Poll still places RI among the most corrupt countries

Poll still places RI among the most corrupt countries

BERLIN (AFP): The latest poll by Transparency International
still put Indonesia among the most corrupt countries with scores
of two or less, with Finland, Denmark and NewZealand ranked the
'cleanest' ones with scores of between nine and ten.

TI said in its latest communique that poor countries and
nations in transition, "in particular (those of) the former
Soviet Union," were among the most corrupt, as well as African
countries suffering the added problem of fighting AIDS.

Charging that there is a worldwide corruption crisis, the non-
governmental organization TI named Bangladesh as the most corrupt
nation and Finland as the least, in its yearly corruption
perceptions index released on Wednesday.

But in a statement the TI said its poll of 91 nations did not
"reflect secret payments to finance political campaigns, the
complicity of banks in money laundering or bribery by
multinational companies."

"There is no end in sight to the misuse of power by those in
public office, and corruption levels are perceived to be as high
as ever in both the developed and developing worlds," TI chairman
Petger Eigen said in the communique, made available in Berlin.

In the poll, rich countries like Finland, Denmark, New
Zealand, Iceland, Singapore and Sweden "scored nine or higher out
of a clean score of 10... indicating very low levels of perceived
corruption."

Countries scoring two or less were Azerbaijan, Bolivia,
Cameroon, Kenya, Indonesia, Uganda, Nigeria and Bangladesh.

Finland was the least corrupt nation with 9.9 points, Britain
was the 13th least corrupt nation, with 8.3 points, the United
States tied for 16th with Israel at 7.6, Japan came in at 21st
with 7.1 points.

The TI Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a subjective
reading, compiled from the opinions of public officials and
politicians.