ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been ranked 140 out of 180 countries, losing 16 spots over the last year, on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021 by Transparency International.
As per the details, Pakistan’s score dropped by three points to 28 on the global corruption index. Last year, the country’s score was 31. "It shows that corruption has increased in Pakistan as compared to the last year," said the anti-graft watchdog in its report.
Transparency International said that the CPI shows that corruption levels remain at a standstill worldwide, with 86% of countries making little to no progress in the last 10 years.
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.
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.
However, Somalia (13), Syria (13) and South Sudan (11) remain at the bottom of the CPI. Syria is also ranked last in civil liberties.
Of the 23 countries whose CPI score significantly declined since 2012, 19 also declined on the civil liberties score.
Moreover, out of the 331 recorded cases of murdered human rights defenders in 2020, 98% occurred in countries with a CPI score below 45, read the statement.
‘Absence of rule of Law has resulted in low CPI score of Pakistan’
Transparency International 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, whereas 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.”
Shahbaz asks ‘corrupt rulers’ to resign
In his statement on the report, President PML-N Shahbaz Sharif said that Transparency International testified for the second time that Imran Niazi's government is corrupt.
"The report of the international organization is an indictment of the PTI government," the PML-N leader said.
He asked the "corrupt rulers" to resign as the country cannot afford their plunder.
Shahbaz Sharif said that Pakistan is making rapid progress in corruption in Imran Niazi's premiership, adding "the world is saying that the prime minister is a thief".
Unfortunately, Pakistan has slipped 16 places further in the global corruption index, he said.
The Opposition leader added that it is sad that the country's image got tainted internationally due to this report.
“Nawaz Sharif's honest and capable leadership had reduced corruption in Pakistan,” Shahbaz Sharif further added.
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