People anxious over corruption

People in the small, landlocked country of Kyrgyzstan have expressed widespread concern over the level of corruption and a real mistrust of government in tackling the issue, according to an independent public opinion survey released in collaboration with UNDP on Thursday. Despite Kyrgyzstan being one of the most progressive countries of the former Soviet Union in carrying out market reforms, one-third of the population of over 4.5 million people considers corruption and bad governance to be at the root of the country’s economic hardship. Yuri Misnikov, UNDP Acting Resident Representative in Kyrgyzstan, told IRIN on Thursday that the most important result of the survey was that the issue of corruption was now being talked about publicly and openly, without any restrictions from the Kyrgyz government. “What is key here is that the President himself says that corruption and bad governance is a major obstacle in the country’s socio-economic advancement,” Misnikov said. He called it a “breakthrough” for a Central Asian country to tackle the issue head-on with support from government. The shadow economy in Kyrgyzstan accounted for at least 30 percent of gross domestic product, Misnikov said, though he expected this to be typical of a transitional economy with a lot of business transactions taking place outside legal frameworks. A UNDP-assisted crime prevention project has supported anti-corruption legislation which the Kyrgyz Parliament is expected to adopt later this month. In February, the government approved a special two-year programme to fight corruption, smuggling and organised crime. Despite these positive moves, all those surveyed saw the government as the main cause of corruption. They believed that, with a little effort, fraud could be significantly reduced but that corruption was being ignored by the Kyrgyz criminal justice system which focused its efforts on the population’s poor and on traditional crimes. Respondents cited economic crisis, gaps in legislation, low salaries of government officials and low moral values as causes of corruption. Misnikov said the Kyrgyz private sector was still emerging after years of state control of the economy under the Soviet system, and that few legal frameworks were in place. “One of the problems is the government still takes on functions which belong to the private sector. The government has the ability to earn extra revenue from services that should be outsourced and delegated more to the private sector. Also, government officials should be rotated, which is not occurring.” The acting UNDP representative said Kyrgyzstan was on the right track and moving steadily, but that it was a painful process and people had to be patient. “Corruption is a complex phenomenon and partnership between the government, civil society, donor organisations and the public is needed in developing steps to fight it. It is vital to make the process transparent and to involve the general public,” Misnikov said. The survey report calls for the government to publicise actions taken against criminal activities by government officials and stresses that penalties for corrupt behaviour must be enforced.