ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ranking has further deteriorated further in Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI 2021), with the Opposition lambasting the Imran Khan-led government, demanding PM’s resignation.
According to the Transparency International, Pakistan’s rank has fallen 16 places _ to 140 from previous 124 out of 180 countries. In CPI 2021, Pakistan scored 28 out of 100.
According to TI, “The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.”
“The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean,” Transparency International said.
TI Pakistan Vice-Chair Justice (retd) Nasira Iqbal said: “The absence of Rule of Law and State Capture has resulted in substantial low CPI 2021 score of Pakistan compared to CPI 2020, from 31/100 to 28/100 and rank from 124/180 to 140/180.”
The vice-chair noted that there is no change in CPI 2021 Scores of India and Bangladesh from CPI 2020.
Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair of Transparency International said: “Human rights are not simply a nice-to-have in the fight against corruption. Ensuring people can speak freely and work collectively to hold power to account is the only sustainable route to a corruption-free society.”
The report comes hours after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s adviser on accountability and interior, Shahzad Akbar, stepped down from office on Monday.
Global highlights
The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
The CPI global average remains unchanged at 43 for the tenth year in a row, and two-thirds of countries score below 50, a statement from the corruption watchdog said.
The top countries on the index are Denmark (88), Finland (88) and New Zealand (88), all of which also rank in the top 10% in the world on the Democracy Index civil liberties score, it said.
Somalia (13), Syria (13) and South Sudan (11) remain at the bottom of the CPI. Syria is also ranked last in civil liberties (Somalia and South Sudan are unrated), it added.
