Islam Times - Nine Arab counties experienced worsening corruption in 2015: Study

Islam Times - People in nine Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan, say they experienced worsening government corruption last year, according to a new study.

The study, by Germany-based Transparency International, showed that one third of the people in the countries surveyed have had to pay a bribe for some kind of public service.

The study surveyed people in Sudan, Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan and the Palestinian territories.

Almost 11,000 people, or nearly 1,200 people in each country, were surveyed.

The study indicated that courts had the worst bribery rate out of the six services that were studied.

The report said “the majority of people in the region perceive corruption to have risen recently (61 percent).” They believe that “government officials and members of parliament are highly corrupt.”

Half of the people surveyed in Sudan, Morocco and Egypt said they have had to pay bribes for public services.

The study showed the rate of worsening corruption in Lebanon at 92 percent, in Yemen at 84 percent, and in Jordan at 75 percent. The rate in Egypt stands at 28 percent and in Algeria at 26.

“Public dissatisfaction with corrupt leaders and regimes has been a key catalyst for change in the Middle East and North Africa, notably with the Arab Spring protests,” said the group.

Arab Spring is the phrase sometimes used to describe the series of uprisings and revolutions that started across the Middle East and North Africa in 2011 against unemployment, inflation as well as corruption, among other things.

“Yet, despite half a decade having passed since many of these protests first took place, our Global Corruption Barometer still finds widespread public dissatisfaction with government efforts to curb public sector graft,” it added.

“It’s as if the Arab Spring never happened,” Transparency International’s chief Jose Ugaz said.

The 2011 revolutions, which started with Tunisia, resulted in changes in the governments of Tunisia itself, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen.