Transparency International, a global corruption monitor, has ranked Pakistan 140th out of 180 nations in its Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2021, dealing a severe blow to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-(PTI) Insaf’s accountability narrative.
The CPI is a global watchdog index that rates countries “based on their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as judged by expert assessments and opinion surveys.”
During the PTI’s three-year administration, graft levels have risen across the country, despite the fact that the party campaigned on an anti-corruption platform.
Pakistan was placed 117th out of 180 countries on the CPI in 2018, but it has steadily declined over the last three years, falling to 140th in 2021. Pakistan was placed 126th on the ranking in 2020.
Pakistan scored 33 out of 100 on the CPI in 2018, however due to increased corruption, this score has dropped to 28 in the 2021 report. Pakistan received a score of 32 in 2019, but only a score of 31 in 2020.
According to the TI website, “a country’s score is the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean,” and “a country’s score is the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean.”
Transparency International-Pakistan Vice-Chair Nasira Iqbal said in a statement that Pakistan’s low CPI score was due to the lack of rule of law and state capture.
“The absence of Rule of Law and State Capture has resulted in Pakistan’s CPI 2021 score falling from 31/100 to 28/100 and its rank falling from 124/180 to 140/180, whereas India and Bangladesh’s CPI 2021 scores have remained unchanged from CPI 2020,” she added.
“Overall, the CPI demonstrates that control of corruption has stagnated or worsened in 86 percent of nations over the last decade,” the corruption monitor stated in its report.
According to the survey, at least 68 percent of countries scored below 50, while the worldwide average stayed at 43. “Since 2012, 25 countries have seen major improvements in their scores, while 23 countries have seen significant declines.”
According to the TI, over the last decade, 131 nations have made no substantial progress against corruption. “This year, 27 nations have a CPI score that is at an all-time low,” the report said, tying the growth in corruption to an increase in human rights abuses and the erosion of democracy around the world.
“It’s no coincidence that protecting basic rights and freedoms reduces the room for corruption to thrive.”
It stated that states with “well-protected civil and political liberties often regulate corruption better,” according to a recent index.
“In the fight for a world free of corruption, fundamental freedoms of association and expression are critical.”
With an anti-corruption index score of 88, Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand are the top countries, according to the worldwide watchdog. “The top ten are Norway (85), Singapore (85), Sweden (85), Switzerland (84), the Netherlands (82), Luxembourg (81) and Germany (80),” it continued.
South Sudan, with a score of 11, Syria, and Somalia, with a score of 13, are among the worst performers.
Venezuela (14), Afghanistan (16), North Korea (16), Yemen (16), Equatorial Guinea (17), Libya (17), and Turkmenistan (19) are among the countries with the lowest rankings due to armed conflict or authoritarianism, according to the report.
