Islamabad:
Pakistan has dropped again in the index for perception of the corruption of Transparency International (ICC) for 2024, going to 135th place over 180 countries.
The decline marks a decrease in its 133rd position in 2023, strengthening concerns concerning the deepening of corruption and weakening governance.
The classification is based on the data collected from eight independent sources.
The country’s overall corruption score fell to 27, against 29 in 2023, reporting a new erosion of institutional transparency.
The Watchdog report based in Berlin highlighted the alarming trends, revealing a stagnation of legal actions and penalties against civil servants abusing power, the remaining score stuck at 21 years.
The abusive use of public resources has worsened, as reflected in its index score from 20 to 18 years. Corruption and corrupt business practices have also intensified, the score going from 35 to 32.
Corruption within the political system has shown a slight increase, from 32 to 33.
Meanwhile, the responsibility of government institutions has been further eroded, with powerful interest groups tightening their grip on the state, pushing the index from 35 to 39.
However, the embezzlement of public funds for individuals and private companies due to corruption experienced a sharp drop in transparency, its score plunging from 45 to 33.
The excessive use of state resources by leaders, judicial power, soldiers and legislators for personal purposes has also increased, as indicated by an increase in the index from 25 to 26.
Corruption within the public sector, the executive, the judiciary and the legislature has reached new stockings, the partition going from 20 to 14, painting a dark image of governance and institutional integrity.
According to the report, some of the most corrupt countries in the world include South Sudan, Somalia and Venezuela. Corruption has also increased in Iran, Iraq and Russia, with Moscow now classified 154th.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan is located in 165th and Bangladesh at 151st. Iran and Iraq were placed respectively in the 151st and 140th.
Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) said that he does not play any role in data collection or calculation of the score because the IPC is compiled on the basis of independent sources evaluating governance and anti-corruption measures global.
The president of TIP, the justice (RETD) Zia Perwez, noted that most countries in the region, with the exception of Oman, China, Turkey and Mongolia, have seen a drop in their Scores, Pakistan is no exception.
“The sliding of the disadvantages of the region shows that Pakistan is one of the countries dealing with the global trend,” said Perwez, without developing significant improvement in the country’s governance structure.
