47719 MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA MARCH, 2009 GOVERNANCE NEWS & NOTES VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1 A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER IN THIS ISSUE: A Note from the Publisher........................ 1 his issue of Governance News and Notes shifts our focus away from the Executive Branch towards the role of parliaments and Governance Newsmaker parliamentarians in advancing good governance. In OECD Interviewwith Dr. Naser Al- countries, parliaments play a vital role in the accountability chain. Sane..............................2 They make legislation, approve budgets, review audit reports and can compel senior officials to appear and justify their policies and The Role of Governments in actions. They can serve as an important source of independent Good Governance and Anti- review and analysis. They are responsible for ensuring that the Corruption Efforts............4 concerns of their electorate are reflected within the corridors of The Open Budget Index power, and in some countries they intercede directly to help their Results for MENA Countries constituents receive the public services to which they are entitled. .....................................5 In MENA, parliamentarians often find themselves locked in an GOPAC Global Task uneven contest. The region has a long history of rulers consulting Force--Parliamentary with their subjects through a variety of forums. However, most Ethics Project..................6 experts would agree that traditional consultative mechanisms, such as shura councils, function differently than modern parliaments. Upcoming Events and They meet at the discretion of the ruler; their members are often Activities..........................8 appointed rather than elected; and they lack statutory authority to review certain questions. There is no obligation that the emir or Noteworthy sheikh be bound by their deliberations. Unfortunately, the Links....................................8 parliaments that were created after independence have often fared little better. In a region that has historically been dominated by powerful executive branches, whose control over the army, police, security services, and ministries of finance and planning have given them a monopoly over the ultimate levers of power, few legislators could challenge this leviathan even if they were inclined to do so. One of the most fundamental challenges parliamentarians currently face is that in many countries information flows have been spotty at best. No MENA parliament has the staff or analytic capacity to mount a credible substantive rebuttal to the information provided by the executive. The most recent findings (2008) of the Open Budget Initiative covered seven MENA countries, out of which only two (Egypt and Jordan) were classified as falling in the middle category of providing "some" financial information. Two others were classified as providing "minimal" information, and three more as providing "scant" or "no" information. GOVERNANCE NEWS & NOTES Page 2 VOL. 3, ISSUE 1 Yet in spite of these challenges, the role of describes their approach and activities in a manner parliaments throughout the region is changing. This that could be summarized as "shame and train". issue of Governance News & Notes reviews some of the interesting developments that are taking place The "shame" reflects ARPAC's experience in through organizations such as Arab Region publicly speaking out against corrupt practices and Parliamentarians Against Corruption (ARPAC), naming Arab governments whose laws or practices including an interview with the founding Chairman, leave much to be desired, while also repeatedly Kuwaiti Member of Parliament Naser Al-Sane. comparing Arab countries against each other. The Through their efforts, parliamentarians in over 11 "train" captures their focus on providing Arab MENA countries are being encouraged to play a parliamentarians with the tools and knowledge they proactive role in advancing transparency and need to fight corruption effectively, by building the integrity. Lebanese parliamentarian Ghassan capacity of members of Arab parliaments to weed Moukheiber outlines some innovative work that is out corruption by promoting transparency and taking place in the field of parliamentary ethics. This accountability in their societies. issue also contains a discussion of the work that the World Bank is doing to help parliamentarians They combine these goals in several ongoing become more effective and proactive both in MENA projects, including the publication in coming months and throughout the globe. The process of of the first annual Arab Corruption Report and an parliamentary accountability is an occasionally Arab Parliamentary Guidebook on Financial Reform. messy and imperfect one. Yet it remains an essential link in the accountability chain. In an interview in Kuwait and Beirut in early February, he explained that ARPAC does not attempt Robert P. Beschel Jr. directly to fight corruption on its own, but rather "we Lead Public Sector Specialist encourage our members to fight corruption in their MENA Vice Presidency, World Bank own