Politicians must take all blame for the failure of Thailand to improve
its international anti-corruption rating, which fell from 80 last year
to 88 this year - to the same level as African countries, members of an
anti-graft body said yesterday.
The country badly needs transparent selection systems to bring "clean" people into the administration, National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Wicha Mahakun said in an interview.
"Thailand has a lot of policy-enabled corruption, bribes, cronies as well as patron-clients," Wicha said. "Politicians intervene in bureaucratic reshuffles, so that bureaucrats need to be subject to politicians."
Thailand dropped further in the international corruption index compiled by Transparency International (TI), falling eight places from last year to 88th on the 176-country list for 2012.
Five countries share the 88th ranking with Thailand: the less-developed African nations of Malawi, Morocco, Zambia and Swaziland, and the South American nation of Suriname.
"That means we are in the worst group. We used to be better than them, but now we are in the same group with these African countries," Wicha said.
In Asean, Singapore was ranked at 5 and Malaysia was at 54th place, while the Philippines was 105th, Indonesia 118th, Vietnam 123rd, Cambodia 157th, Laos 160th and Myanmar 172nd.
"We are not only competing with countries in Asean but should also look at the global level," he said.
The Transparency International list was credible as it conducted its survey from various sources such as Political Risk Services International Country Risk Guide, he said, noting that corruption was a factor for political risk.
If the country did not change its system to get people in senior posts in the bureaucracy to be more transparent, the root cause of graft would never be solved, Wicha said.
"We want to install a moral system into the selection of people in the bureaucracy, but what we have currently is a patron-client system in the bureaucracy," he said.
"Bribe-taking is not abnormal in our system. It is a spoils system.
"The government - I mean every government - needs transparency in the policy-making process," Wicha said.
The government was the lead agency to improve the country's anti-graft rating, he said. It must create good policies and measures to have transparency for public procurement and mega-project development.
"News reports on commission fees for development projects or public procurement are not good for the country's corruption index," he said.
Politicians should change their perception about politics, he said. They should not seek power in administration to mobilise resources for their political parties. Such an attitude would damage the country. The national budget was not a cash cow for politicians and they could not spend the taxpayers' money as if it was their own, he said.
"We need a system to scrutinise and check politicians," he said. "The politicians have to realise that their behaviour is hurting our country."
Panthep Klanarongran, chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, yesterday presided over an opening ceremony for international anti-corruption day at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. Students from 23 universities joined the event and displayed exhibits for an anti-graft campaign.
The United Nations regarded corruption as a crime and Thailand, as a contracting party to the UN anti-corruption treaty, had to cooperate with the international community to fight against corruption, Panthep said.
Students and youths as the new generation must campaign actively against corruption and change attitudes of people in the country about graft. "Corruption is not a normal thing in our country, but it is a serious threat to our society," he said.
Corruption was a challenge for the government too, he said, adding that all agencies must join hands to tackle the problem.
The national anti-graft body is conducting a national anti-corruption index and needed help from all state agencies, he said. "Politicians might not have a good image on corruption but they have to accept the reality and cooperate on fighting corruption," he said. The anti-graft body is now seeking cooperation from academics and people in politics to participate in the anti-corruption campaign, he said.
Thep Wongwanich, deputy chairman of an anti-corruption organisation, said civil society should have social sanctions against corrupt people. "Corrupt politicians never make our country develop - we have to get rid of them," he said.
The country badly needs transparent selection systems to bring "clean" people into the administration, National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Wicha Mahakun said in an interview.
"Thailand has a lot of policy-enabled corruption, bribes, cronies as well as patron-clients," Wicha said. "Politicians intervene in bureaucratic reshuffles, so that bureaucrats need to be subject to politicians."
Thailand dropped further in the international corruption index compiled by Transparency International (TI), falling eight places from last year to 88th on the 176-country list for 2012.
Five countries share the 88th ranking with Thailand: the less-developed African nations of Malawi, Morocco, Zambia and Swaziland, and the South American nation of Suriname.
"That means we are in the worst group. We used to be better than them, but now we are in the same group with these African countries," Wicha said.
In Asean, Singapore was ranked at 5 and Malaysia was at 54th place, while the Philippines was 105th, Indonesia 118th, Vietnam 123rd, Cambodia 157th, Laos 160th and Myanmar 172nd.
"We are not only competing with countries in Asean but should also look at the global level," he said.
The Transparency International list was credible as it conducted its survey from various sources such as Political Risk Services International Country Risk Guide, he said, noting that corruption was a factor for political risk.
If the country did not change its system to get people in senior posts in the bureaucracy to be more transparent, the root cause of graft would never be solved, Wicha said.
"We want to install a moral system into the selection of people in the bureaucracy, but what we have currently is a patron-client system in the bureaucracy," he said.
"Bribe-taking is not abnormal in our system. It is a spoils system.
"The government - I mean every government - needs transparency in the policy-making process," Wicha said.
The government was the lead agency to improve the country's anti-graft rating, he said. It must create good policies and measures to have transparency for public procurement and mega-project development.
"News reports on commission fees for development projects or public procurement are not good for the country's corruption index," he said.
Politicians should change their perception about politics, he said. They should not seek power in administration to mobilise resources for their political parties. Such an attitude would damage the country. The national budget was not a cash cow for politicians and they could not spend the taxpayers' money as if it was their own, he said.
"We need a system to scrutinise and check politicians," he said. "The politicians have to realise that their behaviour is hurting our country."
Panthep Klanarongran, chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, yesterday presided over an opening ceremony for international anti-corruption day at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. Students from 23 universities joined the event and displayed exhibits for an anti-graft campaign.
The United Nations regarded corruption as a crime and Thailand, as a contracting party to the UN anti-corruption treaty, had to cooperate with the international community to fight against corruption, Panthep said.
Students and youths as the new generation must campaign actively against corruption and change attitudes of people in the country about graft. "Corruption is not a normal thing in our country, but it is a serious threat to our society," he said.
Corruption was a challenge for the government too, he said, adding that all agencies must join hands to tackle the problem.
The national anti-graft body is conducting a national anti-corruption index and needed help from all state agencies, he said. "Politicians might not have a good image on corruption but they have to accept the reality and cooperate on fighting corruption," he said. The anti-graft body is now seeking cooperation from academics and people in politics to participate in the anti-corruption campaign, he said.
Thep Wongwanich, deputy chairman of an anti-corruption organisation, said civil society should have social sanctions against corrupt people. "Corrupt politicians never make our country develop - we have to get rid of them," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment