Pakistan achieves best ever corruption ranking is a headline that will hearten you. For the fifth year running, Pakistan has seen improvements in corruption rankings, compiled by Transparency International.
The Corruption Perception Index places Pakistan at 125 out of 175 countries. The ranking was 127 last year, but out of 177 countries. It is the rating points which should carry more significance than rankings, but sadly it gets little attention by media.
Pakistan secured 29 points out of a maximum of 100, versus 28 rating points achieved last year. Yes, there is improvement, but minimal. What should matter is that Pakistan continues to be in the unwanted company of highly corrupt countries on the globe, something which has not changed in 20 years.
Things do not change overnight, therefore, even a one point improvement is a small step ahead, but this should not become a cause for celebration as if corruption has been rooted out of the system. The bitter reality remains that Pakistan continues to be categorised as highly corrupt. It should ring alarm bells rather than officials thumping their chests. You do not celebrate a failure, even if you fail by just one mark!
There is no denying the federal and even the provincial governments have largely stayed away from mega scams and scandals. Lets give credit where it is due. The government change in centre and one province also must have helped matters. But corruption perception is only so much about mega scams; it is more about the culture at large, which does not seem to have changed at the lower level.
Also, if history is any guide, every time there is a regime change in the centre, corruption rating improves in the first full year in office. It has, sadly, either remained flat or fallen in the following years. One hopes this won't be the case this time around, and the journey continues in the right direction.
Another important point that the Transparency International itself does not shy from mentioning is that the Corruption Perception Index is not really comparable over time as methodologies change. Even if they stay the same, "underlying data sources may not be comparable over time due to factors such as implicit relative comparisons, change of experts from year to year and addition or subtraction of countries to the lists. All these are valid concerns and deserve discussion," says the report.
So the focus should be on eradicating corruption from the roots. Surely, up is the only way forward. Elation over minor achievements should not result in complacencies, for Pakistan still has a long road to travel in terms of getting out of the highly corrupt category.
Comments
Comments are closed.