Sharad Sharma/ Kathmandu, Jan 29 : No visible progress has been found in terms of good governance in the country this year also.
This is stated in the ‘Corruption Perception Index 2018’ report which the Transparency International Nepal (TIN) launched here today.
It is found that the country has not progressed from the good governance perspective as Nepal’s position in the CPI 2018 report stands where it was last year. Nepal was placed in the 122nd position among the 180 countries in the CPI ranking last year, with a score of 31. Its position this year is 124th with the same score as that of last year, TIN president Khem Raj Regmi said.
“Last year, we were in the 122nd position with a score of 31. However, this year our position in the overall ranking has dropped to 124th although the score is similar to that of the last year as two countries which were below Nepal’s position last year improved their ranking,” he said.
According to Regmi, the most corruption in Nepal is found in the political sector and the bureaucracy. “Although there is a two-thirds majority government after the elections, the level of corruption has not decreased. There is no improvement in the corruption perception index as compared to the previous year, which makes Nepal’s position worrisome in terms of good governance,” he explained.
The Transparency International launched its CPI report in 180 countries across the world including in Nepal today.
As per the TI’s global report, Denmark and New Zealand top the Index with 88 and 87 points, respectively. Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria are at the bottom of the index, with 10, 13 and 13 points, respectively, out of 100.
More than two-thirds of countries have scored below 50, with an average score of only 43. Since 2012, only 20 countries have significantly improved their scores, including Argentina and Cote D’Ivoire, and 16 have significantly declined, including, Australia, Chile and Malta, the TI stated in a press release.
The highest scoring region is Western Europe and the European Union, with an average score of 66, while the lowest scoring regions are Sub-Saharan Africa (average score 32) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (average score 35).
Corruption and Crisis of Democracy
Under the sub-heading entitled ‘Corruption and Crisis of Democracy’, Transparency International press release states that cross analysis with global democracy data revealed a link between corruption and the health of democracies. It stated that full democracies scored an average of 75 on the CPI; flawed democracies scored an average of 49; hybrid regimes – which show elements of autocratic tendencies – score 35; autocratic regimes perform worst, with an average score of just 30 on the CPI.
The 2018 CPI draws on 13 surveys and expert assessments to measure public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories, giving each a score from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
It is stated in the report that the rule of law, independent regulatory bodies, free press and the civil society are the characteristics of the countries scoring high in the CPI while it is the opposite in countries with low CPI score.
Among the South Asian countries, Bhutan is placed in the 25th position with a score of 68 points, India is in the 35th position with a score of 41 points, Sri Lanka is in the 89th position with a score of 38 points, the Maldives is ranked 124th position with a score of 31 and Afghanistan is in the 172nd position with a score of 16 points in the CPI index.
