The Messenger, Georgia
Nov 29 2004
Fight against corruption continues
By M. Alkhazashvili
A billboard near Rike: “Georgia without corruption”
Soon Georgia wil receive another report by Transparency
International on its performance in fighting coruption
Back in October, NGO Transparency International published its
Corruption Perceptions Index for 2004, in which only seven of the 146
countries ranked were perceived as being more corrupt than Georgia.
The government has sought to eradicate corruption from the top down,
putting many corrupt high ranking officials from the Shevardnadze
administration behind bars, at least until they agreed to pay a
suitable “ransom.”
Although President Saakashvili has stated that in the “high echelons”
of the new administration, there is no corruption, and that he trusts
the new ministers and officials, nevertheless, the fight against the
corruption will continue, and even in the new administration some
officials, judges, and even one MP have been accused of corruption.
At Tuesday’s congress of the National Movement and United Democrats,
President Saakashvili reiterated this telling party members that the
government has been “cleared [of corrupt officials], though the rats
have moved the battlefield to the regions and plan to return to power
from there.”
The government’s anti-corruption measures against the former
authorities are appreciated by the Georgian population, but even so,
the need to fight corruption, and equally importantly, to be seen to
be fighting corruption, is as important now as it was when the Rose
administration came to power. Because, as Transparency
International’s index shows, corruption is still perceived to be a
major problem in the country.
While Georgia has the same rating as Indonesia, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Cote d’Ivoir, the Democratic Republic of Congo and
Angola, neighboring Azerbaijan is perceived as even more corrupt
(140th out of 146) but Armenia (82nd) and Russia (90th) are seen as
less corrupt.
The three Baltic countries Estonia (31st place). Lithuania (44th) and
Latvia (57th) are perceived as the least corrupt post-Soviet
countries, while the seven least corrupt countries are Finland, New
Zealand, Denmark, Island, Singapore, Switzerland and Swiss. In
December, Transparency International will release its Corruption
Barometer and provide a clearer picture of what considers as the
government’s achievements in the past year to improve transparency in
the country.