Bangladesh has been ranked as the 10th corrupt nation in the world in a list of 180 countries, published by Transparency International (TI), marking a three-step improvement in its position as compared to last year.
Somalia topped the list this year as the most corrupt country in the worldwide Corruption Perception Index (CPI) that was released in Dhaka, as also across the globe, yesterday.
Bangladesh scored 2.1 points on a scale of 0-10 and its position is 147 among the total 180 countries covered by the TI index this year.
Three other countries--Kenya, Russia and Syria--also stood in Bangladesh's position having the same score. Somalia retained its top stand as of previous year.
Other South Asian nations also fared poorly with Afghanistan securing fourth place, Pakistan 14th, Nepal 16th, Maldives 17th, Sri Lanka 21st India 22nd and Bhutan 36th in the index from bottom.
Positioned seventh last year, Bangladesh had earned the bad repute of being one of the most corrupt nations for five consecutive years from 2001 under the TI index.
The Bangladesh position drew special attention as the country witnessed a massive anti-graft campaign following the January 11, 2007 promulgation of the state of emergency installing the current interim government with crucial military support.
The government arrested scores of politicians, including two former premiers to clean up politics. Most of the accused corrupts now have been released on bail.
Releasing the report at National Press Club in Dhaka, Chief of Bangladesh chapter of the leading international corruption watchdog Prof Muzaffer Ahmed said, despite the drive the country could not show any significant improvement in its score.
"Corruption is still endemic in Bangladesh. And petty corruption has increased in amount and intensity despite the anti-graft drive," he said.
He said lack of reforms and inadequate oversight by the judiciary meant that the "anti-graft drive has failed to bring any good for common people".
"When the government launched the drive, it raised people's expectations. But the people are now frustrated," he added.
The TIB report noted that Bangladesh's status improved because of increased corruption in some other countries that got the highest position in the global ranking.
Data and sources are changing every year; it is not right to compare the current score with the previous one, Dr Muzaffer said.
"Previously, the position of Bangladesh was identified on the basis of three data sources. This time data has been compiled from seven different sources," he added
The TIB chairman observed that the caretaker government became successful in its anti-corruption drive in the political arena only.
"But they could not succeed in curbing corruption in the administration. Even they could not touch the corruption in administration," he told reporters.
The TIB chairman said: "Our parliament is not working. Graft cases are stuck in the judiciary."
"We have observed that civil society was not very active over the last two years. Many discussions and seminars were held but none raised a strong voice against corruption."
He said: "We have seen that the government failed to follow up its anti-graft initiative. The drive was undertaken hastily."
But, he continued: "The steps of the current government against corruption will help the elected government to press forward. People have expectations about the future of the drive."
"We hope the next democratic government will fulfil people's expectations through various measures."
TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman said: "Our score has increased by a little. The score was identified from the data collected up to July 1, 2008."
"Corruption is a worldwide problem. Nobody could score 10. Corruption prevails in every country. But many developed countries scored lower this year," he said.
"There have been doubts about the anti-graft drive. The score might have been higher if the judiciary was not influenced," he said.
Somalia topped the list this year as the most corrupt country in the worldwide Corruption Perception Index (CPI) that was released in Dhaka, as also across the globe, yesterday.
Bangladesh scored 2.1 points on a scale of 0-10 and its position is 147 among the total 180 countries covered by the TI index this year.
Three other countries--Kenya, Russia and Syria--also stood in Bangladesh's position having the same score. Somalia retained its top stand as of previous year.
Other South Asian nations also fared poorly with Afghanistan securing fourth place, Pakistan 14th, Nepal 16th, Maldives 17th, Sri Lanka 21st India 22nd and Bhutan 36th in the index from bottom.
Positioned seventh last year, Bangladesh had earned the bad repute of being one of the most corrupt nations for five consecutive years from 2001 under the TI index.
The Bangladesh position drew special attention as the country witnessed a massive anti-graft campaign following the January 11, 2007 promulgation of the state of emergency installing the current interim government with crucial military support.
The government arrested scores of politicians, including two former premiers to clean up politics. Most of the accused corrupts now have been released on bail.
Releasing the report at National Press Club in Dhaka, Chief of Bangladesh chapter of the leading international corruption watchdog Prof Muzaffer Ahmed said, despite the drive the country could not show any significant improvement in its score.
"Corruption is still endemic in Bangladesh. And petty corruption has increased in amount and intensity despite the anti-graft drive," he said.
He said lack of reforms and inadequate oversight by the judiciary meant that the "anti-graft drive has failed to bring any good for common people".
"When the government launched the drive, it raised people's expectations. But the people are now frustrated," he added.
The TIB report noted that Bangladesh's status improved because of increased corruption in some other countries that got the highest position in the global ranking.
Data and sources are changing every year; it is not right to compare the current score with the previous one, Dr Muzaffer said.
"Previously, the position of Bangladesh was identified on the basis of three data sources. This time data has been compiled from seven different sources," he added
The TIB chairman observed that the caretaker government became successful in its anti-corruption drive in the political arena only.
"But they could not succeed in curbing corruption in the administration. Even they could not touch the corruption in administration," he told reporters.
The TIB chairman said: "Our parliament is not working. Graft cases are stuck in the judiciary."
"We have observed that civil society was not very active over the last two years. Many discussions and seminars were held but none raised a strong voice against corruption."
He said: "We have seen that the government failed to follow up its anti-graft initiative. The drive was undertaken hastily."
But, he continued: "The steps of the current government against corruption will help the elected government to press forward. People have expectations about the future of the drive."
"We hope the next democratic government will fulfil people's expectations through various measures."
TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman said: "Our score has increased by a little. The score was identified from the data collected up to July 1, 2008."
"Corruption is a worldwide problem. Nobody could score 10. Corruption prevails in every country. But many developed countries scored lower this year," he said.
"There have been doubts about the anti-graft drive. The score might have been higher if the judiciary was not influenced," he said.
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