Portugal's 2017 'corruption in the public sector' score is 63, rising just one point in a year, a small change which Transparency International says is not statistically significant. The country continues to stagnate in the fight against corruption, according to Portugal’s Association for Transparency and Integrity (TIAC), which points out that little has changed in the past six years as the points score has been a stubborn 62 or 63.
In the ongoing study, a scale of zero to 100 points is used, in which zero is a country or territory considered as 'highly corrupt' and 100 as 'totally free of corruption.'
TIAC president, João Paulo Batalha, blames, "a lack of political will to adopt a frontal approach to this a critical problem for the proper functioning of institutions and for the ability of our economy to be competitive and attract investment and generate jobs."
TIAC president, João Paulo Batalha, blames, "a lack of political will to adopt a frontal approach to this a critical problem for the proper functioning of institutions and for the ability of our economy to be competitive and attract investment and generate jobs."
Portugal ranked 29th of the 180 countries in the annual survey, which started in 1995.
Batalha said that “various governments continue to see corruption exclusively as a problem of justice,” and so “we will remain stuck in the vicious cycle of scandal upon scandal.”
Batalha said that “various governments continue to see corruption exclusively as a problem of justice,” and so “we will remain stuck in the vicious cycle of scandal upon scandal.”
Looking at the world table, released on February 21st, Portugal is behind Luxembourg, Chile, Bhutan and the Bahamas, but ahead of Spain, Israel and Poland.
"Portugal needs to adopt a national strategy against corruption that measures risks in the various areas of public life and puts effective measures on the ground to strengthen the integrity of the institutions," added the ITAC president.
"Portugal needs to adopt a national strategy against corruption that measures risks in the various areas of public life and puts effective measures on the ground to strengthen the integrity of the institutions," added the ITAC president.
In the Portuguese-speaking world, the great political change has been in Angola, ranked 167, where João Lourenço took over power from José Eduardo dos Santos. Angola's 2017 score was a dismal 19 but now should improve. Guinea Bissau, another country on the west coast of Africa, rank 171st with a score of 17. Cape Verde was 48th with 55, São Tomé and Principe was 64th with 46 and Mozambique was 153th with a score of 25.
The shiny ones are New Zealand with 89 points and Denmark with 88, first and second.
The shiny ones are New Zealand with 89 points and Denmark with 88, first and second.
In regional terms, public sectors in Western Europe average 66 points and are perceived as the least corrupt, while sub-Saharan Africa averaged 32 points and Eastern Europe and Central Asia average 34.
Bribery, misappropriation of public funds, use of office for private gain, nepotism in public service, government mechanisms to prevent corruption, effective judgment of corrupt officials, excessive bureaucracy, legal protection for whistleblowers, journalists and researchers, appropriate disclosure laws to prevent conflicts of interest and access to inside information all add to the mix when assessing a country’s score.
In Portugal the data was obtained from eight sources:
- World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey;
- Global Insight Country Risk Ratings;
- IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook;
- Bertelsmann Foundation Sustainable Governance Index;
- World Justice Project Rule of Law Index;
- PRS International Country Risk Guide;
- Varieties of Democracy Project;
- Economist Intelligence Unit Country Ratings
- Global Insight Country Risk Ratings;
- IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook;
- Bertelsmann Foundation Sustainable Governance Index;
- World Justice Project Rule of Law Index;
- PRS International Country Risk Guide;
- Varieties of Democracy Project;
- Economist Intelligence Unit Country Ratings
Comments
Having spent some 3 decades cruising in the Med, Red Sea and South China Sea, we found, as a rule of thumb, that the worse the officialdom, the more honest and helpful the 'hoi poloi'.
Here one feels safe, the problem police have been largely dealt with and the current administration is making attempts to resolve some of the worst scandals.
Unless one is forced to go to court, or have a bank account, in the main Portugal does not FEEL like one is at the sharp end of corruption. Having said that, it is the hoi poloi here who are paying the most, by way of looted coffers.
May Portugal continue with her struggle... with better results...