Bangladesh 12th most corrupt country: TIB
Bangladesh ranks 12th among the most corrupt countries in the world, according the 'Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2020'.
Bangladesh scores 26 out of 100. In 2019, Bangladesh ranked 14th. The score was same in 2016 and 2019.
Berlin-based Transparency International's (TI) report titled 'Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2020' was released worldwide on Thursday morning.
At a virtual press conference in Bangladesh, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) highlighted various aspects of CPI.
Iftekharuzzaman, the executive director of TIB, presented various data of the index at the press conference.
Regarding Bangladesh, he said, Bangladesh's position in curbing corruption is disappointing. Of the eight countries in South Asia, Bangladesh is ahead of only war-torn Afghanistan, meaning Bangladesh ranks second in South Asia.
Bangladesh is the fourth lowest in the Asia-Pacific region. Bangladesh ranks 146 out of 180 countries participating in the survey this time. The position is the same as last time. That means there is no progress. A score of zero means the most corrupt and a score close to 100 means the least corrupt country.
It was said at the press conference that Transparency International has been publishing this index since 1995. Bangladesh has been participating in the survey since 2001.
Ongoing data of two years of are used in international reports. This time, the corruption perceptions index was made based upon the data retrieved globally from September 2018 to October 2020.
The report is based on the information on various issues including bribery in the public sector, nepotism in public sector employment, and the tendency to occupy the state power. Various issues including democratic accountability, the rule of law, the courage and practice to bring high-level corrupt individuals to justice, and the freedom of the media have helped in formulating the report.
Iftekharuzzaman said that information from 13 international surveys was used in the report of 2020. For Bangladesh information was obtained from 8 sources. However, none of the research or reports of TIB was used.
Countries like Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, and Singapore are at the top positions in the index as usual. Countries like Sudan and Somalia are in the worst position again. This time too, no country has scored 100, which means that corruption is prevailing all over the world.
Iftekharuzzaman said that in case of Bangladesh, certain factors including the abuse of power, suppression of accountability of democracy, culture of impunity have affected the anti-corruption image of the country.
In the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak, corruption in the fight against the corona, the lack of prosecution of high-profile corrupted persons, political influence and irregularities in purchasing in the public sector, and undermining the freedom of expression are equally responsible. There are also questions about the effectiveness of the anti-corruption commission. There is corruption in the banking sector too.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has declared zero tolerance to curb corruption. The Prime Minister has been urged to implement this declaration in order to improve Bangladesh's position in the world arena.