LAHORE: In a survey released recently by Transparency International, Shehbaz Sharif has been voted honest by 49% of the respondents, followed by Nawaz Sharif, at 40% and Imran Khan at 26% and Asif Zardari at 1%.
Corruption Perception Index (CPI) Score of Pakistan during Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led government during last five years, has also continuously improved. In 2012, Pakistan’s CPI was 27/100, which has increased to 32/100 in 2017.
A recent report, based on statistics collected from the World Bank, African Development Bank, and International Economic Forum, rated 180 countries on a scale of one to 100 — the latter being the highest score.
Pakistan fared better than its neighbour Bangladesh, with the latter receiving 28 points on the index. India and China, however, were ranked higher with the scores 40 and 41 respectively.
The statistics issued by Transparency International disclose that in 1996, Pakistan stood on the 71st rank among 85 countries. After the PML-N formed the government in 1996 a notable increase in the corruption index was observed. Within a span of two years, the index increased by a point to reach 2.7.
Social sector reforms in Health, Education, Water, Sanitation and social protection has increased transparency, particularly through the increased accountability mechanisms.
The existence of citizen feedback models such as through the Punjab Information Technology Board has also allowed for closer coordination with citizens. Technological advancements and open access websites reporting service delivery data, such as that for education, immunization, land records and others are some of the factors that have brought citizens closer in their opinion to what they think the government is doing.