Remarks at the Regional GOPAC Conference

Remarks of Ambassador John L. Withers, III
Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption
Parliamentary Precinct
November 6, 2007

Mr. Prime Minister, Madam Speaker, Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a privilege to address such a diverse gathering that includes not only parliamentarians from the region, but current and former legislators from Canada and the United States.  This conference and your attendance today attests to your personal concern about corruption, but also to a strong collective will to harness the power of parliaments to fight corruption.  

I’d like to commend the Albanian Parliament and especially you, Madam Speaker and Mr. Demi, for taking the initiative to organize this conference, for coordinating support from multiple institutions, and for extending invitations to all regional parliaments.  I would also like to thank the OSCE for its generous support to this conference.  As the US Ambassador to Albania, I am pleased this conference is taking place here in Tirana, where there is a great deal of awareness of the need to fight corruption and a lot of efforts underway to tackle the problem.

This promises to be a constructive two days.  The formation of a regional chapter of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption is a step toward solving a problem that affects all countries in southeastern Europe, and indeed, all countries in the world. 

There is a tendency to lay all the responsibilities for dealing with corruption at the feet of the executive branch of government.  That is understandable and sometimes a very convenient way of avoiding responsibility.  In fact, legislatures have important constitutional responsibilities, and it is to your credit that you recognize these responsibilities and are ready to assert them more in your own countries. 

Legislatures have the power to approve budgets, to oversee public sector operations, to ensure the public’s money is properly spent for its intended purpose. Legislatures have the power to investigate officials and to follow up with actions ranging from censure to dismissal, the power to amend or enact laws that close off opportunities for corrupt practices or authorize tough penalties for those who engage in them. 

This is a formidable set of powers, and yet these powers are not always exercised, or they are exercised in a political or partisan way.  Part of the purpose of this conference, in fact, is to raise awareness of these authorities and provide tactics and strategies to legislators to help them avail themselves of these authorities and assume their responsibilities -- not just to score an electoral advantage – but to have a concrete impact on corruption. 

In forming this network of interested parliamentarians, the new GOPAC chapter for southeastern Europe, you will also begin to see that you have allies in the region, allies in the United States, in Canada, allies who are standing by to give moral and political support as you begin to utilize the powers at your disposal to fight corruption.

I wish you the best of luck in this conference and hope that it concludes with the adoption of a constitution for a new GOPAC chapter.  I hope that you emerge from this meeting here in Tirana with a renewed sense of purpose, knowing that you have the necessary tools at home and support here in the region and elsewhere as you work within your parliaments to achieve better governed societies.