Gov’t transparency, maximum involvement of public in decision-making “one of main priorities” - Georgian PM
Georgia has been also ranked 13th worldwide and among the top 10 states in Europe by low bribery incidence, Kobakhidze noted, stressing the “ambitious task” to be placed among the top three in Europe in this regard and adding “this political will exists and the goal is completely achievable”. Photo via Government Administration
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Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Sunday said upholding the principles of transparency of Government accountability to the public and the maximum involvement of people in the decision-making process were “one of the main priorities” of his Government.
Several important steps have been taken in this direction during the past period. Among them [...] a decision to publish all decrees, which is our responsibility to the public. Also, we have shown a number of good examples of how to be involved in the decision-making process. Of course, we will continue our activities in the future in this spirit”, Kobakhidze noted in his address at the presentation of the annual report of the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
The PM highlighted the “special role” of the Bureau in the fight against corruption and noted the state body “has done a lot to effectively exercise its power”, announcing legislative changes in the future to “further strengthen” the Bureau’s capabilities.
The Head of the Government highlighted the positive international rankings in Georgia’s freedom from corruption, including the Control of Corruption Rating, in which the country received 73 percent and surpassed 14 European Union and NATO member countries, ranking first in the Caucasus and the Black Sea regions.
He also cited Georgia’s promotion in the Government Effectiveness Index, where the country was placed in the top 40 and ahead of eight EU member states, as well as data from the Global Corruption Index of the Global Risk Profile, in which Georgia received the status of a low level of corruption.
In the Index of Public Integrity, Georgia recorded a new historical maximum of corruption control, by receiving a score of 7.56 out of 10 and being promoted to the 29th place”, the PM emphasised, adding the country was also ranked 27th in the world and ninth in Europe in terms of freedom from government attacks on judicial justice in the latest index by Varieties of Democracy, being the leader in the region and ahead of three EU and six NATO member states.
Georgia has been also ranked 13th worldwide and among the top 10 states in Europe by low bribery incidence, Kobakhidze noted, stressing the “ambitious task” to be placed among the top three in Europe in this regard and adding “this political will exists and the goal is completely achievable”.
According to all international rankings, we have good data regarding freedom from corruption. Georgia is ahead of all [EU] candidate countries and up to ten EU member states, however [...] there is more to be done to fight and reduce corruption in our country”, Kobakhidze said.
The PM emphasised his Government would “do a lot more in the future” to fight corruption, and pledged to have “qualitative, tangible results” with the view of further reducing corruption within the next year, adding “our goal is, of course, to completely eliminate corruption, which is a very difficult task”.