Editorial Desk :
The government reacts sharply and very surprisingly, that is not in a decent way. The Commerce Minister on Thursday while expressing his indignation on the corruption status of the country blamed the TIB and CPD two foreign funded NGOs alleging that they never say anything positive about Bangladesh. The Minister was deeply disappointed as the Berlin-based anti-graft watchdog Transparency International (TI) blamed the country’s corrupt politicians who are presumably the prime sponsors of corrupt practices in Bangladesh. It is known to all and the Minister is also aware of it that the TI’s Corruption Perception Index, which defines corruption as abuse of public office for private and political gains, is prepared on the basis of data collected from multiple globally-credible sources. Bangladesh’s rating in corruption perception this year is based on findings
gathered from seven globally-reputable survey sources against a minimum requirement of three. No data generated by any of local chapter of TI was considered for the analysis or global rating. The surveys, used for rating Bangladesh, included Economist Intelligence Unit-Country Risk Assessment, Global Insight Country Risk Ratings, International Country Risk Guide, World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey, World Justice Project-Rule of Law Index and Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index.
The analysis, and the subsequent rating, was based on data collected over a period of three and a half years between 2011 and 2014. After objective and close analysis of these data, the study ranked Bangladesh as 14th most corrupt country in the world. This gradating is professionally known as a ‘negative scale’ of marking. Bangladesh marched ahead in global Corruption Perception Index this year sliding two notches. Bangladesh’s position has worsened in both score and ranking. Bangladesh has scored 25 on a scale of 0-100 this year, two points less than its score in 2013, resulting in a slide of nine steps in global ranking from 136th in 2013 to 145th this year. Counting from below the ranking has also gone down by two steps from 16th last year to 14th.
Bangladesh is the second worst performer in South Asia, better than only Afghanistan, which has scored 12 and ranked 172nd (the third lowest position in the global list of 175 countries). All other South Asian countries – Bhutan, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Pakistan – are placed higher than Bangladesh in that order. At the second lowest position in the global list is Sudan with 11 points while Somalia and North Korea are jointly at the bottom having scored 8 points.
However, truth may not satisfy every person always, sometimes it results bitter to some bodies. The problem is our politicians, either in power or in opposition do not have that realisation. It is generally acknowledged that almost every corruption case in Bangladesh, by any way, is influenced by politics. Most corrupt persons either have a direct participation in power politics or indirectly manage a linkage to persons in power. When our Finance Minister remarked that bribe is not illegal, or 4500 crore money is not a big amount, then why would not such indulgences fuel the party followers and the corrupt bureaucrats to involve in corruption fiesta?
Anti-Corruption Commission is the biggest disappointment for its existence against big corruption. Corruption goes unabated as the basis of power for the government. The institutions like the parliament and judiciary and other statutory bodies such as the Human Rights Commission, the ACC and Information Commission have either been made subservient or dysfunctional. Even the ex-ministers who are now working as the heads of several parliamentary bodies are widely unwilling to consider the old cases to make a check and balance for their own gains. MPs are rather happy with their business interests ignoring public concern, as they most often favour cash, not crest.
Contradicting TIB findings will not help the government. Corruption is destroying the government from within. As because, corruption subverts good governance through abuse of power.
The government reacts sharply and very surprisingly, that is not in a decent way. The Commerce Minister on Thursday while expressing his indignation on the corruption status of the country blamed the TIB and CPD two foreign funded NGOs alleging that they never say anything positive about Bangladesh. The Minister was deeply disappointed as the Berlin-based anti-graft watchdog Transparency International (TI) blamed the country’s corrupt politicians who are presumably the prime sponsors of corrupt practices in Bangladesh. It is known to all and the Minister is also aware of it that the TI’s Corruption Perception Index, which defines corruption as abuse of public office for private and political gains, is prepared on the basis of data collected from multiple globally-credible sources. Bangladesh’s rating in corruption perception this year is based on findings
gathered from seven globally-reputable survey sources against a minimum requirement of three. No data generated by any of local chapter of TI was considered for the analysis or global rating. The surveys, used for rating Bangladesh, included Economist Intelligence Unit-Country Risk Assessment, Global Insight Country Risk Ratings, International Country Risk Guide, World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey, World Justice Project-Rule of Law Index and Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index.
The analysis, and the subsequent rating, was based on data collected over a period of three and a half years between 2011 and 2014. After objective and close analysis of these data, the study ranked Bangladesh as 14th most corrupt country in the world. This gradating is professionally known as a ‘negative scale’ of marking. Bangladesh marched ahead in global Corruption Perception Index this year sliding two notches. Bangladesh’s position has worsened in both score and ranking. Bangladesh has scored 25 on a scale of 0-100 this year, two points less than its score in 2013, resulting in a slide of nine steps in global ranking from 136th in 2013 to 145th this year. Counting from below the ranking has also gone down by two steps from 16th last year to 14th.
Bangladesh is the second worst performer in South Asia, better than only Afghanistan, which has scored 12 and ranked 172nd (the third lowest position in the global list of 175 countries). All other South Asian countries – Bhutan, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Pakistan – are placed higher than Bangladesh in that order. At the second lowest position in the global list is Sudan with 11 points while Somalia and North Korea are jointly at the bottom having scored 8 points.
However, truth may not satisfy every person always, sometimes it results bitter to some bodies. The problem is our politicians, either in power or in opposition do not have that realisation. It is generally acknowledged that almost every corruption case in Bangladesh, by any way, is influenced by politics. Most corrupt persons either have a direct participation in power politics or indirectly manage a linkage to persons in power. When our Finance Minister remarked that bribe is not illegal, or 4500 crore money is not a big amount, then why would not such indulgences fuel the party followers and the corrupt bureaucrats to involve in corruption fiesta?
Anti-Corruption Commission is the biggest disappointment for its existence against big corruption. Corruption goes unabated as the basis of power for the government. The institutions like the parliament and judiciary and other statutory bodies such as the Human Rights Commission, the ACC and Information Commission have either been made subservient or dysfunctional. Even the ex-ministers who are now working as the heads of several parliamentary bodies are widely unwilling to consider the old cases to make a check and balance for their own gains. MPs are rather happy with their business interests ignoring public concern, as they most often favour cash, not crest.
Contradicting TIB findings will not help the government. Corruption is destroying the government from within. As because, corruption subverts good governance through abuse of power.
