Corruption

As court removes Pakistani PM, socialists call for accountability, democracy

Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously on July 28 to disqualify the country’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, from office in relation to the exposure of secret assets as part of the Panama Papers leaks.

The court has referred Sharif’s case to the country's top anti-corruption authority for an investigation into his family's offshore assets. His party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, will have to appoint an interim prime minister to serve until the next election, due midway through next year.

FIFA’s sins laid bare

In no breast did the prodigious financial corruption of world football’s administrative elite beat more vigorously than that of Chuck Blazer, the head of football in the North and Central American and Caribbean regional body.

Chuck was not called American soccer’s “Mr Big” for nothing. His bottomless appetite for high-calorie nosh gave him a gargantuan girth, which was matched financially in size by his tax-sheltered bank accounts. These bulged with millions of dollars received through fraud, embezzlement, bribes, perks, gifts and inducements.

Not only could he afford to rent an entire floor of luxury apartments in the prestigious Trump Tower in Manhattan, but he preserved one of them solely for the use of his cats.

South Korea shaken by new civic revolution

South Korea is currently in a vortex of an unprecedented political crisis.

President Park Geun-hye is under huge pressure to resign after a series of exposures of her shameful scandals related to Choi Soonshil, her friend of 40 years and daughter of Reverend Choi Tae-min who allegedly dominated a young Park after the 1975 assassination of her mother.

Malaysia: Anti-government march defies repression

The Bersih 5.0 demonstration for clean elections and against corruption in Malaysia made a huge splash on November 19 despite threats of serious repression. The night before the demonstration, at least 10 prominent figures (including key organisers of the rally) were arrested.

Malaysia: Bersih movement plans another giant democracy march on November 19

The Bersih (“Clean”) movement for free and fair elections in Malaysia is planning its fifth major mobilisation — dubbed “Bersih 5” — on November 19 despite attempts by authorities to ban the march and threats from the right-wing “Red Shirt” gang to attack the march.

Bersih 5 rallies and marches are also being organised by Malaysian democracy activists in more than 50 cities around the world.

Eddie Obeid loses lawsuit against ICAC

Supreme Court Justice David Hammerschlag dismissed former NSW minister Eddie Obeid’s civil case against the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on September 27.

Obeid had claimed he had suffered financial and reputational harm as a result of ICAC’s inquiry into a coal deal in 2012 and that he had been denied procedural fairness at the hearing which found he acted corruptly.

He faces a sentence hearing in October after a jury found him guilty of wilful misconduct in public office in 2007 over retail leases at Sydney’s Circular Quay.

Ecuador's Correa first leader to sign Oxfam's anti-tax haven letter

In response to the revelations of wholesale tax evasion in the Panamanian tax haven, Oxfam International launched an international campaign advocating for the eradication of tax havens and fiscal opacity. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, has become the first head of state to actively sign, endorse and promote Oxfam’s letter and campaign. The Ecuadorian leader has reaffirmed his commitment to push the changes advocated by the campaign from his position as president.

Eddie Obeid found guilty of corruption

Former NSW MP and right-wing powerbroker Eddie Obeid may lose his parliamentary pension of about $120,000 a year after he was found guilty of wilful misconduct in public office. Obeid faces up to five years' jail for corruption after he was found to have lobbied the then Maritime Authority's deputy chief executive, Steve Dunn, in 2007 about a long-running dispute over the renewal of leases at Circular Quay. Former parliamentarians convicted of crimes or serious offences warranting at least five years' imprisonment can have their pensions invalidated.

Austerity gathers pace in volatile South Africa

A wedge is being quickly driven through Pretoria's political elite. Among the victims of this power struggle are vast numbers of poor people. The poor are starting to bear the brunt of the diverse shakeouts in the ongoing confrontation now underway between the country's two most powerful 21st century politicians: President Jacob Zuma and his predecessor Thabo Mbeki. That battle began in 2005, when Mbeki sacked then-deputy president Zuma following a corruption conviction against a long-time Zuma associate.

Australian perceptions of corruption grow

Perceptions of corruption in the Australian government and public sector increased in 2015 for the fourth year running. Transparency International’s annual index ranks Australia 13 globally for perceived openness, the country’s equal lowest ranking in the 20-year history of the index. A federal anti-corruption agency, strong anti-foreign bribery laws and political donations reform were required to help arrest the slide, the anti-corruption group said. Perceptions of corruption in the Australian government and public sector increased in 2015 for the fourth year running.

Guatemala: President ousted, jailed amid mass anti-corruption protests

Just hours after an arrest warrant was issued against him, Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina announced he would step down from office on September 2, in the face of a worsening corruption scandal and huge anti-government protests. The next day, a judge sentenced Perez Molina to a provisional jail sentence while the charges against him are heard.
BERSIH activists

Malaysia: Half a million in BERSIH 4 democracy mobilisation

 Malaysian democracy activists estimate that between 300,000 and half a million people peacefully took to the streets of the capital Kuala Lumpur for 34 hours from August 29 to 30. This is much larger than the previous mobilisations by the BERSIH (literally meaning “clean”) movement for free and fair elections.