countries, and we give them the tools and the training to do so efficiently. We decided just last year, for example, to issue the Arab Corruption Report which will be launched in a few weeks time. GOVERNANCE NEWSMAKER This will allow us to measure -- between one report INTERVIEW WITH DR. NASER and the other -- to what extent there have been AL-SANE, CHAIR OF THE ARAB REGION developments in fighting corruption, but not PARLIAMENTARIANS AGAINST necessarily as a result of our organization." CORRUPTION (ARPAC) Al-Sane is a founding member of the Global BY RAMI G. KHOURI Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC), which ARPAC is affiliated with. Tackling politicians is key to anti-corruption ARPAC's founding meeting in 2004 was attended by efforts 40 Parliamentarians representing 11 Parliaments: Jordan, Bahrain, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, KUWAIT: When it was Palestine, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco, Yemen and established in November Lebanon. Chapters have now been established in 2004, the Arab Region eight of those countries. Parliamentarians Against Corruption (ARPAC) charted Al-Sane explained that the organization follows three new ground in the Arab main strategies for fighting corruption. "The first one world, where elected officials is to conduct training and teaching for members of fighting corruption were a parliament, so they will know how to fight novel and unproven enterprise. Today, the founding corruption. Second, we encourage networking among chairman of the group, Kuwaiti MP Naser Al-Sane, MPs so that everybody will learn from colleagues in GOVERNANCE NEWS & NOTES Page 3 VOL. 3, ISSUE 1 other parts of the world how they are able to fight passed such laws, like Jordan, he points out, "but corruption. Third, we promote leadership roles some articles near the end of the law say that all through a number of organizations: any MP or ex- information is supposed to be public and accessible MP who joins our organization is supposed to except that which the authorities say is supposed to assume a leadership role in society by becoming a be confidential. That demolishes the whole thing." good role model, by attracting other activists from civil society organizations, political parties, and so Al-Sane feels that ARPAC's ability to compare and on, to join in these initiatives and this kind of work." contrast access to information laws across the region allows it to point out weak laws and prod Their experience to date suggests to Al-Sane and his governments to draw up more effective ones. colleagues that keys to success for national chapters Making such comparisons publicly has proven to be include building coalitions with the media, civil "very effective", including publicizing the society movements and academics; prodding Arab Corruption Perception Index (CPI) issued by governments to ratify the United Nations Convention Transparency International every year. against Corruption (UNCAC); and adopting a national strategy The new Arab on fighting Corruption corruption that Report will involves build on the governments, work of MPs, NGOs, and researchers others who can across the devise a roadmap region who on how to fight will apply 13 corruption. parameters to developments A crucial element in each in this respect, he country that says, is to reveal events implement that took place UNCAC's in either recommendation corruption or that each country anti-corruption set up an fields. independent national agency to The most fight corruption. One of ARPAC's more successful significant breakthroughs in fighting corruption, he techniques has been to compare different Arab said, come from tackling "the corruption of national agencies according to their degree of politicians -- ministers, MPs, political parties. Those genuine independence. who were able to start with the top leadership - and do it properly - are the people who have addressed "Instead of criticizing such organizations, we the corruption issue properly. And those who compare them," Al-Sane said. "We ask about the avoided this have very little effect on corruption." extent of independence and the involvement by potentially corrupt bodies, businesses, and so on." He also warns that corruption happens in both good times and bad. The current global economic crisis, Related to this, he said, is the importance of for example, generates new opportunities for assessing the quality and efficacy of national access corruption among officials and private sector firms. to information laws. Some countries have recently GOVERNANCE NEWS & NOTES Page 4 VOL. 3, ISSUE 1 "We did an analysis when oil prices were high the aim is to confuse them -- is dump as much indicating that corrupt people will have a good technical information as possible on Parliament and opportunity to grab public money, and people will the members will not have time to look at it. They not feel it because there is a lot of money around. have no experience or knowledge to go through it. Then when oil prices dropped, and we suffered an Our guidebook will help them enable themselves to economic and financial crisis on the global level, we