BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea touted electronic government as an answer to Lebanon’s corruption and bureaucratic red tape Friday, adding that his party’s lawmakers have already prepared a draft law to establish an “e-government.”
Samir Geagea, who spoke from Maarab at a conference entitled “Electronic Government: For a Better Society,” said an electronic government could reduce costs, enhance the productivity of the public sector and facilitate better, faster services for citizens.
“We all know that finishing administrative paperwork takes all day,” he said, lamenting the lost time and corruption when citizens go to renew official documents.
In April, Geagea called for the creation of an e-government as an answer to the country’s notoriously inefficient and corrupt public sector.
At the conference he pressed the point further, alleging that several state institutions are corrupt, and pointing to Lebanon’s rank of 136 out of 175 on the global Corruption Perceptions Index. The Index estimates that corruption costs the state around $800 million a year.
“A draft law has been prepared for an electronic government,” Samir Geagea said. “And our seminar today aims to be a starting point, with practical steps for when the legislative process gets back on track.”
The legislative branch has largely been paralyzed due to the deadlock over Lebanon’s presidency, with Parliament unable to exercise its duties.
“Electronic government is a process to simplify and facilitate governmental proceedings through the Internet in the framework of the state’s general administration, especially at points of interaction between the administration and the citizen,” explained Ghassan Hasbani, an adviser to the LF leader.
Lebanon has the human resources to develop an e-government that rivals those of developed countries, Hasbani explained. “As for infrastructure and digital services, there’s still a long way to go.”
Minister of State for Administrative Development Nabil de Freij explained that e-government could increase investor trust in Lebanon, allowing companies to continue their work without interruption.
MP Mohammad Hajjar, who sits on Parliament’s Information Technology Committee, said that an e-government draft law had been introduced in 2004 by then-MP Ghinwa Jalloul. In 2011, former Prime Minister Najib Mikati created a committee to study it. After making it to the General Assembly, the law was referred to the Parliament’s joint committees, and a subcommittee was created, according to Hajjar. “What’s delaying the draft law is technical barriers, not [opposition] from political parties,” Hajjar said. “Work is currently in process to [ensure the] protection of personal [information] so that it doesn’t reach parties who can use it for suspicious aims.”
Hasbani read a list of recommendations at the conference, which included replacing the government’s paper files with electronic records, implementing electronic bill payment for state fees, developing informatics and communications infrastructure, and involving the private sector and civil society in the formation of a new e-government system.
“Electronic government will not succeed if each administration does not [embrace technology] and have it become the heart of administrative work,” he said.