‘Political parties most corrupt’

LONDON (AFP) — Political parties but also parliaments, police and judicial systems are the most corrupt bodies in the world, according to a global study of perceptions of corruption published yesterday.

For the second year running, respondents in 45 out of 69 countries worldwide put political parties at the top of the list for kickbacks and bribes, global campaign group Transparency International (TI) said.

They were followed by parliaments or legislatures and the legal system and judiciary, TI’s 55,000-person survey "Global Corruption Barometer 2005" found.

But the problem also extends to education, with serious consequences for students and the development of countries concerned, TI argued, launching a separate report entitled "Stealing the Future: Corruption in the Classroom."

Both documents were released to coincide with the United Nations international anti-corruption day.

Overall, citizens of 48 countries believed corruption had increased over the last three years while only six — Colombia, Georgia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Kenya and Singapore — said it had decreased.

In 13 countries — Bolivia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, India, Israel, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines and Venezuela — more than 50 percent felt corruption increased a lot.

Africans and Latin Americans felt most negative about the past.

The future offered a more mixed bag: 12 countries expected corruption to fall but 34 countries were pessimistic about turning around the situation.

TI chairman Huguette Labelle described corruption as "a major problem of our times."

"Its most deadly impact is on the poor," she said. "If people are pessimistic, they will not feel they can do something about it.

"The results of the survey are a call for alarm for people. It can change, but it requires leadership, will and pressure," she said.

The 85-page education report meanwhile, cites evidence from 10 countries revealing corruption including bribes to secure a child’s admission to school to passing university exams.

"A basic textbook and a good grade should not depend on greasing the palm of a corrupt teacher or administrator," said Labelle.

"Poor parents who are forced to pay up may choose instead to feed their families, leaving a generation gap of students without a proper education and perpetuating the poverty trap," she added.

The report said such practices in schools and universities contradicted "basic values of integrity, equity and the public good" and risked perpetuating the problem by fostering a negative perception of authority and institutions.

Giving examples, it said an opinion poll at two major universities in Bosnia-Hercegovina revealed bribes for passing exams and selling diplomas were commonplace on campus.

In Brazil, a study found that poor municipalities lose up to 55 percent of their federal school subsidies to fraud in procurement.

Meanwhile, in Mexico, the average family reportedly paid $30 each year in kickbacks and bribes for access to supposedly free education.

Efforts are, however, being made to combat the problem, TI said, citing parent-teacher associations in Zambia that control school finances as a successful anti-fraud measure.