Anticorruption: ACU to be granted full powers

via CAAI

Friday, 24 December 2010 15:02 Vong Sokheng

PRIME Minister Hun Sen will convene a meeting of the Council of Ministers today to vote on the passage of three new subdecrees, granting the Kingdom’s Anticorruption Unit a full scope of powers to combat graft.

The drafts for the three new subdecrees provide regulations on the ACU’s management and performance, its financial organisation and the unit’s logo and seal, according to a statement issued by the Council of Ministers yesterday.

Keo Remy, spokesman of the ACU, said yesterday that he welcomed the subdecrees, which will strengthen the ACU by giving it further legitimacy. “The new subdecrees will be important to help create ample mechanisms for fighting corruption,” he said.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said yesterday that he was “not sure” whether the new regulations would be passed. ”It depends on our discussion and if the drafts will have a big impact on other laws,” he said.

The ACU is tasked with conducting a census of more than 100,000 government officials who will be forced to declare their assets by the end of February. Keo Remy declined to comment on the census, which begins on January.