Tag Archive for: government

Transparency

Portugal plummets in 2025 Corruption Perception Index, with the worst score ever.

The watchdog Transparency International Portugal (TIP) is challenging declarations by the Ministry of Justice on the assessment of anti-corruption policies in Portugal, and rejects claims that the Anti-Corruption Agenda– one of the government’s flagships – contains a clear anti-corruption strategy.

Instead, the Ministry’s technical report 2020-2024 ‘doesn’t provide any evidence of a structured, methodologically identifiable assessment of the results of an anti-corruption strategy in the past four years.’ TIP states.

Even worse, no proposal, timetable, or implementation process is known for the period 2025-2028. ‘The absence of this new strategy raises doubts about the commitments made and the consistency between political discourse and government action,’ the corruption watchdog declares.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice recently announced that it has finalized 17 of the 42 measures outlined in its National Anti-Corruption Agenda. Judge Rita Alarcão stated in the same press release that progress this far demonstrates that it is possible to act with effectiveness.

The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is an annual indicator compiled by Transparency International that assesses the perception of corruption in the public sector on a scale from 0 (corrupt) to 100 (clean) in more than 180 countries.

Government corruption is increasing worldwide due to a lack of leadership.
This year, the global average GPI score fell for the first time in over a decade, to just 46 out of 100. The NGO’s report reveals that ‘the vast majority of countries are failing to keep corruption under control’, highlighting that two-thirds of countries score below 50 on the index.

Portugal fell to 46th place, scoring just 56 points out of 100. Cape Verde ranked as the highest-placed nation with 62 points within the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, leaving Brazil (35), Angola(32), and Mozambique (21) far behind.

At the same time, countries scoring above 80 fell from 12 a decade ago to just 5 (i.e. Scandinavia, Singapore), highlighting ‘a worrying trend of democracies showing a deterioration in perceptions of corruption.’ 

Analyzing the results, TIP president José Fontão points to a correlation between rising perceptions of (state) corruption and the growth of populist rhetoric attacking institutions. He called the politicians to end isolated short-term measures, and above all to show more political will to tackle abuses of power and the factors driving this decline, such as the roll-back of democratic checks and balances, and attacks on independent civil society.


It should not be forgotten that the common people are paying the price, as corruption leads to under-funded public hospitals and schools, unbuilt defences against the climate crisis, and withers the hopes and dreams of young people.

Enjoy the week            Aproveite a semana               (pic Publico/Sapo)






/by

Taxi!

The place was deserted when he arrived late that night at the Humberto Delgado airport in Lisbon. Not the familiar cacophony of cars, buses, trolleys, and travelers. Just silence. Only a small group of tourists stood patiently waiting outside the Arrivals hall, glued to the screens of their smartphones. What the hell was going on? The onset of another revolution? The one from some 40 years ago had also started quietly, with carnations instead of bullets in the barrels of the guns. But in that case, he certainly would have heard something alike during the flight. And although the incoming aircraft had suffered some delay due to a drone teasing the airspace above the capital earlier on, that could hardly explain the total emptiness of the place. Looking to his right, he noticed a distant cab with its doors wide open and someone sitting up front. “I ‘am sorry to bother you sir but is it possible to give me a ride into town.” The startled driver looked up from his flimsy newspaper and replied annoyed. “That can be very dangerous! People may be dragged out of the car and beaten up. There is a national strike underway.” “But is there no possibility at all? I have to go to Campo Santana, it’s only 15 minutes”, the man insisted as friendly as possible. The cabbie sighed, folded the paper and gestured him silently to the back seat.
Once driving, he became more talkative. “The new law, that enters into force on November 1st, is a complete disgrace! Only in favour of the electronic platforms. Uber is taking 25% of the profit, stashes it in tax havens and doesn’t invest even one penny back into the country.” In the meantime, the car was building up speed on a desolate Avenida Almirante Reis. “Any political support for your cause ?” his passenger asked carefully. ”Only from the Commies, the Greens, and the Block”, the driver muttered. “The same parties that voted against legislation last July. And you know what? The worst of all is, that there is no quota for these electronic services, while the maximum number of taxis per municipality is strictly fixed. That sucks. No fair competition at all! But mind you, we will not stop until there is a decent deal for the nearly 14.000 registered taxis in this country. In 1976 – just after the revolution – we also had to defend ourselves against discrimination. Back then it took us 55 days to win.” He remained wary, when he drove all the way down to the Avenida da Liberdade, in order to join the growing queue of stationed vehicles and wait for the sun to rise.


Bom fim de semana               Have a nice weekend         (pic DN/SAPO)

/by