John unveils anti-corruption plan

Interior Minister Radek John (Public Affairs, VV) has unveiled his anti-corruption strategy, saying that if the strategy is not approved by the end of 2011, VV should consider leaving the governing coalition.

The strategy, which lays out 57 law and policy changes to tackle graft at all levels, was unveiled just days before Environment Minister Pavel Drobil (Civic Democrats, ODS) resigned from his position amid accusations that a recording made by one of his colleagues at the Environment State Fund shows Drobil's aides intended to use money from the fund to finance the ODS.

John's 57 proposals include longer maximum prison sentences for those convicted of corruption, immunity for key witnesses in organized crime trials, and measures to increase transparency in public tenders and lobbying practices.

While most analysts laud the minister's efforts to take action on corruption, some say the list of changes is too lengthy to have a reasonable chance of passing and too vague to be effective.

"The devil is in the details," said David Ondračka, executive director of Transparency International Czech Republic. "These are all important tasks that need to be accomplished, but some of the issues are not specified in enough detail."

Ondračka said that besides lacking in focus, the strategy also puts too much emphasis on punitive actions against low-level bureaucrats accused of wrongdoing, when training and other preventive steps would be more effective. The strategy proposes undercover inspections at state offices called anti-corruption "tests."

"We have to make sure that public officials have certain security at work - that they are properly trained to face potential corruption risks - but to test them by initiating some kind of criminal activity will be counterproductive," said Ondračka. He adds that financial penalties and banning those convicted of corruption from public sector work would go further as disincentives for corrupt behavior.

Michael Smith, a senior researcher at the Czech Academy of Social Sciences, has written extensively about the problem of corruption in the country and agrees the plan is well-intentioned but lacks focus.

"[John] is presenting a laundry list of policies and suggestions. They risk trying to do too much and ultimately doing nothing," he said.

Experts agree that public procurement, lobbying and campaign financing are among the areas where corruption is most rampant and has the most negative impact on the economy, but there is no consensus as to how effectively John's plan addresses corruption in these spheres.

Weston Stacey, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Prague, said the strategy represents a significant step forward in the fight against corruption. He said that for businesses, the biggest problem is public procurement, explaining that many American companies that refuse to participate in bribery feel disadvantaged in public tenders.

 "Most businesses will tell you that at one point or another they have encountered corruption," he said, adding, "It's creating a country that's not competitive because corruption is taking up a portion of what should be spent on quality goods and services."

"What I would love to see from the government is if they make five points a priority, then have a second layer of priorities," said Ondračka, who argues that procurement and financing reform, as well as the ambiguous delineation between political and bureaucratic government positions, be addressed first.

Smith said lobbying is another unchecked practice that tends to breed corruption. The ministry strategy does call for a registry of lobbyists in the interests of transparency, but Smith said the definition of a lobbyist is too nebulous and that registries alone do not stop corruption.

"There should be a simple ban on lobbying officials on issues of state contracts or grants," Smith said. "Something has to be done in terms of creating public records of who officials are meeting with and why."

In Transparency International's annual Corruption Perception Index, the Czech Republic was rated at 4.6 on a 10-point scale, with zero being "highly corrupt" and 10 being "very clean."  Though the country scored just slightly below-average, its rating is lower than in previous years, with observers saying that the perception of corruption can have devastating effects on national economies.

"People tend to view it as a victimless crime, but everyone is affected," Stacey said. "The individuals with the least money, the ones who are the most in need of government services, are impacted the most."

Emily Thompson can be reached at
ethompson@praguepost.com