|
Wasta, Favoritism and Nepotism: the most prevalent corruption forms in
2009
Mr. al-Natsheh: the Illicit
Gain Commission
will follow up
corruption-related cases
Gaza Workshop: the Public Institution Belongs to the citizen but do they
exercise their rights?!
Session (I): Corruption Report 2009
Session (II): Minister of Finance reviews the
2010 General Budget
Session (III): Survey results; public
satisfaction on the performance of the government
Gaza Workshop:
Public Institution belongs to the citizen; but do they exercise their
rights?!
The
Coalition for Integrity and Accountability- AMAN held its sixth annual
conference entitled:
Towards
effective & Independent PNA Monitoring and Accountability Systems
in Ramallah city, where it reviewed the 2009 report on combating
corruption in public institutions in Palestine.
Ms.
Zughayar: PNA did not heed into litigating general right suits against
those involved in corruption
Executive Director, Ms. Ghada Zughayar, welcomed the attendees and
participants at the conference which highlighted the results of AMAN’s
research and activities that took place in-between its fifth and sixth
conferences, applying the principle of transparency.
Ms.
Zughayar also pointed out AMAN’s capability in leading the voice of
anti-corruption and playing a core part in bringing this matter to the
various official and public agendas that created a clear mobility and
interactions at the Palestinian arena.
Ms.
Zughayar wondered whether the PNA has worked on corruption files, and
the reason for not filing public right suits against those involved, so
far
Dr.
Ashrawi: Strengthening the accountability and transparency systems in
the Palestinian society
While
opening the first session, Dr. Ashrawi, chairwoman of AMAN Coalition,
emphasized on the importance of shedding light on the role of
institutions in protecting citizens, preserving public funds, promoting
systems of accountability and transparency in the society as a
comprehensive system in the public and private institutions and raising
awareness towards adhering these values.
She
added that publishing this report is one of AMAN’s most important goals
as it mirrors the Palestinian reality regarding monitoring the status of
accountability and activating a national commitment towards combating
corruption which is interrelated with having a genuine political will
and ending the state of division. She expressed her regret for the
absence of the Gaza Strip participation in the conference and called for
the urge to restoring national unity.
In the
same context, Mr. Jacques Toice, Head of the Netherlands Representative
office to the Palestinian Authority, added that the PA has already
adopted a national plan to combat corruption by organizing a national
team for that matter.
Mr.
Toice congratulated the PA for the success they have accomplished in
combating corruption and the establishment of the State Audit and
Financial Control Bureau since he considers that transparency and
accountability are critical elements which enable the public sector to
carry out its duties with accuracy.
2009 Annual Corruption Report of AMAN Coalition
The
2009 corruption report which was prepared by AMAN, indicated that the
political will of senior officials to combat corruption is still weak.
Ms.
Abeer Musleh, Head of the Research & Development Unit at AMAN, presented
the most significant issues which the 2009 report included on the status
of corruption in Palestine. In addition, she stated that the objective
of this report is to assist decision makers in the Palestinian community
to present the actions and means that lead to preserving public funds.
She also indicated that the report was based on a description on the
reality and forms of corruption, by monitoring the changes compared to
2008 and a local index that measures integrity, transparency and
accountability in managing public affairs.
Improvement in 2009... However!
Ms.
Musleh mentioned that there has been an improvement in the area of
reform that is related to transparency in public revenues and
expenditures in the West Bank. Also, commitment from some ministers to
present financial disclosures in accordance with the law was noted,
while, endeavors of some ministries were made to eliminate conflict of
interest and misuse of a job position; the code of corporate governance
was also endorsed so as to promote transparency in the work of the
private sector and reduce conflicts of interest.
The
number of corruption cases sent to the
Civil Public Prosecution in 2009 was 139 cases
compared to 81 cases in 2008
Political will is still weak
The
political will to combat corruption is still weak, as responsible
parties continued to reflected reluctance in bringing senior officials
suspected in being involved in corruption cases to justice. Moreover,
political parties and factions continue to disregard the importance of
combating corruption, let alone the PLC’s paralysis and the non-renewal
of its legitimacy which led to weakening oversight on the government’s
work and not subjecting the General Budget to any formal accountability
in terms of the constitutional system.
Public
Office is still open to Wasta, favoritism, and nepotism
Ms.
Musleh pointed out that the continued absence of an official independent
anti-corruption institution is a negative factor in 2009, while public
office is still a home for Wasta, favoritism and nepotism. Further,
refraining from adopting measures and procedures that promote
transparency and prevent conflicts of interest in public institutions,
and the continued weakness in reporting on corruption cases because of
hesitation and fear of incredibility are still taking place in public
offices.
Also,
she explained that the persistence of having Wasta, favoritism and
nepotism in providing public services, appointment and promotion of some
senior staff, are the most prevalent forms of corruption in 2009,
followed by the personal use of resources and public property and
exploitation of public office for personal gains.
Mr.
Shuaibi: law of Anti-Corruption and Illicit Gain Commission
Dr.
Azmi Shuaibi, AMAN Commissioner for Combating Corruption, has
illustrated that the report was based on official information obtained
from records and interviews with interested parties to determine the
effectiveness of institutions in combating corruption. Also, he referred
to a significant change in the stance of public opinion on the most
corrupted party, explaining the role of the political divide in blocking
many of the achievements in this regard.
Shuaibi
mentioned the need to amend the Law of Illicit Gain to become an
Anti-Corruption and Illicit Gain Commission, and to be granted
sufficient power and independence, including the ability to conduct
direct investigations and bring suspects before the law.
In
addition, he stressed on the importance of having the Code of Corporate
Governance in Palestine, which was adopted by the National Committee for
Governance, however, serious actions for applying the code and following
up on adherence have not stared yet.
As
well, he stressed on the need to renew the PLC legitimacy in order to
activate its oversight role over the executive authority.
Public
Prosecutor: There is political will to combat corruption
Public
Prosecutor, Ahmed al-Mughni, assured that there is a political will to
pursue and combat corruption, while the civil public prosecution is
receiving support from the political leadership, where they started
working on monitoring and combating corruption in 2006.
al-Mughni has also pointed out that despite the difficulties that
encounter the work of the civil public prosecution, especially within
the absence of a general structure and the lack of staff, which impedes
its ability to perform its duties, a wide range of corrupt files were
opened and attended to.
Corruption cases accomplished… But
Al-Mughni illustrated some of the accomplished cases adopted by the
prosecution, including issuing an arrest warrant to the Interpol against
the former Director- General of the Palestinian police, Ghazi al-Jabali,
the fugitive to Dubai, in addition to Samer Al Ramlawi, the former
undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, Mohammed Hajjeh, whom was
sentenced as an absentia to prison for seven years, noting that the
General petroleum corporation GPC and the land authority are the
foremost bodies in having corruption files.
Public
Prosecutor: Occupation protects corruption
Almughani warned that the worst corruption files that we face and are
trying to address concerns the Blue ID holders, whom can’t be prosecuted
due to the signed agreements with the Israeli side.
Head of Illicit Gain Commission Promises to have Independent IGC
Rafeeq al-Natsheh, Head of the Illicit Gain Commission, spoke about the
aim of IGC to combat corruption and graft. He also stressed on the
importance of providing all that is civilized and progressive to the
Palestinian people within the principles of integrity and transparency
and indicated to the existence of a political will ever since IGC was
established.
Al-Natsheh also stressed that IGC is an independent and transparent body
that is committed to investigating corruption files and following up in
them in coordination and cooperation with the Higher Judicial Council,
the Civil Public Prosecution, the Ministry of Justice and all civil
society organizations.
Al-Natsheh described the IGC work as a big responsibility that requires
tremendous efforts from the staff in order to achieve its goals,
promising that the work be independent without interference by any
party.
On the other hand, Dr. Ghassan Khatib, director of the Government
Information Center, affirmed the government’s program in addressing
corruption and the realization of good governance adding that the
government is considering this report and the issues it raised
positively.
Al-Khatib pointed out that continuing to progress in the performance of
the security agencies, discipline, respect for the law, the government's
decision to run in local elections, the beginning of implementation of
the Law of Illicit Gain, the rationalization of government spending, and
the establishment of boards of sectoral-based policies were all
important and fundamental factors in creating an environment to combat
corruption and
bring
about positive mobility in society.
Recommendations of the 2009 Corruption Report
§
To build a national political will to combat corruption led by the PNA
in partnership with civil society organizations for the preparation of a
comprehensive national plan to build a national integrity system,
procedures and consistent measures to combat corruption.
§
To adapt the Palestinian legislation related to promoting transparency
and integrity and combating corruption in accordance with the UNCAC to
criminalize all forms of corruption and increase the punishment for the
corrupt.
§
To renew the legitimacy of the Legislative Council in order to activate
its monitoring role over the executive authority.
§
For the SAACB to begin carrying out the duties originally entrusted to
it, and the most important of which is oversight on the performance of
key public institutions to eliminate manifestations of any breach of the
law, ant to focus on misuse of public office by officials in addition to
financial violations.
§
To provide all professional, technical, and financial resources for
staff working at the Anti-Corruption Prosecution and to punish anyone
interfering in its work or attempting to influence its decisions.
§
To raise the efficiency of the legal advisers in the ministries in the
filed of monitoring and combating corruption and strengthening the role
of Anti-corruption Prosecution.
Adopt the registry of the Ministry of Justice of no criminal records as
an official record for the issue of good conduct to work in a public
position substituting for the intervention of security agencies.
Session II: The Minister
of Finance reviews the 2010 Budget
Prime Minister Dr. Salam
Fayyad, praised the work of AMAN Coalition and the civil society
organizations in all fields, especially in the areas of management and
enhancing the level of transparency and the principles of
good governance.
During the second session which was devoted to discussing the
government's budget of 2010, Dr. Fayyad reflected the major improvements
on the budget preparation process for this year to enhance efforts in
order to establish a distinct and more advanced financial system.
During his speech, Fayyad also emphasized on the efforts put forth by
the Palestinian government to consolidate concepts of self-empowerment
and self-reliance to meet its developmental and operational needs noting
that the government has considered incorporating this in the 2010 budget.
Accountability on the government's budget for 2010
During an accountability session on the government's budget, PLC Member,
Khalida Jarrar, said she wished the budget was put forward to the
inactive Legislative Council for voting and approval.
She wondered about the means to liberalize and build the economy while
the largest share of the General Budget is allocated to salaries and
wages; also the ability to achieve sustainable development in the
Palestinian Authority while it is subjected to regulations of donors
like the World Bank.
On the other hand, PLC Member Sahar Qawasmi, raised questions about the
mechanisms of economic independence from Israel in the absence of an
indication to that in the General Budget as well as the fact that the
Palestinian side is restricted by economic accords that oblige it to
economic dependence on the Israeli economy such as the Paris
Convention.
Alternatively, Dr. Mamdouh
Aker, Commissioner of the Independent Commission for Human Rights,
asserted the value of the Government's interest in supporting the Gaza
Strip and placing it as a top priority as well as its quest to get rid
of foreign aid.
Dr. Aker called on giving the Palestinian universities more support and
further interest in the government's budget plan compared to the support
provided to other sectors.
In turn, the economic expert, Dr. Nasr Abdel Karim, presented a number
of questions about the government’s fiscal policy, which always refers
to the current deficit and turns a blind eye on the total deficit, and
why the government is not seeking to focus on increasing revenue rather
than reducing costs.
Dr. Faisal
Awartani, Director of the ALPHA Center for Research and Opinion Polls,
explained that the General Budget has set aside 22% for the Ministry of
the Interior, and 18% for the Ministry of Education while the health
sector got 10% and women, youth and agriculture sectors got very small
proportions; he wondered about the reason for the exaggerated interest
in the security sector.
As for Lamees Hantouli, Member of the Civil Team for the Support of
transparency in the General Budget, she referred to the fact that the
General Budget did not reflect the Council of Ministers’ resolution to
adopt a budget that responds to social type while Intissar Hamdan
indicated the lack of attention to the education sector and its
development as the increase for this sector did not exceed 1.5% during
the past six years while the annual increase rate of numbers of new
students in the schools reached 3.8%.
