Bangladesh Degrades Further in the List of Corrupt Countries

Bangladesh is two steps lower than the previous year in the Corruption Perceptions Index.

This information was presented at a virtual press conference on the occasion of the global release of 'Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2020' conducted by Berlin-based Transparency International (TI). Iftekharuzzaman.

However, the Anti-Corruption Commission claims that this explanation is not true.

According to CPI 2020, Bangladesh ranks 12th out of 180 countries at the bottom of the list.

It is mentioned that it has come down two steps compared to CPI-2019. In 2019, Bangladesh was ranked 14th in the lower order.

The report cites widespread corruption in Bangladesh's health sector as one of the reasons behind the coronavirus epidemic.

The index takes into account bribery in the public sector, the use of government positions and resources for personal gain, nepotism and the tendency to occupy state structures.

In addition, a country's anti-corruption measures, democratic accountability, enforcement of the right to information and conflict of interest laws, institutional integrity, prosecution of corrupt people, disclosure of assets, security of information publishers, freedom of the media, etc. are also key elements of this index.

However, the Anti-Corruption Commission claims that these indicators and interpretations of Transparency International are not correct.

According to Mozammel Haque Khan, commissioner of the agency, 6% of the people in Bangladesh have expressed their confidence in the work of the ACC.

Besides, if Bangladesh was so corrupt, the recent development work would not be so successful. He mentioned that such a report of TI would not be sustainable if the survey was conducted from a neutral point of view.

Mr. Khan thinks that such information is coming up in their report due to high expectations. But in reality, Bangladesh has come a long way in the concept of corruption.

For five consecutive years from 2001 to 2005, Bangladesh was listed in the TI report as the most corrupt country in the world. Later, the position of Bangladesh gradually came to the fore.

Considering 43 out of 100 scores as average scores, Bangladesh's score is 26 according to CPI 2020. Which is unchanged compared to CPI 2018 and 2019.

Besides, according to the calculation from the highest, Bangladesh's position is 146th.

In this case, too, the position of Bangladesh remains unchanged as compared to 2019.

Mr. mentioned that this position of Bangladesh in the concept of corruption index is disappointing. Iftekharuzzaman.

According to the score, the scale of corruption in Bangladesh is still worrying, he said.

Besides, Bangladesh is the fourth-lowest among the 31 countries in the Asia-Pacific region and Afghanistan is the only one of the six countries in South Asia that is more corrupt than Bangladesh.

Bangladesh ranks only among Afghanistan among the six countries in South Asia in terms of corruption. On the other hand, in the Asia-Pacific region, Bangladesh is ahead of only Cambodia, Afghanistan and North Korea.

According to the index, Bhutan is the least corrupt country in South Asia with a score of 8. It ranks 24th out of 180 countries on the list.

India is in the third position. The country's score is 40. The country ranks 7th on the list. Compared to 2019, India's position is 8 steps ahead.

On the other hand, Pakistan's position is just before Bangladesh's. The country's position is one step behind that of 2019. The country's score is 31. The country ranks 124th on the list.

Out of the eight countries in South Asia, only Bhutan and Maldives scored average. The Maldives has made the most progress in South Asia. The country has improved 55 steps. That is, it has risen from the 130th position to the 65th position.

Like last time, Denmark and New Zealand are the least corrupt countries in the world. The score of these two countries is 7. On the other hand, the most corrupt countries are South Sudan and Somalia. The score of the two countries is 12.

Singapore is the most advanced country in Asia. The country's score is 65. As such, the country is in second place.

Myanmar is also 13 steps above its previous position.

According to this year's list, 121 out of 180 countries have scored below 50. Compared to CPI 2019, the scores of 48 countries have decreased. The scores of 60 countries remained unchanged and the scores of 72 countries increased.

According to the report, no country scored the highest. In other words, Mr. Iftekharuzzaman said that corruption exists all over the world.

Russia got only 30 scores, China got 42 scores.

TIB's recommendation

TIB has given some suggestions to take Bangladesh's position ahead in the corruption index.

• Fully implement Zero Tolerance against government corruption.
• Bring all corrupt persons to justice irrespective of their social status and identity.
• Changes in the culture of considering state position as a license to develop one's own resources.
• Strengthen the legal framework and institutional capacity to control the conflict of interest in the decision-making process and anonymous ownership in the private sector.
• To increase the effectiveness of accountable institutions such as the judiciary, anti-corruption commissions, law enforcement agencies, administration and parliament and to keep these institutions free from political influence.
• Ensuring transparency in banking and financial sector. Participate in the financial sharing system that is in place worldwide. It can control corruption, money laundering and tax evasion in the financial sector.
• To speed up and expand the right to information through digitization.
• Increasing the opportunity for ordinary people, NGOs, media to demand accountability.