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Free press vital for good governance, says US expert

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: An independent, free and aggressive press is absolutely necessary for good governance, Stanley F. Morris, Director General, International Financial Consultant and board member of Transparency International in Washington, said on Tuesday.

He was speaking at a Worldnet Satellite dialogue arranged by US embassy in Islamabad.

Talking on "Good Governance: The bureaucracy," he said it is often a hassle to deal with an aggressive press but, there is no other way to keep a check on the working of investigating agencies probing crimes such as money laundering and corruption.

Answering questions of panelists from Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, Morris, a veteran of 30 years government service and now a financial consultant, said empowering civil society was necessary to keep a check on corruption.

He said all financial institutions have an obligation to have knowledge of their clients' resources and system of public disclosure of the same.

To keep bureaucracy out of the corruption net, he said the government should be more concerned with core issues and many functions or operations could be left to the private sector which could do them efficiently and effectively, like postal, banking and financial services.

Responding to questions from Islamabad and Lahore, he said the integrity of investigators is crucial and the public should have trust in their ability.

This, he said, should be coupled with a provision of financial disclosure made mandatory for all federal functionaries and the same have to be made public.

Stanley said that Pakistan, Indonesia and India are very important countries for the US and the world community. Introducing good governance here is of prime importance, he added.

He admitted that corruption index prepared by the Transparency International is empirical, since it is very difficult to gather actual data.

Answering another question he said the governments could take structural inputs from the international financial institutions like the IMF, the World Bank and the UN, for good governance and check on corruption. "World Bank President Wolfensohn and IMF Managing Director Camdessus have already talked on the issue," he remarked.

Responding to a panelist's remark that the British left the legacy of a civil servant being the master of the public rather than its servant, he said that it took a century and a half in the US for the concept of civil servant to be a public servant.