There are eight recommendations presented by Fedesarrollo in its proposal to fight corruption, including a comprehensive reform of audit institutions to improve their effectiveness and ensure autonomy and independence from political and economic interests.
In addition, it proposes to increase direct and indirect government funding for political campaigns from 30% to 70% of spending and to strengthen control over income and expenditure reports.
This proposal is part of the series of documents “What to do in public policy?”, and is based on the results of the committee of anti-corruption experts led by Fedesarrollo in 2021, which was also accompanied at the time by the mission of Election Observation, Injustice and Transparency for Colombia.
According to the document presented by the think tank, corruption is one of the main obstacles to socio-economic development, the consolidation of an effective and efficient state and the strengthening of democracy in Colombia. In addition, it undermines growth by disrupting the allocation of resources in the economy. Politically and socially, it undermines the legitimacy of public and private institutions, diminishes trust in democracy and deteriorates the social fabric.
“It is therefore not surprising that public opinion sees corruption as the country’s biggest problem, above insecurity, the economy, unemployment and the cost of living,” said Fedesarrollo director Luis Fernando Mejía.
Among the actions planned is to change the appointment and election of the magistrates of the National Electoral Council (CNE) and to strengthen its capacity with an autonomous budget and factory and improve its investigative capabilities.
Similarly, monitor the flows of illicit funds and money laundering associated with corruption and combat the use of cash in political campaigns and the lack of transparency of these funds.
“Fighting corruption in government contracts by limiting the use of the contract regime through special arrangements, limiting non-competitive contracts and additions to contracts, as well as strengthening corporate governance of national government agencies,” is one of the other actions identified in the document. are described.
It is recommended to reform the civil service and public employment and create a system of linkage in the factory of the servers in the provision of services without increasing government spending.
In addition, it is proposed to combat the transactionality of the relationship between the Executive and Congress by increasing the transparency of the legislative process, regulating indicative quotas and making the legislative process a digital and transparent process.
Another recommendation from Fedesarrollo is to strengthen the capacity of civil society to fight corruption through whistleblower protection schemes and better access to information.
Source: El heraldo
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
