Democracy and Political Governance 268. Chapter 3 A second loophole is the different ways it treats the public and private sectors as regards the commission of acts of corruption. The law does allow people in the private sector to be prosecuted. However, it defines ‘officer’ as a private intermediary committing an act of corruption against the wishes of his or her superior. The acts criminalised by this law are therefore extremely limited compared with those that apply to civil servants. Besides, acts are no longer offences if they are committed with the agreement of a superior. 269. Thirdly, POCA does not specify clearly how it will protect whistleblowers. ICAC staff saw this as a weakness, because it leads to witnesses refusing to testify in court, although they cooperated fully during investigations. 270. Furthermore, stakeholders do not see the opaque funding of political parties as corruption, because it does not involve ‘public officers’. The candidates are not yet elected, so they do not have public authority. In addition, stakeholders regret that the law does not cover some managers in key posts, especially international consultants in ministries. Limitations of ICAC 271. 272. 130 By law, ICAC is an independent body. It must therefore “act in a manner that is independent, impartial, and fair and serves the public interest”. Consequently, ICAC accounts for its actions only to the parliamentary committee that oversees the administrative aspect of its work and not the relevance of investigating particular cases. This committee comprises five members appointed by the prime minister and four by the leader of the opposition. The CRM appreciates the safeguards that have been put in place to limit the possibility of ICAC falling under the influence of politicians. However, the absence of any oversight over the appropriateness of pursuing certain investigations is a serious loophole in balancing ICAC’s powers. This loophole appeared after POCA was amended in 2005. This ended the activities of the Operational Review Committee (ORC). This committee was responsible for monitoring the investigative work of ICAC and therefore acted as an external counterweight. Another weakness is that the commission does not have the power to arrest suspects. It must therefore call on the CP to make formal arrests. ICAC also may not access the bank accounts of suspects without permission from the judiciary. ICAC certainly does reduce Chapter 3 Democracy and Political Governance abuse, like victimisation. However, it is clear that, without the help of the police and the judiciary, ICAC would not be able to conduct and/ or complete its investigations. Progress made with the funding of political parties 273. The CRM noted that Mauritius has made significant progress in increasing transparency regarding the funding of political parties. Stakeholders stated, during meetings, that funding political parties is no longer a problem for the parties. Instead, it became a public question and citizens want clear answers to it. It is encouraging that the Sachs Commission and the select committee have made clear and precise proposals for reform. 274. The recent case of electoral corruption, in which the Supreme Court declared invalid the July 2005 election of a prominent winning candidate, has sent a strong signal to the political elites that election malpractices will not go unpunished any longer. This was the first time this has happened in the legal and political history of the country. Many stakeholders saw this case as significant progress. 275. The private sector, through the JEC’s code of ethics and the code on good governance, decided to publish the total amounts given to political parties and to use cheques rather than cash during elections. Various stakeholders saw this decision as a very positive development in promoting transparency in the financing of political parties. 276. However, these positive moves cannot hide the fact that Mauritius needs to take further steps in order to address the problem fully. 277. The CRM noted that, despite public debates, the laudable initiatives the private sector has taken and the clear recommendations the Sachs Commission made, political parties have yet to reach consensus on which reforms to implement. It is imperative that reforms are made soon if political parties are to break down the public’s current impression that the entire political arena is corrupt and that the highest levels are setting a bad example. POCA and civil servants 278. Civil servants are subject to POCA when it comes to corruption. In addition to the provisions of POCA, the minister of civil affairs and administrative reforms – now called the minister of the civil 131