For our latest print issue on Colombia, we asked experts, executives, politicians and everyday people about the biggest issue facing Colombia’s next president. See all of their answers here.
The top priorities of Colombia’s next president should be enhancing preventive anticorruption measures, fostering integrity and openness at all levels in government and society, and actively cooperating with local and international enforcement authorities in effective prosecution and assets recuperation of major corruption cases.
A successful implementation of the peace accords depends directly on these measures, as does the strengthening of our democracy, and the restoration of the people’s trust in our institutions. Our citizens’ ability to enjoy fundamental rights safely and sufficiently, and Colombia’s ability to grow its economy and reduce poverty, depend on the government’s commitment to pushing forward an agenda focused on integrity and fighting corruption.
Further, the latest developments surrounding Odebrecht’s fraudulent activities in Colombia demonstrate the need to urgently regulate lobbying — not just of the private sector over public officials, but also of congressmen and high government officials over courts and other government officials, especially those with procurement responsibilities.
This list of priorities is ambitious. The political capital of the first months of government should be spent on executing all the above. Neglecting that duty is an act of treason.
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Enciso is a former transparency secretary of Colombia and current director of the International Institute on Anti-corruption Studies in Bogotá.
