Stop
complaining about corruption and ring number 1564
The
existence of an anti-corruption hotline will not by
itself suffice toclean Greece up, but it can become
a powerful weapon in the hands of those whowant to
do so. Moreover, by taking such an initiative this
government provesthat it really does have the political
will to eliminate corrupt practices
MARK DRAGOUMIS
THIS
COLUMNIST is in danger of fast becoming an inveterate
recidivist: he is about to quote himself once again.
Here then is the gist of his column published on September
16, 2005, under the title Anti-corruption hotline:
install it now.
Having dealt with tragic-comic corruption cases in
Greece and elsewhere, having dwelt on Mexico's installation
of a 24-hour anti-corruption hotline, he proposed
that such a service be installed in Greece forthwith.
He ended his piece as follows: "One can foresee
the objections. Greeks are great storytellers and
would use the hotline to vent, anonymously, their
anger against anyone they do not like. No matter.
Experienced operators will be able to separate the
chaff from the wheat, especially if the job was entrusted
to the much respected, efficient and successful Department
of the Greek Ombudsman. Anyway, the success of the
system will be measured not only by the cases discovered
- to be given maximum publicity - but also by the
cases prevented. If corrupt officials know that anyone
can anonymously point the finger at them, they may
think twice before indulging in their practices. Such
a hotline must be set up immediately. Hey, is anyone
listening (ie reading the Athens News) up there in
the cabinet?"
Well, either someone was indeed listening or had reached
the same conclusions separately. The fact is that
14 months later, on November 13, 2006, Greece's Deputy
Interior Minister Apostolos Andreoulakos announced
the big news. In future, people who have fallen victims
or believe they have witnessed incidents of mismanagement
or corruption in a civil service department will be
able to report such cases to the 24-hour telephone
hotline 1564. Their complaint will be immediately
forwarded electronically to a department of public
administration inspectors who will deal with it. This
is the first such move in Greece where corruption
is still widespread. The country - as the Athens News
reported on November 10 on the findings of the 2006
annual Corruption Perception Index issued by the Berlin-based
watchdog Transparency International - ranks behind
every EU member except Poland and also 54th out of
163 countries worldwide with Finland as the cleanest
country on the planet and Haiti as the most corrupt,
together with Myanmar (formerly known as Burma).
Some might say that an anti-corruption hotline is
no big deal because denouncing corruption does not
mean that action will be taken to eliminate it. True,
but at least a procedure that allows citizens to point
a finger does go some way to allocate responsibility.
Moreover, the government that introduces such a measure
exposes itself to a high degree of public scrutiny
that cannot be easily ignored. If evidence about corruption
is collected and then buried, whoever does the burying
takes a big chance indeed. The existence of such a
hotline will not, by itself, suffice to clean Greece
up, but it can become a powerful weapon in the hands
of those who want to do so. Moreover by taking such
an initiative this government proves that it really
does have the political will to eliminate corrupt
practices. The difference with Simitis (personally
honest but unable to control his party on this issue)
who suggested that victims "should complain to
the public prosecutor", has become much more
obvious ever since this government managed to cleanse
the judiciary, thus confirming retrospectively people's
reluctance to trust it in the old days.
There will be those analysts who consider themselves
wise, but are mostly professional denigrators of every
move to change things, who will pontificate on the
impossibility of ever altering what they call the
"nature" of Greeks. This is utter rubbish.
With corruption rampant and unpunished, if not rewarded,
the honest Greeks feel deeply humiliated. "Am
I an idiot to abide by the law?" is a recurring
phrase. Well, those who feel like this will from now
on find some solace in dialling 1564 and help make
life more difficult for the arrogant delinquents.
Other such concrete measures have proved effective.
The establishment of 'Citizens' Service Centres' (KEP),
by centralising procedures and minimising the number
of potentially corrupt civil servants previously involved
in issuing an official document, have proved valuable
in combating corruption in a number of fields. So
has the introduction of the so-called "objective
values" system for real estate properties that
has removed responsibility from internal revenue employees
to evaluate a building for tax purposes often according
to the size of the bribe extorted from the helpless
owner. A major improvement has also been the computerisation
of all files - sabotaged for years by the civil service.
Thanks to this new 'TAXIS' system tax dodgers can
no longer bribe unscrupulous officials to have their
files altered or lost. The minister himself has now
access to all files and all pending cases. These are
specific, concrete, measurable achievements in the
continuing fight against corruption. As for permanent
progress that will one day allow Greece to climb up
significantly from the bottom of the EU league table,
this too will come in due course. Institutional change
always precedes change in social attitudes. Greeks
will not turn into Finns overnight but given time
and provided that governance of the country remains
clean, the honest ones amongst them (and given a choice
they are in the majority) will eventually gain the
upper hand.
Embattled Panaghis Vourloumis - CEO of Greece's Telecoms
known as OTE - on November 20 likened the state-controlled
corporations (such as OTE) to a cruise ship where
unions travel first class. On November 10 he said
in the Athens News: "The real changes required
are cultural ones... Human beings cannot change easily...
but change is made more difficult given that the existing
internal OTE labour agreements are not based on meritocracy."
In the meantime, all you victims of maladministration,
corrupt practices and civil service incompetence,
start dialling 1564. It can't do any harm and may
do a lot of good...
* Mark Dragoumis' book The Greek Economy 1940-2004
is available at bookstores throughout Greece and directly
from the newspaper
* Mark Dragoumis' books Greece on the Couch, Session
1 and Greece on the Couch, Session 2, containing select
Analyse This columns, are available at bookstores
through Greece and directly from the newspaper
ATHENS NEWS
, 24/11/2006, page: A99
Article code: C13210A99
