Corruption increased in Maldives in the past three years: Survey

A survey conducted by Transparency International Global has shown that cases related to corruption have increased in the Maldives in the past three years.

A press release by Transparency Maldives said that this survey was formulated by Transparency International to assess the level of corruption in people’s daily lives, and will be followed by a report titled “Corruption and daily lives”. They also said that the Maldives has been included in this survey, and public opinion on corruption has been obtained.

Transparency said, that 90 per cent of people who participated in the survey saying that corruption in the country has increased in the past three years, is a clear indicator of failure to fight corruption in the newly formed democratic system.

1,001 participants of the survey in the years 2010 and 2011, out of the 7,500 from South Asia, are Maldivians. The report also includes information about corrupt dealings in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, and Nepal.

The Maldivians who participated in the survey said that the most corrupt institution in the country is the Parliament. The second most corrupt is political parties, while the third is the judicial system. The least corrupt are military forces and various religious institutions.

Aiman Rasheed, President of Transparency Maldives told Sun on Thursday that this survey is conducted every three years by Transparency International, and that this year it was carried out in April 2011 via Galaps Pakistan.

“People were chosen for this survey randomly, by Galaps Pakistan which conducts similar surveys all over the world,” Aiman said.

The survey indicates that six per cent of the Maldivian participants of the survey were involved in some form of bribery in the past year. Customs was the recipient of most bribes, while the Police received the least.

More than half of the participants said that the institution which can fight corruption most effectively is the government.