Saturday, December 22, 2018

Independent organs of state

In Singapore, the election department, corrupt practices investigation bureau and attorney general's office report to the prime minister of his minister.

In many countries, these organs are independent of the ruling govt.

We are so used to our structure of control that we overlook that it could be done in some other ways.

I quote some example of the practices in other countries.

In America, the Federal Reserve or the Fed act independently of the government. They decide on monetary policy in the interest of the country, based on their judgment. They do not allow the President or his Treasury Secretary to dictate the monetary policies to them, as these ministers may have political motives, i.e. to win more votes at the next election.

The interest of the country override the interest of politicians.

In the past, Malaysia has many organs of state report to the ruling govt or the prime minister. This practice was similar to the current practice in Singapore.

The new govt in Malaysia has decided that several of these organs of state should be independent of the govt. They should report to Parliament.

The changes involved the Election Department, the corrupt practices bureau and the Attorney General's Office. The appointment of the people to run these organs will be decided by Parliament and not the cabinet.

Malaysia had learned from recent years that the concentration of power in the prime minister or his ministers have led to rampant and serious corrupt practices. They want to change the structure to avoid these risk in the future.

Singapore face similar risk. We should learn from the lesson in Malaysia and other countries and take appropriate measures to mitigate these risks. Indeed, we are far being the best practice as shown from the experience of other countries.

I share my observation about the practice in Indonesia on the appointment of the members of their independent corrupt practice bureau, known as the KPK.

The term of the previous KPK had expired and a new membership of the KPK had to be appointed by Parliament.

The president nominated an independent "selection committee" to recommend the people to be appointed. The selection committee invited the public to make their recommendations.

The non govt organizations (NGOs) had an interest to find the most suitable and "clean" people to serve in the KPK. There were wide discussions in the media about the potential candidates. The final candidates that were submitted to the President comprise of people who were generally well respected and "clean".

The president submitted his final recommendation to Parliament for appointment.

Indonesia had many decades of rampant corruption. They need to have a process to gain the confidence of the public that the govt intends to eradicate the deep rooted corrupt practices.

Through their selection process, they showed that it is possible to gain the confidence of the public by adopting a transparent process. It is also possible to appoint suitable people who are not linked to the ruling govt.

Indonesia has shown that it is possible to have independent bodies that can carry out their job, in spite of daunting challenges.

We need to learn the lesson and good practices from other countries.

Tan Kin Lian



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