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Press Statement on the Transparency International - Global Corruption
Barometer 2007
December 6, 2007
by Tan Sri
(Dr) Ramon V. Navaratnam
President, Transparency International – Malaysia
After years of
analytical work by Transparency International (TI) and
others, there remains no doubt about the harmful effect
of corruption on people’s welfare. With the Global
Corruption Barometer, TI goes one step further by
evaluating how and where ordinary people feel
corruption’s impact. The Transparency International
Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) is a public opinion
survey that has been administered around the world each
year since 2003. The Barometer explores how corruption
affects the daily lives of ordinary citizens, asking
about the general public's attitudes toward corruption,
the extent to which they believe corruption
pervades public institutions, their experience with
petty bribery and their sense of how the fight against
corruption will fare in the future.
Globally, the report
indicates that:
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The poor, both in
developing and industrialised countries, are the
most penalised by corruption. They are also more
pessimistic about the prospects for less corruption
in the future.
-
About 1 in 10
people around the world had to pay a bribe in the
past year.
-
Bribery is
particularly widespread in interactions with the
police, the judiciary and registry and permit
services.
-
The general public
believe political parties, parliament, the police
and the judicial/legal system are the most corrupt
institutions in their societies.
-
Half of those
interviewed - and significantly more than five years
ago – expect corruption in their country to increase
in the next three years, with some African countries
the exception.
-
Half of
those interviewed also think that their government's
efforts to fight corruption is ineffective
The highlights of the Malaysian GCB
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6% of
respondents in
Malaysia
reported that in the past 12 months, they or someone
living in their household paid a bribe in any form.
The figure had leaped from 3% last year. The lowest
corresponding figure regionally was
Japan
and
South
Korea
(1%),
Hong Kong
(3%) with the highest in
Cambodia
(72%),
Pakistan
(44%),
Indonesia
(31%),
Philippines
(32%),
India
(25%). The results for
Singapore
and
Thailand
could not be used due to problems
with data.
-
Globally,
the other top scorers were
Switzerland,
Iceland,
France,
Austria,
Canada
and
Sweden
with 1%.
Denmark,
Finland,
Netherlands,
Portugal,
the
US
and the
UK
reported 2%.
South
Africa
reported 3%. The worst figures reported worldwide
were in
Cameroon
(79%),
Albania
(71%), Kosova (67%),
Macedonia
(44%) and
Nigeria
(40%)
-
12% of
Malaysians rated the current government's actions in
the fight against corruption as "Very Effective"
with 35% rating it as somewhat effective. This
indicates that only 47% of Malaysians considered
government effective in fighting corruption. This is
a marginal improvement compared to the previous year
statistics of 45%. This contrasts rather poorly with
top scorers like
Singapore
(83%),
Hong Kong
(82%) but still places
Malaysia
as one of the highest ranking countries in this
section.
-
In the
section on corruption's impact on different sectors
and institutions, for
Malaysia,
the police were ranked as the most corrupt, followed
by political parties, registry and permit services,
business / private sector, parliament / legislature,
legal system / judiciary, tax revenue and media.
-
About 57% of those
polled also believed that corruption will increase
in the near future.
The Global
Corruption Barometer 2007 thus shows that the general
public continues to view the police and political
parties as the institutions most tainted by corruption.
The outcome is that key institutions in society, in
particular institutions central to the integrity and
accountability of government, are compromised. There can
be little doubt that corruption undermines the
legitimacy of government and those who
govern.
Hence, TI -
Malaysia
once again would like to reiterate that the Malaysian
government must show greater political will, commitment
and administrative capabilities to combat corruption
seriously and effectively in word and in deed. Towards
that end, the government must without any delay take
steps to ensure the anti corruption watchdog ACA is
independent answerable only to the Parliament and
urgently ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption,
legislate Freedom of Information and Protection of
Whistleblowers bill which are vital democratic rights.
However, it has to be stressed governments are not the
only group responsible for making anticorruption
initiatives effective. All anti-corruption stakeholders
including the private sector or in civil society, must
strengthen efforts to achieve progress and demonstrate
results in the struggle against malfeasance and graft.
It is imperative that anti-corruption reforms produce
results that have tangible impact on people's lives and
that offer people a future where corruption no longer
deprives them of opportunities or hope.
The Global Corruption Barometer 2007 interviewed 63,199
people in 60 countries and territories between June and
September 2007.2 The Barometer survey was carried out on
behalf of Transparency International by Gallup
International Association as part of its Voice of the
People Survey.
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