On the other hand, Dr. Allam
Jarrar, member of PNGO Network, pointed out that the wage bill in the
General Budget mounted to 55%, i.e., a total deficit of 45% without
foreign aid, wondering about allocating the bulk of the budget to
security which amounted to fifteen times more than the
agricultural sector share.
Public Satisfaction Survey Results on Government Performance
Dr. Hussain Ahmed, Director of the Center for Opinion Polls and Survey
Research at An-Najah National University, reviewed results of the
opinion poll conducted by the Center on the degree of satisfaction on
the performance of public institutions and the civil servants during the
26-28 March 2010.
The results of the poll showed that there was an average satisfaction by
the Palestinian public with the amount of information and guidelines
published by public institutions about the services they provide while
they expressed dissatisfaction with the accuracy of the information
published by public institutions on the cost of services provided.
During his review, Hussain added that the Palestinian public expressed
their dissatisfaction with the justice, equality and transparency in the
delivery of services to citizens, as well as with the accuracy of the
dates set by public institutions for delivery of services required.
As for accountability, Hussein explained that the poll showed public
dissatisfaction with the Palestinian public institutions in addressing
and following up complaints from the public and equality in the
follow-up and addressing of complaints by the public institutions in
addition to dissatisfaction with the efficiency and professionalism of
competent PNA institutions regarding investigating and addressing the
issues of corruption.
With regard to public satisfaction with the performance of civil
servants, the poll showed that corruption such as bribery, ‘Wasta’, and
favoritism still exist which, in turn, affect justice and equality in
service providing whereas civil servants are committed to working hours.
About 43.7% of respondents said there were people outside Palestine who
receive a monthly salary from the PA budget and do not do any government
work in Palestine or abroad while according to 59.5% of those surveyed,
there are people inside Palestine receiving a monthly salary from the PA
budget who are never in their workplace.
Based on AMAN’s perspective, Researcher Bilal Barghouthi reviewed an
analysis of the results of the opinion poll where he noted that the poll
showed an improvement in performance of public institutions regarding
the provision of services to citizens although there are weaknesses in
the level of justice, equality and transparency in appointments and
promotions and that the siege on the Gaza Strip is still an obstacle
facing the provision of some services by public institutions in Gaza.
Barghouthi added that the establishment of complaints centers in public
institutions has improved handling and following up complaints from
people, but there are weaknesses in the effective monitoring on the
performance of civil servants and their role in preserving public funds;
and that the Palestinian law is still deficient in criminalizing all
forms of corruption and is lax on punishments.
On the best ways to combat corruption, Barghouthi explained that it
requires a comprehensive monitoring system in addition to raising
awareness among the public and involving them in combating corruption.
Rationalization of public salaries
In its closing session, the conference discussed the rationalization of
the wage bill and the phenomenon of the ‘ghost’ employee where Jihad
Hamdan, the former Head of the General Personnel Council, confirmed the
phenomenon of ‘ghost’ employees is an old inheritance that has started
with the early inception of the Palestinian Authority; he added that GPC
is currently working on eliminating it through a control system.
Hamdan pointed out that the political conditions that we face have
contributed to creating a range of forms of corruption considering that
the issue of promotions and appointments has a kind of political
discrimination by a decision of the Cabinet because of the divide that
occurred in 2007.
On the other hand, Majid al-Hilou, Director General of Palestinian
Retirement Commission, explained that the monitoring program is a
holistic full program and that appointments and promotions are now being
monitored in an effort to eliminate favoritism and ‘Wasta’.
At the conclusion of the session, the Minister of Planning and
Administrative Development, Ali Jarbawi, said the solution to the
problem of corruption depends primarily on the existence of a unitary
political will indicating that there is no sincerity in doing so.
Public poll on citizen’s satisfaction with the integrity of public
institutions:
The public institution serves the people; but do they exercise their
rights to their properties?
On
March 28th, the Coalition for Integrity and Accountability-
AMAN organized a workshop in the Gaza Strip, parallel to AMAN sixth
annual conference, with the aim of presenting and discussing a public
poll on the integrity of public institutions and the employees thereof.
