Anti-corruption: people can’t wait

VietNamNet Bridge – “If corruptors are not punished once, your fight against corruption will go backward. Efforts that you have made will become zero and the people’s trust will decrease,” said Pascal Fabie, Asia-Pacific director of the Transparency International (TI) in an interview with VietNamNet.

Mr. Pascal Fabie (middle) in Hanoi in September 2010.

VietNamNet: Observing the results in the fight against corruption in Vietnam’s neighboring countries, what canVietnam learn from them, in your opinion?

Pascal Fabie: I think the way Vietnam is combating corruption should be acknowledged, especially in the government’s anti-corruption commitments, the issuance of the Law on Fighting Corruption in 2005, the national strategy on anti-corruption, etc. The Law on Denouncement is being discussed, under which the denouncers will be protected.

Vietnam should be careful in learning from the experience of other countries because different political systems need different approaches.

But I think Vietnam should learn from Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia in promoting the participation of the community and the people in combating corruption.

Fighting corruption is not the job of the government, though the government plays the key role in this cause and the government’s political commitment will create more chance for the people to have a better legal framework and  access to more accurate information.

On the other hand, the community will force the government to take tougher measures on corruption.

It is important how the government deals with corruption cases  detected by the people. First of all, corruption denouncers must be protected strictly.

VietNamNet: Is it enough to encourage the community’s participation in fighting corruption?

That’s a pre-condition. Another thing that is very important is that if the government seriously deals with corruption cases, there will be more people joining with the government. Otherwise, people’s trust will decrease and corruption denouncers will give up.

It is similar to the role of the media.

You know more clearly than others what kind of society you want to create for your future generations.

In a society of corruption, the majority will be victims and the poor will suffer the most. But even the rich or the influential will be defeated by corruption.

VietNamNet: The theme of the 14^th international conference on anti-corruption is “Resuming trust: global act for transparency”. Do you think that after this conference, the truth will be resumed?

I have to speak frankly that our move is slower than the expectation of many people.

The rules will be the same for all fights against corruption at national level. The government’s anti-corruption commitment must be shown through more specific and stronger actions, which are shown not only in building a good legal system but also the way it deals with detected corruption cases.

Once a corruptor is not punished, your fight against corruption will step back and the effort that you have made will become zero and the people’s trust will decrease. I think the people will be patient for a while but nobody can wait for so long!

TI has many technical tools to assist nations, for example the Integrity Pact to …?

Khanh Linh