Country “in continuous decline since 2015”
Portugal has plummeted nine places in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, obtaining its worst result ever “particularly driven by the perception of abuse of public office for private gain”.
The country has been rated 43rd among the 180 evaluated, meaning it came in nine places below the 34th position it fell to in 2023.
To give an idea on how far the country has slipped, Portugal is now sharing its 43rd place with Botswana and Rwanda.
A statement from Transparency International which compiles the index every year says: “Portugal’s decline was driven by a deterioration in the assessments from various sources used to calculate this Index. The decline was particularly driven by the perceived abuse of public office for private gain and weaknesses in public integrity mechanisms to prevent such abuse (…) Portugal’s performance was one of the worst in Western Europe, with a drop of four points in the score and the loss of nine positions in the global ranking.”
Is there anything positive to be taken from any of this? Yes: Portugal has still done better than Spain and Italy… but Transparency International stresses the country has been going downhill since 2015, instead of heeding all the indicators and making progress.
2024’s ranking saw Portugal score 57 points on a scale of 0 (for highly corrupt states) and 100 (for those showing high integrity in the fight against corruption).
Curiously perhaps, TI refers to “recent scandals such as Operation Influencer as justification for the increase in the perception of corruption in the links between politics and business” when Operation Influencer – even though it ousted a previous absolute majority Socialist government – appears to have been downgraded in terms of corruption, and saw former Prime Minister António Costa explain to the country that ‘this was how politics works…’
TI clearly is not convinced, stressing “recognised shortcomings in the implementation of the government’s anti-corruption strategy, as well as a lack of resources to monitor the executive”.
“Portugal now has the challenge of demonstrating concrete progress in implementing reforms to prevent its position from deteriorating further (…) and to regain international confidence in the integrity of its public sector,” adds the statement.
Margarida Mano, President of TI’s Portuguese arm Transparência e Integridade, Associação Cívica, is quoted as saying that this year’s results “serve as a warning of the reputational damage that Portugal is suffering as a result of not taking effective action in the fight against corruption”.
“The worst result ever is primarily due to a cumulative component. Portugal has identified structural problems that have not been corrected, with impact and wear and tear over time, revealing a lack of political commitment and low effectiveness in the measures taken,” she said.
“The way to improve Portugal’s reputation in the fight against corruption is only one: make an effective commitment and act.”
TI Portugal also argues that “there is a lack of clarity and political commitment” in the anti-corruption strategy, which “lacks concrete goals, conviction and political commitment”, and there is a lack of speed in the justice system – calling for procedural acceleration, the simplification of mega-processes and the fight against delaying procedures and the statute of limitations for procedural delays.
The body’s ‘wish list’ extends to “tools for greater transparency and scrutiny in the public sector” and more financing for the Transparency Authority and the National Anti-Corruption Mechanism (MENAC) to guarantee “effective and independent” action.
“Finally, the control of politicians’ assets and income must be stricter. To avoid conflicts of interest and guarantee a public administration with integrity, it is essential to strengthen the impeachment regime, increase transparency in the selection criteria for public office and combat the phenomenon of ‘revolving doors’ between the political and private sectors”. ND
Source material: LUSA
