Friday, 12 July 2013 04:52
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Media reports of increasing arrests of provincial ministers charged with corruption has been a highlight during the past few days, but a new global report shows that Sri Lankans still believe that corruption is on the rise.
The Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) released by Transparency International on Tuesday contains findings that suggest that corruption is still perceived as a problem in Sri Lanka, with some 64% of Sri Lankan respondents claiming corruption was on the increase in the country in the past two years while only 18% thought it has decreased.
The reasons for people thinking this is a no-brainer as few checks and balances have been put in place. In fact most people think that the institutions that are charged with fighting corruption are themselves at fault.
For the second time in running within three years, the general public in Sri Lanka rated the Police as the most corrupt institution in the country. When taken as a whole, in South Asia, political parties have been perceived as the most corrupt institution. This clear difference in relation to Sri Lanka shows the mammoth amount of work that needs to be done. Police are tasked with investigating and apprehending culprits, which means that if they are not doing their jobs, a lot of bad people get away with their crimes.
Interestingly, according to the GCB report, more than 72% of the people surveyed in Sri Lanka believe ordinary people can make a difference in the fight against corruption. However, most are worried about repercussions if they take on powerful members of society. Over 78% showed their willingness to ask the Government to do more to combat corruption. Yet it seems as though the Government has selective hearing.
When asked for their views on the effectiveness of the current Government in the fight against corruption, 47% of them have said that the Government is inefficient in combating corruption. This really puts the writing on the wall in terms of how much public confidence the Government has to put its own house together. The fact that this issue is consistently ignored will not change unless the public acts to protect its own interests.
The GCB is the world’s largest public opinion survey to collect the general public’s views on and experiences of corruption. The Barometer explores the general public’s views about corruption levels in their country and their government’s efforts to fight corruption.
The Global Corruption Barometer 2013 is a survey of 114,000 people in 107 countries and it shows corruption is widespread. Between September 2012 and February 2013, more than 6,000 people were interviewed from six different countries in South Asia on their views of corruption levels in their countries and their governments’ efforts to fight corruption.
Around the world people called for strong leadership, either from their governments or developed countries, to lead the fight against carrot givers as well as takers. Fifty-one countries around the world think that their governments are abysmally corrupt, showing that Sri Lanka is just one of the pack.