review this material, through specialized staff and think a lot of programs aiming at saving markets are procedures." allocating billions and billions of dollars with very little transparency. So there is a great opportunity, ARPAC is also publishing a Code of Conduct even during crisis, for people to lose more and more Guidebook for MPs, to make sure that they do not due to corruption." have conflicts of interest when they conduct their business. He said his organization is urging activists, colleagues and MPs around the world to vigilantly THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENTS IN GOOD monitor those organizations and individuals who are GOVERNANCE AND ANTICORRUPTION entrusted with rescuing their national economies, to EFFORTS make sure that hundreds of billions of dollars spent on economic bailouts are equitably distributed. BY MITCHELL O'BRIEN Asked if MPs have a special responsibility or With the recognition that good governance and capacity to fight corruption, he replied affirmatively, integrity are an important pre-requisite for noting that even in countries where parliaments are development generally, there has been a growing weak institutions realization that the MPs effective themselves are legislatures are very influential both critical members of a institutions of society. good governance and important "They have the actors in attempts right to ask to curb corruption. questions, to grill Parliaments have whoever is in three primary charge of any kind functions, namely of public or oversight, financial action, lawmaking, and and to vote for representation. confidence in The performance ministers and of all three prime ministers. parliamentary They also generate media attention, so they have to functions has the potential to contribute to the capitalize on such positions in society." anticorruption agenda. The new Arab Parliamentary Guidebook on All too often legislatures are ill-prepared or ill- Financial Reform aims to help MPs carry out their equipped to carry out these primary functions. responsibility to oversee the budget process. Irrespective of whether they have the constitutional authority to do so, parliaments often suffer from "To do budget oversight, you have to have the inadequate budgets, insufficient or poorly trained necessary skills. What governments do to MPs -- if staff, and, perhaps most of all, ill-prepared legislators GOVERNANCE NEWS & NOTES Page 5 VOL. 3, ISSUE 1 who lack detailed knowledge of the budget process and anticorruption efforts they are expected to oversee. Therefore it is important to strengthen parliaments' internal transparency and ethics regimes, improve the representative function of legislatures as a tool for curbing corruption, utilize The Open Budget Index is a comprehensive survey, parliaments' law-making function to create a created by the Center on Budget and Policy regulatory environment conducive to anticorruption, Priorities, which evaluates public access to national and enhance parliaments' capacity to perform government budget information. Civil society effective parliamentary oversight to increase researchers from each country respond to 91 transparency and improve accountability. questions that are averaged to form the OBI. The questions are not intended to evaluate the quality or Consistent with this broader strategy, the World credibility of information that a government Bank has been working with parliaments in the provides. Results have shown a strong, positive Middle East and North Africa region to strengthen correlation with the World Bank's Governance their capacity to provide effective oversight and Indicator on Voice and Accountability, the Global contribute to the anticorruption agenda. Much of this Integrity Index, and the Democracy Index. work has taken place through the World Bank Institute (WBI). For instance, WBI, in partnership OBI Results for MENA Countries with the Arab Region Parliamentarians Against Corruption (ARPAC) and Revenue Watch, helped 2006 2008 deliver a seminar on "Transparency in Revenues: The Role of Parliamentarians" in Beirut, Lebanon Provides from July 6-8, 2008. The seminar explored EXTENSIVE parliamentarians' role in financial oversight. It Information to - - Citizens reviewed country examples of public finance. It also (score of 100-81) sought to move forward two ARPAC projects through consultation and discussion, namely the Provides SIGNIFICANT adaptation and translation of a handbook on financial Information to - - oversight for parliamentarians in the region (co- Citizens sponsored by WBI and to be published in the coming (score of 80-61) months) and the transparency in revenues project. Provides SOME Information to Furthermore, WBI, in collaboration with operations, Citizens Jordan Jordan, Egypt the United States Institute of Peace, and the Legal (score of 60-41) Vice Presidency, delivered a training activity for the Provides Iraqi Parliament's Constitutional Review Committee MINIMAL Lebanon, between August 13-17, 2008 on the design of a Information to Algeria Citizens Morocco second parliamentary chamber and judicial (score of 40-21) federalism in Iraq. In particular, WBI's