Corruption

NLD fights to end bribery for govt services

Burma’s new National League for Democracy (NLD) government has a huge set of reform challenges waiting for it, but few could be more important and intractable than corruption. During decades of military rule graft became ubiquitous. To the anger of ordinary citizens, bribes were required for the simplest government services, while it became the norm in doing business and obtaining licenses in the country. During the former Thein Sein government, there was little change in this situation. Fighting corruption is a defining principle of the NLD, along with democratic practices. Aung San Suu Kyi, as Minister of the President’s Office, recently banned civil servants from accepting gifts worth more than 25,000 kyats ($23), while a leading MP has said that clean government is the ‘life blood’ of the party. But rooting out bribery will be easier said than done; a recent experience reminded me just how deeply entrenched the problem is among the underpaid civil service. Last month, I went to the immigration office in Rangoon’s North Okkalapa Township, where I grew up, to obtain a simple document stating I no longer reside there. I had moved to the city’s centre and needed this document to register in my new neighbourhood. Posters inside said the document…