Governments in multiple countries in the Asia-Pacific region suppressed basic freedoms and civic space amid rising authoritarianism and high level of corruption, says a new report from Transparency International (TI).
Afghanistan, Cambodia, Myanmar, and North Korea are ranked among the worst Asian nations to curb civic space and basic freedoms, according to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2022 report published on Jan. 31.
The Berlin-based global anti-graft watchdog said that “grand corruption remains common, and the overall situation has barely improved” among Asia-Pacific nations.
While the report pointed out some Asian countries making headway in their fight against corruption, the region scored an average of 45 points out of 100 for the fourth year in a row.
The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, scoring on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Among the Asian nations, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan scoring 83, 76, and 73 points each were ranked in the top three spots.
“Asian leaders persisted in allowing anti-corruption commitments to fall on the back burner”
Among the tail-enders were Afghanistan, Cambodia, Myanmar, and North Korea scoring 24, 24, 23, and 17 points respectively.
Despite the Asian sub-continent seeing multiple diplomatic summits to ease international tension and reduce corruption, the results were widely varying, TI said.
“Asian leaders persisted in allowing anti-corruption commitments to fall on the back burner, while Pacific governments refocused and recentered their efforts to combat it,” the annual report read.
It specifically pointed out Malaysia’s (47 points) 1MDB scandal terming it as a “grand corruption” that implicated banks, celebrities, and institutions across six countries.
In 2022, former prime minister, Najib Razak, was jailed for his involvement in the scandal.