Opening An Integrity And Anti-Corruption Course For Southeast Asian Parliamentary Staff, This Is Fadli Zon's Hope

JAKARTA - Members of parliament can come and go because their period has ended. However, parmen staff will continue to serve. Because of that, Dr. Fadli Zon, Chair of BKSAP and President of SEAPAC hopes that parliamentary staff will maintain their integrity and continue to uphold their anti-corruption commitment.

South-East Asia Parliamentarians against Corruption (SEAPAC), a network of Southeast Asian parliamentarians that focuses on issues of corruption and good governance, is holding a course to strengthen the capacity of parliamentary staff in anti-corruption matters. This event will take place on 20-25 November 2023 at the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), London, England.

Strengthen the Capacity

The capacity strengthening program, jointly developed by SEAPAC and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), was attended by a minimum of 15 parliamentary staff from Southeast Asian countries, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia and Timor Leste. The course entitled "Integrity and Anti-Corruption Course" is targeted at parliamentary staff who focus on anti-corruption issues or are involved in SEAPAC and Global Organization of Parliamentarians against Corruption (GOPAC) activities.

Dr. Fadli Zon, Chair of BKSAP and President of SEAPAC, at the opening of the event on Monday, 20 November 2023, emphasized the importance of strengthening the capacity of parliamentary staff regarding anti-corruption issues. This strengthening is considered a crucial step to strengthen parliament as a whole.

"Members of parliament can come and go, but parliamentary employees still work in parliament," he said at the WFD office, London, UK.

The focus of this program is "Building Resilient Institutions: Enhancing Parliamentary Capacities and Accountability for Anti-Corruption and Public Debt Oversight." Although legislative institutions have achieved a number of achievements in eradicating corruption, corruption continues to adapt and operate within legal loopholes. Fadli Zon added, "Ideally we can close this legal gap by strengthening the capacity of parliamentary staff in understanding and implementing anti-corruption support to members of parliament."

Ambassador Matthew Hedges, Director of Asia, Pacific and Americas at WFD, expressed his gratitude for the collaboration with BKSAP DPR RI and SEAPAC. He hopes that this program can trigger comparative discussions between corruption eradication practices in the UK and other countries.

Franklin De Vrieze, Head of Accountability Practice at WFD, explained that the "SEAPAC-WFD Integrity and Anti-Corruption Course" program lasts for 20 hours of course involving 15 experts from various institutions in the UK, including the Center for Corruption Studies, Sussez University, Transparency International UK , Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, UK National Audit Office, University of Nottingham, University of Liverpool, to U4 Anti-Corruption Resources.

In the future, with support and facilitation from BKSAP, SEAPAC plans to follow up on the program by compiling knowledge products that are useful for parliamentarians in Southeast Asia.

The "SEAPAC-WFD Integrity and Anti-Corruption Course" consists of eight learning modules, covering an introduction to corruption, its regulatory framework, and new strategies needed to strengthen the role of parliament in eradicating corruption and advancing governance. Fadli Zon hopes that course participants can implement the knowledge gained.