Pakistan leaves China, India behind in reducing corruption

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Corruption in Pakistan is on the decline, as Transparency International Berlin today (Wednesday) releases its annual global report 2015 showing Pakistan further improving its ranking from the 50th most corrupt country in 2014 to 53rd in 2015.

The report also shows Pakistan has done better compared to its other neighbours, including China, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal in checking corruption.  This does not mean that all these countries are more corrupt than Pakistan. Instead these countries either maintained their 2014 CPI scores or lost a few points in 2015.

Although a typographical mistake in the TI Berlin report shows Pakistan’s rank to have improved in 2015 by nine countries as against 2014, in actual fact it has improved by three ranks from the previous 50th most corrupt to 53rd most corrupt.

In a press release, TI Pakistan Chairman Sohail Muzaffar said the CPI score for Pakistan this year had again increased by one point to 30, and the rank had improved by three. The 2015 CPI score is the best ever but still Muzaffar believes, “Pakistan should have performed better which can be achieved by having on-ground measures for the implementation of zero tolerance for corruption.”

He hoped that the government will take serious steps to implement the recommendations of TI Pakistan which may result in a marked reduction of corruption and much better CPI in future years.

Sohail Muzaffar further said amongst the five Saarc countries, Pakistan is the only country that improved its CPI score, whereas the rest either scored the same or scored less compared to the score in 2014.

Overall, two-thirds of the 168 countries on the 2015 index scored below 50 (which includes Pakistan), on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean).

According to the TI release, Brazil showed the biggest decline in the index, falling 5 points and dropping 7 positions to a rank of 76.  The unfolding Petrobras scandal brought people onto the streets in 2015 and the start of the judicial process may help Brazil curb corruption.

The index covers perceptions of public sector corruption in 168 countries. Denmark took the top spot for the second year running, with North Korea and Somalia the worst performers, scoring just 8 points each.

The big declines in the past four years include those of Libya, Australia, Brazil, Spain and Turkey. The big improvements include Greece, Senegal and the UK.

The Corruption Perceptions Index is based on expert opinions of public sector corruption. Countries’ scores can be helped by open government where the public can hold leaders to account, while a poor score is a sign of prevalent bribery, lack of punishment for corruption and public institutions that don’t respond to citizens’ needs.

The following is the performance of Pakistan in the Transparency International’s annual reports since 1996 when the country was first assessed by the TI for the CPI index:-  

Year	Pakistan Rank	Score	Pakistan rank from bottom
2015	116/168	30/100	53
2014	126/175	29/100	50
2013	127/175	28/100	49
2012	139/174	27/100	36
2011	134/183	2.5/10	50
2010	143/178	2.3/10	36
2009	139/180	2.4/10	42
2008	134/180	2.5/10	42
2007	138/179	2.4/10	42
2006	142/163	2.2/10	22

 

—This report was originally published in today's edition of The News