Parliamentary Strengthening Program took the lead on the second Provides SCANT Yemen, chamber theme as an extension of its work aimed at or NO Information Egypt, to Citizens Morocco Algeria, Saudi strengthening parliaments as representative and (score of 20-0) Arabia demand-side accountability institutions. Finally, WBI delivered a training program, in partnership Survey findings for 2008 are based on data collected from with the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians June-September 2007. Any changes occurring after that date are not reflected in the results. Against Corruption (GOPAC), the Parliament of Kuwait and ARPAC, at the "3rd Global Conference GOVERNANCE NEWS & NOTES Page 6 VOL. 3, ISSUE 1 of Parliamentarians Against Corruption" held in GOPAC GLOBAL TASK FORCE-- Kuwait City, Kuwait from November 17-20, 2008. PARLIAMENTARY ETHICS PROJECT The objective of the training program was to enhance BY MP GHASSAN MOUKHEIBER-- participants' knowledge of oversight strategies that MP LEBANON, CHAIR OF THE WORKING can be embraced by parliaments in order to combat GROUP corruption generally and, in particular, encourage the implementation, domestication and monitoring of the United Nations Convention against Corruption. As the linkages between parliaments and good governance become clearer and, in particular, The issue of parliamentary ethics has, of late, taken the contribution center stage on an international level; parliaments all parliaments can make to over the world are following in some pioneering the anticorruption agenda countries' footsteps, developing parliamentary codes becomes more of conduct of their own as part of a broader system pronounced, there will be of parliamentary and political ethics. The recent increased impetus to not surge in interest surrounding this issue stems not only include MENA only from the desire to find ways to deter or sanction parliaments in the specific cases of unethical behavior by dialogue on governance parliamentarians, but also from the dire need to but to examine ways to tackle low levels of trust in the government and the strengthen these public's suspicion of parliamentarians' integrity, institutions. Possibilities honesty and openness. Ethics systems for for near-term reforms Parliamentarians are therefore currently being would include greater developed to both address the aforementioned issue budget transparency, of combating corruption and public perception of including the provision corruption in parliaments, and to act as guidelines for of short, readable budget proper conduct and etiquette to which summaries and adequate parliamentarians can adhere. time for legislators to review them. Another In light of this current concern, the Global step would be Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption strengthening the ("GOPAC") has created a special task force on technical capacity of Parliamentary Ethics whose main goal is to develop parliamentary staff to a Guidebook on Systems of Parliamentary Ethics, review budget which can then be disseminated to and reapplied in documents. In many various countries. The task force is comprised of MENA countries, parliamentarians of several continents, expert parliament's role in consultants as well as representatives of international reviewing audit reports can also be strengthened. organizations. The project guidebook hopes to offer Working in conjunction with our member parliaments the direction they need to tailor-make a governments and other development partners, the code of conduct which can be realistically adopted Bank stands ready to support such efforts to enhance into their respective political and cultural contexts, transparency and accountability by strengthening but nevertheless adhere to basic international ethical parliaments. standards. GOVERNANCE NEWS & NOTES Page 7 VOL. 3, ISSUE 1 The Guidebook is now being finalized following a collaborate with parliamentarians to adapt the number of meetings held by the taskforce. It is Guidebook on Parliamentary Ethics into their divided into four main sections: 1. Determining the parliamentary structures. Training sessions and purpose of the ethics systems, the problems it intends educational seminars are scheduled to be held in to solve, and outlining the political values and order to help parliamentarians in the Arab region behaviors parliaments wish to propagate; 2. develop their own codes of conduct and ethical Establishing the building blocks of the ethics system regimes based on established international standards. i.e. setting up ethical and institutional principles, pinpointing detailed rules and restrictions governing The option of developing an electronic based toolkit behavior and establishing a regulatory framework for is also being looked into with the help of the UNDP, enforcing the rules, 3. Developing the content and so that trainings can be far more accessible and the rules for the ethics system which includes interactive. The e-toolkit will allow parliamentarians highlighting criteria for issues of conflict of interest, all over the world to get an overview of the ensuring transparency and detailing provisions of Guidebook