Transparency International has released its 2016 International Corruption Perceptions Index. The Dominican Republic again scores among the most corrupt countries in the world. Of 176 countries, the Dominican Republic is ranked 120th. In the Americas region, the DR is only above Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela, in that order.
The report highlights the connection between corruption and inequality, which feed off each other to create a vicious cycle of corruption, unequal distribution of power in society, and unequal distribution of wealth.
According to the Index, countries with low scores “are characterized by generalized impunity, deficient governability and fragile institutions.”
The results are released at a time the recent large turnout at a march against impunity would seem to indicate the tolerance of Dominicans to administrative corruption is coming to an end.
The organization says that over two-thirds of the participating 176 countries and territories fall below the midpoint of the scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). In that area, the DR scored 31 points of a possible 100 points. This is a two point improvement over the 33 score in 2015. The organization says that over two-thirds of the participating 176 countries and territories fall below the midpoint of the scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). In that area, the DR scored 31 points of a possible 100 points. This is a two point improvement over the 33 score in 2015. Nevertheless, the DR dropped to 120th from a ranking of 103rd in 2015 when 167 countries participated.
The civic group Participación Ciudadana says that the index is the most used barometer throughout the world for measuring corruption. The index compiles information from independent institutions that specialize in the business sector. The least corrupt countries were Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, Netherlands, Canada and Germany.
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Transparency
Metro RD
26 January 2017