Dozens of representatives of civil organizations, governmental
institutions and concerned parties attended the event.
Discontent with employees receiving salaries from the Public Treasury
while not attending at their workplaces
Ms.
Nadia Al Bayoumi, Director of AMAN’s office in Gaza, presented the
results of the poll and emphasized that the poll sought to measure the
Palestinian citizens’ satisfaction with the performance of public
institutions based on principles of transparency, integrity and
efficiency in the provision of services. The poll also aimed at
revealing the extent of approval on the performance and integrity of
civil servants, and elicits opinions on interventions that can enhance
integrity in the work of public institutions.
Results concluded that there is a noticeable improvement on the
provision of services in the public institutions; however, Wasta and
favoritism still influence justice and equality in offering services.
Results further showed the dissatisfaction of the Palestinian citizen
with civil servants who receive their wages from the Public Treasury
without attending at their workplaces as citizens considered this as one
form of corruption.
The poll affirmed that Palestinian law still comes short in
criminalizing some forms of corruption while penalties are still
lenient.
Better status in the flow of information, and a weakness in
communicating with citizens
On
his part, Mr. Hani Abu Omra, a researcher and member of the central
committee of the Arab Palestinian Front, pointed out that progress has
indeed taken place at the level of circulating information, while the
quality and accuracy of this information is still less than required,
adding that results indicate having a weak relation between citizens and
the government. He elaborated that citizens have begun to feel that
public institutions are not there to serve them and that a person needs
Wasta to get the service he needs while the non-commitment of employees
reflect their poor attention to ethical and professional duty and the
use of funds for the public’s interest.
Citizens between exacerbation of corruption and apathy
On
his part, Mr. Taysir Muheisen, a researcher and head of
capacity-building and advocacy at the Agricultural Relief Committee
(PARC), stated that this poll comes at a time of confusion the Palestine
suffers from with regards to the challenges, priorities as well as
individual and group conduct. He stressed that Palestinians still have
not risen to face challenges neither do they sort out their mistakes. He
added that the state of division is becoming more rooted while everyone
is learning to live and adapt to the current situation while the
aggrieved Palestinians do not take actions neither against corruption
nor exacerbation and therefore becoming pathetic. Further, there is a
fall back in the role of intermediary institutions, and he agreed with
what was proposed by citizens in relation to mechanisms to curtail the
dissemination of corruption.
Administrative reform in public institutions in Gaza
Eng. Fawaz al-Alami, Director General of Administrative Development and
Good Governance at the Ministry of Planning in the Deposed Government in
Gaza, presented a number of models of administrative reform in public
institutions, and emphasized that the government is working to establish
and execute a plan to assess governmental performance. In addition, he
stated that a lot of information is accessible online through government
websites. As for appointments and promotions, tests have become
computerized which eliminate the possibility of personal interests
interfering in the process. In regards to the poll results, he explained
that the citizen feel that the provision of some services has relatively
improved, however, improvement is far more than what citizens reflected
in the poll.
Necessity of activating oversight over the public sector
Participants took part in an extensive discussion about the poll results
and explained that they do indeed notice an improvement on the general
performance in several areas while there are some shortcomings. They
clarified impact that the siege and the particularity of Gaza’s
situation have on citizens in general and on the ability of public
institutions to address required services sufficiently. Most of them
agreed on the necessity of activating oversight on the public sector,
and condemned the phenomenon known as ‘ghost employee’ who gets a
monthly salary from the General Budget with attending at his workplace.
Among participants, there has been a unanimous consent on the importance
of having constant check of the satisfaction of citizens in relation to
performance and service providing in the public sector. They also called
for conducting more polls to keep abreast of the level of service
providing in the various sectors and the shortcomings that need to be
addressed.
At
the end of the conference, it was re-emphasized that polls are tools
which can be utilized by service providers in order to improve the
services and the level of contentment that the citizen has with these.
This in turn makes citizens confident in their ability to obtain public
services without the need for Wasta, neither would nepotism or
favoritism influence the integrity and fairness in providing these
services.
|
