Corruption in Pakistan increases: Transparency International

* Pakistan climbs 5 places to become 42nd most corrupt country in 2009 * Watchdog says positive effects of good governance measures to show by
next year

Staff Report

LAHORE: Pakistan has climbed five places to number 42 in an annual list of the world’s most corrupt countries, Transparency International said in a report on Tuesday.

In its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, the TI said Pakistan’s 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index Score is 2.4, and of the 180 countries and in its ranking as the most corrupt country, it has slipped five ranks, from 47 in 2008 to the 42nd most corrupt country in 2009.

The Corruption Perceptions Index looks at perceptions of public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories, - and is a composite index that draws on 13 expert opinion surveys.

It scores countries on a scale from zero to ten, with zero indicating high levels of perceived corruption and ten indicating low levels of perceived corruption.

Majority of the 180 countries included in the 2009 index score below five on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (perceived to have low levels of corruption).

The CPI measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in a given country and is a composite index, drawing on 13 different expert and business surveys. The 2009 edition scores 180 countries, the same number as the 2008 CPI.

TI Pakistan Chairman Syed Adil Gilani said TI Pakistan was of the view that terrorism was the direct result of poverty, which had resulted due to corruption, especially the illegal direct, or indirect, rule of armed forces in Pakistan since 1951 to 2007. The endorsements provided to military regimes by a corrupt judiciary were also to be blamed.

Adil said positive impact of the few good governance steps taken by the government would be visible by the next year

He mentioned the reinstatement of sacked judges by the Prime Minister through an executive order on March 16, declaration by the Supreme Court chief justice of zero tolerance for corruption and the withdrawal of the National Reconciliation Ordinance from the National Assembly as positive steps.

He said TI Pakistan also congratulated the Pakistan Army, which had proved to the world that Pakistan’s military were among the best in the world.

“The elimination of terrorists in Swat in two months is what the US and NATO forces have failed to achieve in 8 years in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has made Pakistan a proud nation,” TI Pakistan said.

But Adil said the government was governing the country without governance and had lost credibility all over the world, due to which the country was facing serious economic threats, poverty, inflation, food and electricity shortages and increase in unemployment, which were the direct results of the massive corruption in the public sector.

He said the government must make serious efforts to apply rules and regulation across the board in order to reduce corruption.

The TI Pakistan chairman said Pakistan needed immediate enforcement of good governance and a transparent administration to counter the acute problems, the billion of rupees corruption scams reported in the Pakistan Steel, TDAP, EOBI, PIA, rental power plants, KESC, NIC, NHA, OGDC, PSO, PEPCO, CDA, DP Division, DHAs, the NBP and many other organisations.

The Berlin-based organisation said Afghanistan and Iraq, countries that receive billions of dollars a year in international support, were also among the world’s most corrupt nations.

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