Corruption in the news
NEW DELHI – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pleads for “moderation” in the public debate over corruption in India, saying honest officers can make honest mistakes, the Times of India reports. “Much too often we see a trivialization of complex public policy issues,” Singh said in arguing for top politicians to exercise oversight of anti-corruption investigations. Meanwhile President Pranab Mukherjee called corruption a major stumbling block to India’s progress, raising costs and undermining the moral fibre of society, the Economic Times reports.
In trying times
NAPLES, Italy – The latest trial for Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly bribing a senator to join his party's ranks is getting under way in Naples, the Guardian reports. Italy’s former prime minister, who lost his parliamentary immunity when he was ejected from the senate last year over a tax fraud conviction, is not expected to attend the hearing. He is accused of giving $4 million in 2006 to Sergio De Gregorio, then a senator in an anti-corruption party, to join his People of Freedom party to help undermine the centre-left government in power at the time.
Timing is everything
LILONGWE - Malawi’s government is denying reports that Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf advised President Joyce Banda not to fight corruption during an election year, Voice of America reports. Malawi holds elections on May 20, and Sirleaf visited Malawi from February 1-4. Rather the Presidential Press Secretary Steven Nhlane said Banda had been advised by many friends, including Sirleaf, “it is a risk to fight corruption in an election year”. Eight Western nations, whose aid has accounted for about 40 present of Malawi’s budget, have asked Banda to reduce corruption.
Sins of their parents ….
BANGKOK – The video ad portrays an agonised Thai mother pained to see her son ostracised by his school friends because his mother is corrupt. Its punch line? "Don't leave any space for corrupt people to stand in Thai society". The ad quickly went viral and within days social networks were abuzz, the Bangkok Post reports. The comments reflected the deep divide in Thai society. Some said it’s high time that family members are held responsible for the misery they cause, while others called the video a witch hunt and vigilantism.
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