Date: Sun, 6 Dec 2009 08:48:28 +0000
Subject: Bangladesh improves in CPI: Can we keep it up?
The following article is from Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director, Transparency International Bangladesh on Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2009.
Bangladesh improves in CPI:
Can we keep it up?
Iftekharuzzaman*
The CPI - Corruption Perceptions Index - 2009 was released by Transparency International (TI) on November 17. It provides international ranking of countries in terms of perceived
degree of prevalence of political and administrative corruption.
The index shows that Bangladesh is among nine out of the 180 countries included in this survey of surveys that have achieved "notable improvements". In a scale of 0-10 Bangladesh has
scored 2.4, compared to 2.1 last year. In terms of ranking
Bangladesh has become 13th from below which is 139th among 180 whereas in 2008 it was 10th from below or 147th among 180.
Other countries that are in the category of notable gainers
like Bangladesh are Belarus, Guatemala, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Syria and Tonga. On the other hand,
significant decliners are Bahrain, Greece, Iran, Malaysia,
Malta and Slovakia.
Somalia, having scored 1.1, remains at the bottom as they
did in 2007 and 2008 implying that corruption in that country
is perceived to be the highest, followed by Afghanistan and
Myanmar in the 2nd and 3rd, and Sudan jointly with Iraq in
the 4th position from below.
New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore are highest scorers with
9.4, 9.3 and 9.2 respectively meaning that corruption is
perceived to be lowest in these countries, closely followed
by Sweden and Switzerland with 9.2 and 9.0 respectively.
Bangladesh's gain is notable as all its South Asian peers
except India have received lower than previous year. India
has remained steady with 3.4; Afghanistan declined from
1.5 in 2008 to 1.3; Bhutan from 5.2 to 5.0; Maldives from
2.8 to 2.5; Nepal from 2.7 to 2.3; Pakistan from 2.5 to 2.4;
and Sri Lanka from 3.2 to 3.1. However, except Afghanistan,
Nepal and Pakistan all other South Asian countries remain
in higher positions than Bangladesh.
It may be recalled that Bangladesh was earlier placed at
the very bottom of the list for the fifth successive year
from 2001-2005. In 2006 Bangladesh was ranked in no 3,
in 2007 in no 7 and in 2008 no 10.
This year's performance is good news for many in Bangladesh.
However, with the score remaining below 3, according to
the index, we continue to be among countries where corruption
is pervasive with deep and wide impacts.
The CPI being based on 2-years rolling estimates, this
year's data are from 2008 until September 2009. Therefore, Bangladesh's performance reflects a perception of progress
as a result of the then government's nationwide crackdown
on corruption during 2007-08, which was also accompanied
by some institutional and legal reforms to strengthen the
capacity to fight corruption.
It may also be a reflection of a perceived positive assessment
of the fact that many of those reforms were carried forward,
or so promised, by the government elected to power in December
2008 to a great extent from an anti-corruption platform.
A key contributing factor to the index is the political and institutional capacity to prevent and control corruption.
Therefore, whether or not the improvement achieved by
Bangladesh would be sustainable and whether further progress
would be achieved, will depend on the government's will and
capacity to deliver, especially in ensuring integrity,
independence, impartiality and effectiveness of key
institutions like the Parliament, the Anti-corruption
Commission, Election Commission, Information Commission,
Judiciary, law enforcement agencies, the public service
and the Human Rights Commission.
The ruling alliance, especially the Awami League (AL),
spared no effort to make a series of commitments, of which
more than a dozen were specific to building and strengthening
the anti-corruption institutional and policy infrastructure.
After forming the Government, the commitments have continued
to be reiterated, especially at the top level, which helps
retain the optimism.
However, there are also increasing indications for concern.
The proposed reforms of the Anti-corruption Commission,
especially the reported exclusion of political and
administrative corruption from its jurisdiction as well
as assigning the status of chief executive to the Secretary
of the Commission will not only be counter-productive to
the Government's election pledge but also be the easiest
way to climb down again in the index.
The Parliament started very well with some unprecedented
indicators. The committees have been formed in the very
first session which also witnessed the Speaker play a
commendably balanced role in conduct of proceedings;
the Prime Minister's question-answer sessions were lively
with participation of the opposition when they were
available; the Committees have also started to function
well. But the boycott of sessions by the opposition on
grounds that as ridiculous as could be easily addressed
if only our political leaderships could rise above the confrontational and zero-sum game, does not auger well
for an effective parliament, especially for its capacity
to discharge the function of holding the government
accountable.
