Corruption and excesses of elected government officials are once again at the center of attention in several countries in Asia as public outrage continues to grow.

In Indonesia, mass protest actions erupted in late August 2025 against economic and political frustration and reports of parliamentarians receiving monthly housing allowance equivalent to 10 times the minimum wage in the capital Jakarta. The protesters called for a salary cut for the parliamentarians, among others.

This later led to the government announcing that they would “cut the housing allowance and suspend overseas trips for members of parliament.”

In the Philippines, meanwhile, netizens have been calling out and shaming contractors and children of the incorporators of the construction companies with flood control projects who have been displaying their lavish lifestyles online. These contractors were found to have direct and indirect familial and political ties with elected government officials. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his latest State of the Nation Address, called out alleged “ghost” flood control projects and vowed to file charges against those who are involved in corruption in flood control projects.

Amid the public outrage, the President has ordered a lifestyle check on all government officials and said that he will issue an executive order forming an independent commission that will look into anomalies of flood control projects.

In recent years, similar public outrage in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh led to shifts in the political dynamics toppling regimes. The Sri Lanka Aragalaya protest movement in 2022 forced out then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was accused of “running the island nation’s economy into the ground through corruption and mismanagement.” The 2024 protests in Bangladesh, which raised demands to abolish quotas in civil service jobs, were compounded by the worsening economic conditions and allegations of rampant corruption. Then prime minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign and fled the country.

In this episode of The Election Observer podcast, the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) will discuss the power of the electorate beyond the ballot box to demand accountability against erring elected public officials and drive change through collective action.

Sankhitha Gunaratne, head of governance and anti-corruption and deputy director at Verité Research and Egi Primayogha, advocacy coordinator at the Indonesia Corruption Watch will join us in this episode.

Catch the new episode live on 10 September 2025 at 2 p.m. Bangkok time. “The Election Observer” podcast streams via ANFREL’s Facebook and LinkedIn Pages and Youtube channel. It will later stream via Spotify and Apple Podcasts.