Tag Archive for: transparency

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)






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Malpractice

‘The elected politician nowadays is more a delegate of the party than a representative of the voter’
(Ramalho Eanes, former President of Portugal)

More than 80% of the Portuguese are of the opinion that corruption – is an essential part of business. In the Eurobarometer inquiry, more than three-quarters of the population – who claim to have witnessed a case of corruption – admit not having reported it.

Last year the country dropped on the Corruption Index – published by Transparency International (TI) – placing itself in 33rd place (of 180 countries) with 61 points, the lowest score ever. ‘Over the past 10 years, little to nothing has been done to fight corruption and the result is an expression of this drift’, explains the president of TI-Portugal Susana Coroado.
Since 2016, only four crimes of bribery to foreign agents – all involving Angolan companies – have been investigated and none has resulted in sanctions.

In September the Council of Ministers approved the National Strategy for the Combat of Corruption, forcing public entities and private companies to address endemic threats of mismanagement. Those who do not comply with the new obligations, risk being fined but those who confess corruption might be forgiven.

The judiciary on her part stressed the lack of transparency in the funding of political parties. ‘No serious strategy should leave out the administrations of municipality councils nor the financing of the campaigns of political parties’, Manuel Soares – president of the Judge’s Syndicate – stated on radio. ‘People who are financed when exercising public office favor the companies and entities that pay them.’

Up until now, the Constitutional Court has rejected laws against ‘illicit enrichment.’ But in the wake of Operation Marquês, the tide has turned.
The Association of Portuguese Judges is now aiming at ‘reinforcing transparency in the exercise of public functions, with criminal liability in the case of non-compliance and President Marcelo de Sousa wants the Government to move forward and punish those in public office who become ‘unjustifiably rich.’

A recent survey showed the deeply rooted distrust of the population as to how politicians are properly monitored for corruption and the capacity and reliability of Justice to investigate them. Portuguese consider the President the most reliable (65%) in the fight against corruption, followed by the Government (42%) and the courts (23%).

But there are also international concerns, in particular about money laundering. At the beginning of this year, the European Commission has opened legal procedures against Portugal for incorrectly implementing EU anti-money laundering rules into its national law.


The good news, however, is – also for Brussels – that the controversial Golden Visa program for foreign real estate investment in the coastal and metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto is coming to an end this year.


Stay healthy                          Fique saudável            (pic público/sapo)






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