Annual corruption report reveals fourth year of stagnation in the Pacific

Joseph Veramu and Mariam Mathew

The 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index[1] (CPI) released by Transparency International (TI) showed that the Asia Pacific region stagnated with an average score of 45 for the fourth year in a row.

We emphasize that the 1- or 2-point differences in country scores in this paragraph is not statistically significant and not necessarily indicative of larger trends. Fiji leads the Pacific but fell from 55 to 53 this year. Vanuatu gained 3 points from last year to register a score of 48. The Solomon Islands fell by 1 point to 42. Papua New Guinea (PNG) once again scores least but further fell by 1 point from last year to register this year’s score of 30. Across the pond New Zealand leads in Oceania and second globally with a score of 87. It fell by 1 point from last year’s score. Australia’s score is 75; a 2-point increase from last year.

Despite the opportunity presented by the numerous diplomatic summits held in the region in 2022, (including the Pacific Islands Forum in July) states continued to focus on economic development at the expense of other priorities, including anti-corruption efforts.

Mariam Mathew, Pacific Advisor at TI Secretariat said, “The Pacific has shown some encouraging signs, notably the endorsement of the Teieniwa vision in 2021 and the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent in 2022, but anti-corruption commitments have not yet translated into reduced corruption rates”.

Pacific country insights:

Joseph Veramu, Executive Director of CLCT Integrity Fiji said, “We applaud the new government for committing to repeal many undemocratic laws and measures taken by the previous government. We now urge them to prioritise strengthening anti-corruption efforts. This includes ensuring that the Fiji Independent Commission against Corruption (FICAC) remains operational and is able to operate independently and with adequate capacity”. As Fiji’s score in the 2022 CPI fell by 2 points since last year, we believe that all stakeholders in Government, the media, private sector and civil society should work together to curb corruption.”

Ruth Liloqula, Executive Director of Transparency Solomon Islands noted, “The 2022 CPI score of Solomon Islands shows that government’s efforts to tackle corruption in the public sector is not going anywhere; it has become stagnant. The key Government Institutions that should be leading or providing the leadership, bringing in reforms etc. in this fight, are the most corrupt.” On a positive note, Liloqula said that the determination of CSO’s, journalists, concerned citizens, and actors within the government were tenacious in the fight against corruption. “Power is in people’s hand to hold leaders to account and to nurture leaders who develop a culture of integrity and anti-corruption in government,” she added.

PNG in 2022 experienced what is being called the country’s worst elections ever[2] despite a history of electoral rife. TI PNG’s report[3] found numerous irregularities, with out-of-date election rolls, stolen ballot boxes and even bouts of violence. None of this bodes well for democratic development in PNG and may directly affect its future CPI score. 

Vanuatu however, was a bright spot this year. The people are becoming more aware of corruption as an issue, as civil society organisations form coalitions to hold government accountable. In an important win, the government committed to establishing an anti-corruption commission in late 2021. Yet the country continues to grapple with political instability, with snap elections held this year[4] after the prospect of a no-confidence vote triggered the president to call elections in August.

Clancy Moore, CEO of TI Australia noted, “Across the Pacific, corruption poses a direct threat to national and regional peace, stability and security. The Australian government’s foreign policy should prioritise promoting democracy, good governance and civil society accountability efforts.” He added “TI Australia works with our chapters in the Pacific to tackle corruption risks in the mining and infrastructure sector which are skyrocketing as governments and businesses invest in renewable energy. We can also work together to stop money laundering in the region.”

 Insights into New Zealand and Australia

Anne Tolley, Chair of TI New Zealand stated, “While New Zealand remains among the least corrupt countries in the world, the drop from first is a reminder that complacency is not an option in our battle against corruption,” “The gradual decline in our ranking among the component indexes that measure business perceptions is particularly troublesome. Maintaining low levels of corruption is essential for our trade dependent economy,” Tolley added.

Julie Haggie, CEO of TI New Zealand stated, “the good news in 2023 will be the drafting of legislation creating a register of beneficial ownership which will improve monitoring and investigation by government agencies, whilst also reducing business compliance costs. We are looking forward to hearing about progress towards a more transparent government procurement system. TI New Zealand has been actively advocating on these issues and is regularly involved in consultations.”

Clancy Moore noted “after ten years of democratic backsliding, Australia is now in 13th place behind countries including New Zealand and Denmark scoring 75 points on the 100-point scale. “Australia’s score is 10 points lower than in 2012, though a two-point increase in this year’s report – from its lowest ever score of 73 last year – shows Australia may be turning the corner off the back of the landmark National Anti-Corruption Commission. To be a leader in tackling corruption, Australia should introduce a whole of government anti-corruption strategy including comprehensive whistle blower protections, reforms to political donations, expenditure, unfair lobbying and strong laws to stop money laundering.”

