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CAUCASUS CORRUPTION LEVELS: IS AZERBAIJAN THE ONE TO WATCH?
EurasiaNet.org, NY
July 10 2013
July 10, 2013 - 12:58pm, by Giorgi Lomsadze
The results for Azerbaijan proved the big surprise from the South
Caucasus in this year's Global Corruption Barometer by anti-corruption
watchdog Transparency International.*
Though Azerbaijan is repeatedly rated and berated as the region's
most corrupt country, many of the 1,001 Azerbaijanis surveyed for the
poll by the Baku-based SIAR (Social and Marketing Research Company)
had a more positive assessment of their national corruption situation
than did respondents for neighboring Armenia and Georgia.
Azerbaijan long has had run-ins with allegations that senior officials
and members of President Ilham Aliyev's family are cashing in on their
positions, but, apparently, most respondents believe the government
now is giving the corruption fight all it's got. Sixty-eight percent of
respondents deemed the government's actions "effective," a rate which
topped Georgia, often described as the region's main corruption-buster,
by 14-percentage points.
On perceptions of corruption in the public sector, Azerbaijan finished
a half point behind Georgia, roughly mid-range on a scale of one to
five, while Armenia settled firmly into the trouble zone at 4.4.
Similarly, both in Azerbaijan and Georgia, public perception of
corruption of political parties was 28 percent of respondents,
according to Transparency International (TI). The rate is noticeably
higher in Armenia, at 57 percent.
Azerbaijani respondents were also the least critical of their
essentially single-party parliament than Georgians and Armenians of
their multi-party legislatures. Based on the TI survey, Azerbaijani
respondents also have the least reason to complain about corruption in
the media, an unexpected result for a country repeatedly criticized by
both domestic and international press-freedom monitors for muzzling
media.
At the same time, though, results for some potentially telling
questions were omitted. No answers were provided for the query "To what
extent is this country's government run by a few big entities acting
in their own best interests?" Nor was feedback given for respondent
identification of public services to which they had paid a bribe in
the past year and the usual reason for the bribe/s.
Reasons for these gaps in the survey, performed via computer-assisted
telephone interviews, were not provided.
Needless to say, Azerbaijani officials already are taking bows for
the results. And promise even more anti-corruption wonders after this
October's presidential election.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67233
EurasiaNet.org, NY
July 10 2013
July 10, 2013 - 12:58pm, by Giorgi Lomsadze
The results for Azerbaijan proved the big surprise from the South
Caucasus in this year's Global Corruption Barometer by anti-corruption
watchdog Transparency International.*
Though Azerbaijan is repeatedly rated and berated as the region's
most corrupt country, many of the 1,001 Azerbaijanis surveyed for the
poll by the Baku-based SIAR (Social and Marketing Research Company)
had a more positive assessment of their national corruption situation
than did respondents for neighboring Armenia and Georgia.
Azerbaijan long has had run-ins with allegations that senior officials
and members of President Ilham Aliyev's family are cashing in on their
positions, but, apparently, most respondents believe the government
now is giving the corruption fight all it's got. Sixty-eight percent of
respondents deemed the government's actions "effective," a rate which
topped Georgia, often described as the region's main corruption-buster,
by 14-percentage points.
On perceptions of corruption in the public sector, Azerbaijan finished
a half point behind Georgia, roughly mid-range on a scale of one to
five, while Armenia settled firmly into the trouble zone at 4.4.
Similarly, both in Azerbaijan and Georgia, public perception of
corruption of political parties was 28 percent of respondents,
according to Transparency International (TI). The rate is noticeably
higher in Armenia, at 57 percent.
Azerbaijani respondents were also the least critical of their
essentially single-party parliament than Georgians and Armenians of
their multi-party legislatures. Based on the TI survey, Azerbaijani
respondents also have the least reason to complain about corruption in
the media, an unexpected result for a country repeatedly criticized by
both domestic and international press-freedom monitors for muzzling
media.
At the same time, though, results for some potentially telling
questions were omitted. No answers were provided for the query "To what
extent is this country's government run by a few big entities acting
in their own best interests?" Nor was feedback given for respondent
identification of public services to which they had paid a bribe in
the past year and the usual reason for the bribe/s.
Reasons for these gaps in the survey, performed via computer-assisted
telephone interviews, were not provided.
Needless to say, Azerbaijani officials already are taking bows for
the results. And promise even more anti-corruption wonders after this
October's presidential election.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67233