The Government's failure to refrain from introducing
some basic changes to the procurement rules, especially
to the effect that experience and expertise would not
be mandatory upto certain threshold can be very detrimental
to ensuring transparency, efficiency and integrity in
the public sector. Corruption in public contracting always
takes place through a triangular coalition between the
political authority, public officials and the private sector.
If the changes are pushed ahead, the prospect of sustaining
the upward movement in the CPI will erode sooner than later.
The adoption of the Right to Information Act (RTI) in the
Parliament must be commended. If properly enforced, it can
bring wonders in promoting transparent governance and
preventing corruption. Experience has shown a positive
relationship between enforcement of RTI with capacity to
control corruption in general and score in CPI in particular.
The Government must move ahead firmly in strengthening the Information Commission and creating the capacity and skills
to move from a culture of secrecy to that of openness. The
civil society, NGOs and the media who can play great roles
by creating the capacity on both supply and demand side in
this regard must be taken into confidence.
The most formidable task would be to effectively challenge
impunity. Corruption must be punished, and the law must be
allowed to take its own course without any political or other
forms of influence or intervention. Corruption cases must
be handled in due judicial process. Any effort to influence
the judicial process by partisan political or other means
shall be counterproductive. The lower the level of integrity, professionalism and public trust upon the judiciary, the
lower the score in CPI.
The extent to which anti-corruption can be mainstreamed in
the public service including the administration and
law-enforcement agencies will be critical. The enhanced
salary and benefits package in the public sector is a step
in the right direction, but only partial. Equally important,
if not more, are specific measures to free public service
from the partisan political influence. If appointments,
promotions, rewards and punishments are determined on the
basis of anything other than merit, efficiency and performance, integrity in public service shall remain a far cry. The Public Service Conduct Rules must be drastically reformed to introduce
code of ethics and integrity that would institutionalize
positive and negative incentives against corruption.
As some of us will take satisfaction for the gain in CPI,
though marginal and far from enough to be reflected in the
way corruption affects the daily life in Bangladesh, there
is no scope of complaisance. Given the depth and breadth of corruption in the country, no one can deny that it will be
only in the long term and through a comprehensive and
well-designed strategic campaign with a multi-stakeholder
ownership and engagement that corruption can be effectively controlled. Failure to move ahead without fear or favour
would not only reverse the gain in CPI but also further
disappoint the people who voted the Government to power
with great enthusiasm. It is only natural to expect that
the last thing that any Government wants is to lose the
trust of the people.
--------------------
Dr. Iftekharuzzaman is the Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh.
Bangladesh improves in CPI:
Can we keep it up?
Iftekharuzzaman*
The CPI - Corruption Perceptions Index - 2009 was released by Transparency International (TI) on November 17. It provides international ranking of countries in terms of perceived
degree of prevalence of political and administrative corruption.
The index shows that Bangladesh is among nine out of the 180 countries included in this survey of surveys that have achieved "notable improvements"
scored 2.4, compared to 2.1 last year. In terms of ranking
Bangladesh has become 13th from below which is 139th among 180 whereas in 2008 it was 10th from below or 147th among 180.
Other countries that are in the category of notable gainers
like Bangladesh are Belarus, Guatemala, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Syria and Tonga. On the other hand,
significant decliners are Bahrain, Greece, Iran, Malaysia,
Malta and Slovakia.
Somalia, having scored 1.1, remains at the bottom as they
did in 2007 and 2008 implying that corruption in that country
is perceived to be the highest, followed by Afghanistan and
Myanmar in the 2nd and 3rd, and Sudan jointly with Iraq in
the 4th position from below.
New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore are highest scorers with
9.4, 9.3 and 9.2 respectively meaning that corruption is
perceived to be lowest in these countries, closely followed
by Sweden and Switzerland with 9.2 and 9.0 respectively.
Bangladesh's gain is notable as all its South Asian peers
except India have received lower than previous year. India
has remained steady with 3.4; Afghanistan declined from
1.5 in 2008 to 1.3; Bhutan from 5.2 to 5.0; Maldives from
2.8 to 2.5; Nepal from 2.7 to 2.3; Pakistan from 2.5 to 2.4;
and Sri Lanka from 3.2 to 3.1. However, except Afghanistan,
Nepal and Pakistan all other South Asian countries remain
in higher positions than Bangladesh.
It may be recalled that Bangladesh was earlier placed at
the very bottom of the list for the fifth successive year
from 2001-2005. In 2006 Bangladesh was ranked in no 3,
in 2007 in no 7 and in 2008 no 10.
This year's performance is good news for many in Bangladesh.
However, with the score remaining below 3, according to
the index, we continue to be among countries where corruption
is pervasive with deep and wide impacts.