Recommendations:

During the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting in July 2022, Transparency International Pacific chapters[5] had urged leaders[6] to respond to key corruption findings from a public survey assessing people’s views and experiences of corruption in ten forum member countries and territories. With the 2022 CPI scores being released, it is important that these recommendations be revisited. They are listed as follows:

(a) Strengthening accountability of political leaders, requiring all high-level officials to publicly disclose their income and assets, tightly monitoring discretionary public funds, and empowering the police and courts to properly investigate and punish corruption

(b) Increasing transparency in the relationship between government and businesses, by monitoring companies’ involvement in electoral campaigns and policy making, and by ensuring that all public contracts are awarded fairly and competitively

(c)  Eradicating bribery opportunities by investing in clear and uncomplicated systems for accessing public services

(d)    Ensuring elections are fair and free of vote-buying or threats, by strengthening independent electoral commissions and anti-corruption agencies

(e)   Introducing and enforcing right to information and whistle-blower protection laws, so that citizens and journalists can hold power to account without fear of retaliation.

Anti-corruption activists in the region need to redouble their efforts and actively engage governments nationally and at regional forums to combat the growing scourge of corruption.

  [1] 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index

[2] https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/08/11/papua-new-guinea-conducts-its-worst-election-ever

[3] https://transparencypng.org.pg/tipng-domestic-election-observation-report-2022/

[4] https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/476496/vanuatu-election-international-observers-arrive

[5] Transparency International Pacific chapters include Transparency Vanuatu, Transparency Solomon Islands, Transparency International PNG, CLCT Integrity Fiji, Transparency International Australia and Transparency International New Zealand

[6] https://twitter.com/integrity_fiji/status/1545670098249080833

How did Fiji Perform in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2022?

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2022 results released at Tanoa Plaza Hotel on Jan 31, 2023 by CLCT Integrity Fiji showed that Fiji’s score has fallen. Fiji’s score has gone down from last year’s figure of 55 to 53 out of 100 this year. Fiji’s ranking has also fallen from 45 out of 180 nations last year to 49.This 2 points drop is not currently statistically significant or indicative of larger trends. Fiji first appeared in the CPI in 2004 and there was a lapse of 17 years before the next CPI for Fiji came out last year. We would need to see a few more years of CPI scores for Fiji before we can observe the larger trends.

While a fall of 2 points (implying an increase in corruption) is not statistically significant, it highlights the urgent need for civil society, the business sector, the media and all stakeholders to work together with Fiji’s anti-corruption agency FICAC to curb corruption.

Transparency International notes that “A country’s score is the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean. A country's rank is its position relative to the other countries in the index. Ranks can change merely if the number of countries included in the index changes. The rank is therefore not as important as the score in terms of indicating the level of corruption in that country.”

For a period of 17 years from 2004 to 2021, Fiji was not included in the CPI because it was not featured in at least 3 of the CPI’s 13 data sources.

Grace Konrote noted that, “Fiji’s absence from the CPI list for 17 years did not mean that Fiji was corruption-free. It meant that there was not enough data available to accurately measure levels of corruption.”

Ms Konrote added that it is reassuring that the new Coalition Government has taken over after 16 repressive years and that many repressive laws are planned for removal. For anti-corruption strategies to be effective, integrity institutions need to be strengthened and democracy processes need to be bolstered.

Social Media

Integrity Fiji’s Elsie Pickering said that on their Facebook post of the CPI some people were commenting that there was a lot of corrupt activity reported, but these was not accurately reported in the CPI score. How could this have happened?

Pickering noted that there are a number of possible reasons for this. Corrupt activity not within the timeframe of this year’s CPI could take a year or more to reflect in the data sources. Some positive developments in controlling public sector corruption might have been captured, balancing out these negative cases. Ms Pickering noted that Fiji’s anti-corruption agency was dynamic and proactive and this has been a very positive factor when compared with Pacific nations that do not have anti-corruption agencies. “We may gripe about FICAC but the reality is that they have worked hard through the years to develop strong anti corruption strategies.”

Executive Director Joseph Veramu said that one positive aspect of this year’s CPI score and ranking for Fiji is that a new Government has come into power that is not authoritarian. ”Government will repeal the draconian Media Act and allow for free speech and assembly amongst other democratic rights.”

Veramu said that the CPI was not just about corruption issues. It also covers a free media, freedom of speech and assembly, human rights, gender rights and a country run on dynamic democratic principles.” All these democratic ideals combine to affirm our integrity institutions and help to curb corruption in Fiji.