Fighting against administrative corruption in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq from the perspective of good governance

The society and the government of the Kurdistan Region, like other societies of the third world, are immersed in many issues and problems today; Looking at the challenges and harms faced by the society and the government in this region, the first concept that comes to mind is administrative corruption. The examination of Kurdistan Region policies in the field of administrative corruption lacks specific policies; This problem has caused the set of government measures and policies in the fight against administrative corruption to be unsuccessful. Therefore, the leading research with a descriptive-analytical method tries to answer the question that what are the harms of the anti-corruption policies in the Kurdistan region according to the indicators of good governance? The results show that in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, due to the indicators of good governance, such as the participation of civil society and the private sector in policy making, accountability, transparency and efficiency of the government, the fight against administrative corruption has not been successful.

Introduction

The Kurdistan region, like the ruling system in Baghdad, is heavily dependent on oil and has sunk into the same abyss that has sunk all political systems relying on "black gold". The oil reserves of the region are equivalent to one third of the total oil reserves of Iraq. Currently, the most important problem that the Kurdistan regional government is dealing with is economic corruption in this region. The regional government has always insisted on external and imposed factors in the developments of Iraq, the region and the world in the emergence of this situation. Meanwhile, economic experts consider incorrect and indiscriminate investment, rent-seeking, the large size of the government and reliance on the oil economy to be the main factors of the current crisis. Kurdistan Region has not been able to realize good governance indicators due to various political, economic and cultural reasons. International indicators related to administrative corruption and public administration show that although the policies to fight administrative corruption in the Kurdistan region have not brought the expected results. Therefore, in the present article, while examining anti-corruption policies in the Kurdistan Region, using the indicators of good governance, it is discussed and investigated for the policy of fighting against administrative corruption in the Kurdistan Region.

Theoretical Framework

The conceptual approach used in this article deals with the concept of good governance. Good governance requires an institutional environment in which citizens can interact with each other and with government administrative organizations. The capacity of this institutional environment for development is important because it helps determine the results of economic policies that have been approved by the government. While many governments have accepted the reform framework for development, the results have been very different among countries. These differences have many factors, one of the most important of which is the quality of governance in countries, and in other words, the ability of governments to effectively implement the policies they have chosen. Therefore, when governance standards are weak, choosing the right policies by itself cannot be sufficient for development success. According to the World Bank, governance guarantees policies that have positive effects. In fact, governance is related to behavioral norms that ensure governments deliver to their citizens what they promised..

Methodology

The research method in this article is a descriptive analytical method through which the effect of bad governance and a bad institutional environmentis on administrative corruption in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan investigated.

Results & Discussion

In the Kurdistan region of Iraq, after the historical revolution of the Kurdish nation in the spring of 1991, despite all the achievements such as independence and freedom, there are many problems in terms of governance and management, which are related to internal and external factors, and one of the internal factors is It is corruption. There is a general consensus about corruption in the Kurdistan region that people and political parties have admitted to this fact. But its volume, type and impact have not yet been fully determined.

Conclusions & Suggestions

The ineffectiveness of government institutions due to reduced capacity, excessive politicization and corruption of bureaucracy and political officials has weakened the economic, social and political development of the Kurdistan region. In addition, the failure of the government institutions of the Kurdistan Region in supporting the welfare of citizens, providing appropriate social services and promoting the rule of law has challenged the legitimacy and stability of the government. The experience of the Kurdistan Region shows that preventing corruption and preventing its spread has a more important role than fighting corruption. The United Nations Office against Corruption and Crime believes that in order to prevent corruption, there is a need for conditions, including the transparency of the political and administrative system, which is provided through access to information and healthy media activity. The existence of the political will to design, implement and stabilize the necessary measures to eliminate corrupt behaviors, the institutional capacity to guarantee the practical implementation of political commitments are other elements. Deterrence does not only mean conventional prosecution and punishment, but administrative, disciplinary, financial and economic deterrence is another important factor in the fight against corruption. It seems necessary to involve all the main stakeholders including the civil society in this field. Various measures to fight corruption in the Kurdistan region in the last decade have not led anywhere. According to the analysis provided by the document of the National Strategy for Combating Administrative Corruption in this country, the reason for this lack of success is two things: firstly, the political will and support necessary to deal with each case is quickly weakened, and secondly, the policy recommendations with a The specified program is not supported for execution. Some of the necessary reforms of the administrative system in the Kurdistan Region are as follows: Greater accountability, which requires the strengthening of internal and external accountability mechanisms to deal with widespread corruption within the bureaucracy. Increasing efficiency and transparency, which requires improving efficiency and transparency by replacing manual processes with automated processes and rationalizing old and outdated laws, procedures and regulations. Reforming the status of employees, which requires the promotion of equal opportunities and specialized advancement in civil services through training and upgrading the position of administrative staff.