using system justifying messages to reinforce the legitimacy of corruption and authoritarian domination. Top-down processes of elite communication and bottom-up psychological needs and interests meet in the middle, so that system-justifying messages find their audiences and inflame lower class insecurities.”

Jenavieve Hinton/Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/social-justice-pacifists/202107/understanding-authoritarianism-and-corruption-in-the    

 

What makes frontline duty-bearers act with integrity? 10 key takeaways (Research).  “This research summary provides 10 key takeaways from Integrity Action’s research into the conditions and approaches that influence teachers and health workers to deliver services with integrity.”

Link to full report: https://integrityaction.org/media/17695/research-report_what-makes-frontline-duty-bearers-act-with-integrity_integrity-action_.pdf

Integrity Action: https://integrityaction.org/media/17718/what-makes-frontline-duty-bearers-act-with-integrity_summary_integrity-action.pdf    

 

Nepal’s anti-corruption watchdog haunts low-level staff to leave the big fish aside (Opinion).  “On April 21, the Supreme Court ordered the constitutional anti-corruption body, Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, to stop carrying out sting operations to arrest government staffers receiving bribes. Since the decision, the anti-graft body has relatively been inactive as it has been dealing with minor cases and culprits who have committed major crimes take a sigh of relief.”

Krishna Gyawali/Online Khabar: https://english.onlinekhabar.com/ciaa-nepal-anti-corruption-body-leaves-big-fish-aside.html  

Indonesia infrastructure transparency portal / Pegasus survellaince scandal / Thailand market research approach

CoST West Lombok launches programme with brand new infrastructure data portal.  “As the programme launched, CoST [the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative in West Lombok, Indonesia] was also able to unveil a brand-new infrastructure data portal called INTRAS. CoST West Lombok applied for CoST membership with a plan to build on practices of data-disclosure already embedded in the regency, by developing a data portal based on SISOCS on which data is disclosed according to the Open Contracting for Infrastructure Data Standard.”

CoST – the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative: https://infrastructuretransparency.org/news/cost-west-lombok-launches-with-brand-new-infrastructure-data-portal/

 

Lessons from the Pegasus Project: Reforming Surveillance Through Open Gov (Blog).  “[A] global investigation uncovered how mobile phones of journalists, activists, and opposition leaders across the world were targets of illegal surveillance by at least eleven governments…Governments targeted journalists who were critical of their policies and were investigating systemic corruption. For instance, among those targeted were those who uncovered the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal (1MDB)”

Tonusree Basu/Open Government Partnership: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/stories/lessons-from-the-pegasus-project-reforming-surveillance-through-open-gov/  

 

A Market Research Approach to Encouraging Citizen Participation in Anticorruption (Blog).  “A team at Chulalongkorn University [in Thailand] recently undertook a research project to examine the factors that increase public participation in anticorruption efforts, so as to develop a more effective communication strategy to promote public participation…The study employed a concept used in marketing research called “segmentation,” which seeks to identify latent classes of people—sorted by various characteristics and indicators—who will be more responsive to particular kinds of messaging.”

Torplus Yomnak, Jake Pattaratanakul, Apichart Kanarattanavong, Thanee Chaiwat, and Charoen Sutuktis/The Global Anticorruption Blog: https://globalanticorruptionblog.com/2021/07/13/guest-post-a-market-research-approach-to-encouraging-citizen-participation-in-anticorruption/