L

awmakers from 74 countries grouped under the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) participated in a three-day meeting in Yogyakarta on joint strategies to eradicate grand corruption that may have the potential to hinder the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

'€œCombating grand corruption is not only a keystone to achieving the SDGs in an environment of equality of opportunity but as well it fosters equity and justice,'€ GOPAC vice chair Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu said during the opening of the meeting at the Royal Ambarrukmo Hotel, Yogyakarta, on Tuesday.

The sixth GOPAC conference, scheduled to run until Thursday, was opened by House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto.

Also attending the opening ceremony were Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, lawmakers, parliamentary chairpersons from four countries and national and international institutions with a commitment to corruption eradication.

Bonsu said the conference had the theme of '€˜Bringing perpetrators of grand corruption to justice for a sustainable world where all citizens can live in prosperity and equity'€™.

'€œThe theme reflects GOPAC'€™s ongoing work toward establishing grand corruption as a crime in international law to enable international institutions and alliances to apprehend, prosecute, judge and sentence the guilty,'€ he said.

He added that the theme also incorporated GOPAC'€™s commitment to supporting measures to fight corruption as part of the SDGs.

'€œIn this regard, we strongly assert that there cannot be sustainable development without measures to fight corruption,'€ he said.

Separately, GOPAC Indonesia chairman Fadli Zon said that the conference was an important opportunity for legislative members to learn more about grand corruption issues, asset repatriation
and role of women in corruption eradication.

'€œThis is a concrete action from the legislative actors following the outcome of the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference held in Putrajaya, Malaysia, this September, where nearly 1,200 people [...] recommended the need to recognize grand corruption as a crime of international law,'€ Fadli said.

Setya said that Indonesia had established the GOPAC Indonesia chapter in 2012 and had joined South East Asian Parliamentarians Against Corruption (SEAPAC).

Setya, who is also SEAPAC chairman, expressed concern regarding the data released by the World Bank, stating that money embezzled abroad from grand corruption practices amounted to between US$1 trillion and $1.5 trillion annually. Half of the amount, he said, came from developing countries.

'€œMeanwhile, the funds needed to achieve the SDGs after 2015 is only $135 billion. If the money from grand corruption practices was converted to achieve SDGs then the world would have an enormous source of funds to create a better place to live in,'€ Setya said.

Setya hoped that GOPAC could play a key role in the eradication of grand corruption by creating an international mechanism to combat the perpetrators.

'€œCorruption has been a serious obstacle in the eradication of poverty, famine and [the fight against] limited access to health and education for the people,'€ he said.

GOPAC is based in Ottawa, Canada, with members coming from five continents.

Many Indonesian lawmakers have been jailed for corruption and some continue to be questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission for their alleged involvement in graft cases.