Graft problem growing fast

[KALAMOS BOOKS]

Graft problem growing fast

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_1_18/11/2009_112526


Watchdog’s report finds Greece has slipped many places down the
international corruption ranking

Greece needs to take “immediate and sustained efforts” to tackle
corruption, the graft watchdog Transparency International said
yesterday after its annual report measuring the perception of graft in
180 countries indicated that the country had slipped some way down the
rankings.

Transparency International’s 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index found
Greece to be the 71st least-corrupt country surveyed with a score of
3.8 out of 10.

This represents a substantial deterioration compared to last year when
Greece was ranked 57th with a score of 4.7 out of 10.

A country’s score indicates the degree of public sector corruption as
perceived by businesspeople and country analysts and ranges between 10
(highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).

Whereas Greece was the lowest-ranked eurozone country in 2008, this
year it is at the bottom of the entire European Union list of 27
member states, with a rating equal to that of Bulgaria and Romania,
and below countries such as Botswana and Tunisia.

Greece experienced one of the biggest declines since 2008 along with
Bahrain, Slovakia, Malta and Iran.

The head of the Greek branch of Transparency International (TI),
Costas Bakouris, said “systemic weaknesses” that were exposed by a
series of recent scandals, such as the property exchange between the
state and the Vatopedi Monastery, were to blame for Greece’s low
ranking. “It proves that the effort to improve the situation must
continue more intensely,” he said.

TI representative Aris Sygros said that the delay in court cases being
heard and verdicts being delivered was having a negative impact on the
country’s image as far as combating corruption is concerned.

The watchdog added that Greece’s poor score showed that EU membership
alone does not guarantee that graft will be tackled.

According to the index Somalia is perceived as the world’s most
corrupt country followed by Afghanistan and Myanmar. The world’s least
corrupt country is New Zealand, followed by Denmark and Singapore.

“Stemming corruption requires strong oversight by parliaments, a
well-performing judiciary, independent and properly resourced audit
and anti-corruption agencies, vigorous law enforcement, transparency
in public budgets, revenue and aid flows, as well as space for
independent media and a vibrant civil society,” said TI chairperson
Huguette Labelle.


--
June Samaras
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