The FINANCIAL — Georgia’s score in Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has slightly worsened.
In the 2017 CPI, released by the anti-corruption watchdog on February 22, Georgia is ranked 46th among 180 countries with a score of 56 (on a scale where 0 is the worst and 100 is the best result), highest in the former Soviet states, except for the Baltics.
In 2016, Georgia’s score stood at 57, and it ranked 44th among 176 countries. Georgia’s CPI score was 52 in 2012, 49 in 2013, and 52 in 2014 and 2015, according to Civil.Ge.
“The stability of Georgia’s position in CPI over the past several years (and its worsening in 2017) indicates that, after Georgia made a certain progress, its government needs to step up its anti-corruption efforts,” said the Transparency International Georgia, Tbilisi-based member of Transparency International’s network.
“The challenges with regard to Georgia’s anti-corruption policies are mainly related to the lack of accountability at the high levels of governance, which, in turn, is the result of the absence of an effective system of checks and balances among the branches of power,” the organization noted.
“Flawed legislation, inappropriate influence from inside or outside the system, the closed nature of the system, the lack of accountability and inefficient management in the judiciary pose a direct threat to the independence of judges and significantly increase corruption risks,” TI Georgia also said.
The first recommendation for Georgia listed by the Transparency International is “to eliminate informal influence on public institutions, effectively separate public and private sectors,” followed by the one advising “to strengthen the oversight of the Parliament of Georgia over the executive branch.”
Other recommendations include ensuring political impartiality of the judiciary and law enforcement, creation of an independent anti-corruption agency, formation of a non-partisan civil service, and strengthening institutional independence of oversight and regulatory institutions.
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