Five Arab states top the most corrupt list

Five Arab countries are ranked among the top 10 most corrupt nations, according to Transparency International’s newly released annual Corruption Perceptions Index, as instability in the region has profound effects on governance. Bottom 10 ranked nations Somalia North Korea Afghanistan Sudan South Sudan Libya Iraq Uzbekistan Turkmenistan Syria Syria, Iraq, Libya, Somalia and Sudan all scored less than 20, as their governments deal with massive instability in the face of civil war and armed groups, or nations where the lead researcher of the study said the regime is not “functioning effectively”. “There is no transparency as reflected by laws that would allow for freedom of information and people’s access to it, even in Arab countries that would be considered more advanced in terms of democratic transition,” Shahin told Al Jazeera, adding that “despite any kind of superficial appearances, societies in these countries also suffer from a lack of participation at all levels, from local politics to holding the judiciary responsible for governmental oversight.” “While all these factors contribute to these results, corruption as an institution in and of itself cannot be ignored, as even those who address corruption cases are often manipulating them for political reasons, and not through a systematic will to uproot it,” he said. But Huguette Labelle, the Chair of Transparency International, said that while “the top performers clearly reveal how transparency supports accountability and can stop corruption, face issues like state capture, campaign finance and the oversight of big public contracts,” especially with regards to corporate involvement in economic and governmental affairs.