Indonesia’s Corruption Ranking Improves but ‘Radical’ Steps Needed

Jakarta Globe, Dec 03, 2014

Akil Mochtar, the former chief justice of the Constitutional Court, has had
his appeal against a life sentence for graft turned down. (AFP Photo)

Jakarta. Countries like Indonesia “need to adopt radical anti-corruption measures in favor of their people,” Transparency International warned in the latest edition of its Corruption Perceptions Index, which was released on Wednesday.

On a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean), Indonesia scores 34, which is slightly better than last year’s 32. The country is ranked 107th out of 175. In the 2013 version of the index, Indonesia ranked 114th.

However, the poor scores of countries like Indonesia “indicate a general weak or ineffective leadership to counter corruption, posing threats for both sustainability of their economies and somewhat fragile democracies [in the Asia-Pacific region],” Transparency International said in a statement on its website.

This year’s list is topped by Denmark, which scores 92, while North Korea and Somalia share last place, with a score of 8.

Despite moving up several notches, Indonesia still fares poorly compared to its neighbors. In the Asia-Pacific region, the country perceived to be least corrupt is New Zealand, with a score of 91 — good for second place worldwide. Singapore (7 worldwide), Australia (11), Japan (15) and Hong Kong (17) make up the rest of the Asia-Pacific top 5.

“Grand corruption in big economies not only blocks basic human rights for the poorest but also creates governance problems and instability. Fast-growing economies whose governments refuse to be transparent and tolerate corruption, create a culture of impunity in which corruption thrives,” Jose Ugaz, the chair of Transparency International, was quoted as saying in a statement on the organization’s website.

Apart from Singapore, the only Association of Southeast Asian Nations member state to score more than 50 points is Malaysia, which ranks 50th on the global index with a score of 52. The Philippines shares the 85th global spot with Thailand, with both scoring 38. Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar all perform worse than Indonesia.

Transparency International says its yearly index is “based on expert opinions of public sector corruption.”

“Countries’ scores can be helped by open government where the public can hold leaders to account, while a poor score is a sign of prevalent bribery, lack of punishment for corruption and public institutions that don’t respond to citizens’ needs,” the organization says.

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