and help them kick-off their work on parliamentary immunity and finally, 4. Creating creating a code of conduct for their parliaments. mechanisms for regulation and enforcement which can either come in the form of external regulation, internal regulation or semi-independent regulation. The context in which the code is developed is also touched upon in the Guidebook; cultural nuances and legal systems (i.e. common law vs. civil law) must be taken into consideration throughout the process for the development of the ethics system, however, must not be used as means to deviate from established international ethics standards. The Guidebook ends by stressing the importance of education and training after the code of conduct is developed. Ethics regimes can only be established and adhered to when parliamentarians are educated and trained on the conditions, behaviors and etiquette they must follow. The Arab Region's Chapter of GOPAC, "ARPAC" and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy ("WFD") have teamed up and made follow-up plans to the development of the Guidebook on Parliamentary Ethics in the Arab region. ARPAC has commissioned researchers in each of their eight national chapters to conduct studies on current ethics regimes in their respective countries and will later GOVERNANCE NEWS & NOTES Page 8 VOL. 3, ISSUE 1 UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES Ø April 1, 2009, Ethics and Compliance; and the Ø March 11, 2009, The National Conference To Current Financial Crisis. Cairo, Egypt. Organized Launch The Algerian Corporate Governance by CIPE and Egypt Exchange. As recent corporate Code, Algiers, Algeria. The Cercle d'Action et de scandals have demonstrated, a lapse in ethical conduct Reflexion Autour de l'Entreprise (CARE), and the not only has the potential to cost a company and its national corporate governance taskforce in Algeria investors millions, even billions, it can even send the will launch the country's CG code. The code was most well-established and respect company to the brink developed with the assistance of the Global of bankruptcy. The seminar will discuss why did the Corporate Governance Forum (GCGF) and the financial crisis occur and how did it occur from two International Finance Corporation (IFC). CIPE is perspectives. lwafi@cipe.org and www.cipe.org supporting CARE in enhancing awareness of the code and advancing the implementation of corporate governance in Algeria. lwafi@cipe.org and www.cipe.org NOTEWORTHY LINKS Ø March19,2009: CompanySecretarialWorkshop: World Bank MENA Governance Website: Essential Company Secretarial Practices in http://www.worldbank.org/mena-governance Corporate Governance. The aim of this workshop World Bank General Governance Website: is to develop the essential knowledge and skills http://www.worldbank.org/governance required to ensure that the Board practices are effective and are benchmarked against best Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against international practice. info@hawkamah.org and Corruption Website: www.hawkamah.org http://www.gopacnetwork.org Arab Region Parliamentarians Against Corruption Ø March 29-31, 2009: Second EUROSAI- Website: ARABOSAI Conference, Paris France.The theme www.arpacnetwork.org of this year's conference is "Contribution of the Supreme Audit Institutions to the modernization of Parliamentarians for Global Action the State." This conference is in cooperation with www.pgaction.org SAIs of both EUROSAI and ARABOSAI. info@rai- see.org and www.rai-see.org To subscribe or to change your subscription status, Ø March 30-April 1, 2009: Gulf Summit 2009 - please contact: Ethics, Governance, and Corporate Compliance, Dubai, UAE. Issues covered include corporate Ms. Lida Bteddini Economic & Social governance, internal controls, bribery, corruption, Development Unit compliance and business conduct, as well as Middle East & North detecting and preventing fraud and managing Africa Vice Presidency investigations, taking special consideration of recent The World Bank high profile cases, government initiatives and how 1818 H Street N.W Gulf-based companies can improve transparency to Washington, D.C 20433 be able to better partner with foreign companies. +1 (202) 458-4937 +1 (202) 477-0432 (fax) gtam@beaconevents.com and www.beaconevents.com lbteddini@worldbank.org GOVERNANCE NEWS & NOTES Page 9 VOL. 3, ISSUE 1 FOR FURTHER READING Legislative Oversight and Budgeting: A World Perspective, edited by Edited by Rick Stapenhurst, Riccardo Pelizzo, David Olson, Lisa von Trapp, http://go.worldbank.org/T1ADBIXN10 Parliamentary Strengthening Program Website, http://go.worldbank.org/BUTNWF7EY0 Parliamentary Strengthening e-Learning Website, www.parliamentarystrengthening.org The Role of Parliaments in Curbing Corruption, edited by Rick Stapenhurst , Niall Johnston , Riccardo Pelizzo, http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?item_id=5824604 WBI Working Papers on Parliamentary Strengthening, http://go.worldbank.org/CS7UTKIHU0 Disclaimer: views expressed in this publication reflect those of their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank Group, its Board or its management.