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[Global corruption report 2001] Southeast asia
Djalal, Dini
Djalal, Dini
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rr_southeast_asia.pdf
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Abstract
Not so very long ago, most Southeast Asian countries were known as ‘Asian tigers’ for their double-digit economic growth rates. The Asian financial crisis of 1997–99 was varied in its impact, but the region as a whole was hit hard, with many countries experiencing a rapid withdrawal of foreign investment, high bankruptcy rates and falling currencies. The human costs of the crisis were enormous. More than 13 million people lost their jobs, real wages fell, and crime and violence rose sharply.1 The upheaval that followed the crash brought a marked change in political rhetoric: politicians’ traditional rallying cry of ‘growth’ changed to calls for ‘reform’. Increased prominence is now given to corruption, though the rhetoric has not been matched by action. Differing responses to the financial crisis reflect the array of political, economic and cultural systems found in the region. The shift in political rhetoric meant something very different in the democratic Philippines than it did in communist Vietnam. And the experience of the stable city-state of Singapore, which has one of the lowest levels of corruption in the world, was quite different to that of Indonesia, the most populous country in the region, which has seen economic turmoil and violent sectarian tensions in the last few years. Dramatic political change took place after the 1997–99 financial crisis, from the overthrow of the long-time president of Indonesia to the election in Thailand of Thaksin Shinawatra of the Democratic Party – and across the region corruption has become a key political theme. Anti-corruption groups have multiplied, and their case has been strengthened by the campaigns of governments eager to prove their reformist credentials. Good governance and structural reforms were among the conditions imposed by the IMF and other donors in exchange for the massive bailout packages required to salvage the economy in Thailand and elsewhere. Yet while donors may have stepped up the monitoring of aid, corruption remains rife in other areas, particularly in the political process. Many in the region fear that democratisation has not been accompanied by legislation or the creation of institutions strong enough to resist the influence of ‘money politics’. And political instability may divert attention from the tasks of legal reform and institution building.
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Book chapter
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2001
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393571100X
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