The CPI being based on 2-years rolling estimates, this
year's data are from 2008 until September 2009. Therefore, Bangladesh's performance reflects a perception of progress
as a result of the then government's nationwide crackdown
on corruption during 2007-08, which was also accompanied
by some institutional and legal reforms to strengthen the
capacity to fight corruption.
It may also be a reflection of a perceived positive assessment
of the fact that many of those reforms were carried forward,
or so promised, by the government elected to power in December
2008 to a great extent from an anti-corruption platform.
A key contributing factor to the index is the political and institutional capacity to prevent and control corruption.
Therefore, whether or not the improvement achieved by
Bangladesh would be sustainable and whether further progress
would be achieved, will depend on the government's will and
capacity to deliver, especially in ensuring integrity,
independence, impartiality and effectiveness of key
institutions like the Parliament, the Anti-corruption
Commission, Election Commission, Information Commission,
Judiciary, law enforcement agencies, the public service
and the Human Rights Commission.
The ruling alliance, especially the Awami League (AL),
spared no effort to make a series of commitments, of which
more than a dozen were specific to building and strengthening
the anti-corruption institutional and policy infrastructure.
After forming the Government, the commitments have continued
to be reiterated, especially at the top level, which helps
retain the optimism.
However, there are also increasing indications for concern.
The proposed reforms of the Anti-corruption Commission,
especially the reported exclusion of political and
administrative corruption from its jurisdiction as well
as assigning the status of chief executive to the Secretary
of the Commission will not only be counter-productive to
the Government's election pledge but also be the easiest
way to climb down again in the index.
The Parliament started very well with some unprecedented
indicators. The committees have been formed in the very
first session which also witnessed the Speaker play a
commendably balanced role in conduct of proceedings;
the Prime Minister's question-answer sessions were lively
with participation of the opposition when they were
available; the Committees have also started to function
well. But the boycott of sessions by the opposition on
grounds that as ridiculous as could be easily addressed
if only our political leaderships could rise above the confrontational and zero-sum game, does not auger well
for an effective parliament, especially for its capacity
to discharge the function of holding the government
accountable.
The Government's failure to refrain from introducing
some basic changes to the procurement rules, especially
to the effect that experience and expertise would not
be mandatory upto certain threshold can be very detrimental
to ensuring transparency, efficiency and integrity in
the public sector. Corruption in public contracting always
takes place through a triangular coalition between the
political authority, public officials and the private sector.
If the changes are pushed ahead, the prospect of sustaining
the upward movement in the CPI will erode sooner than later.
The adoption of the Right to Information Act (RTI) in the
Parliament must be commended. If properly enforced, it can
bring wonders in promoting transparent governance and
preventing corruption. Experience has shown a positive
relationship between enforcement of RTI with capacity to
control corruption in general and score in CPI in particular.
The Government must move ahead firmly in strengthening the Information Commission and creating the capacity and skills
to move from a culture of secrecy to that of openness. The
civil society, NGOs and the media who can play great roles
by creating the capacity on both supply and demand side in
this regard must be taken into confidence.
The most formidable task would be to effectively challenge
impunity. Corruption must be punished, and the law must be
allowed to take its own course without any political or other
forms of influence or intervention. Corruption cases must
be handled in due judicial process. Any effort to influence
the judicial process by partisan political or other means
shall be counterproductive. The lower the level of integrity, professionalism and public trust upon the judiciary, the
lower the score in CPI.
The extent to which anti-corruption can be mainstreamed in
the public service including the administration and
law-enforcement agencies will be critical. The enhanced
salary and benefits package in the public sector is a step
in the right direction, but only partial. Equally important,
if not more, are specific measures to free public service
from the partisan political influence. If appointments,
promotions, rewards and punishments are determined on the
basis of anything other than merit, efficiency and performance, integrity in public service shall remain a far cry. The Public Service Conduct Rules must be drastically reformed to introduce
code of ethics and integrity that would institutionalize
positive and negative incentives against corruption.
As some of us will take satisfaction for the gain in CPI,
though marginal and far from enough to be reflected in the
way corruption affects the daily life in Bangladesh, there
is no scope of complaisance. Given the depth and breadth of corruption in the country, no one can deny that it will be
only in the long term and through a comprehensive and
well-designed strategic campaign with a multi-stakeholder
ownership and engagement that corruption can be effectively controlled. Failure to move ahead without fear or favour
would not only reverse the gain in CPI but also further
disappoint the people who voted the Government to power
with great enthusiasm. It is only natural to expect that
the last thing that any Government wants is to lose the
trust of the people.
------------
Dr. Iftekharuzzaman is the Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh.
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