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GLOBAL CORRUPTION BAROMETER 2020: PUBLIC BELIEVES GOVERNMENT’S EFFORTS TO FIGHT CORRUPTION ARE INSUFFICIENT

To explain the results of the 2020 Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) concerning Latvia, as well as to examine public perceptions of corruption in the country and their effect on public trust in the government, Transparency International Latvia (Delna) will organise the public discussion “Is there corruption in Latvia?” on 21 August 2021 at the conversation festival LAMPA in Cēsis.  

This June the international anti-corruption organisation Transparency International (TI) published the GCB results of 2020, outlining public perceptions of corruption in EU countries, including Latvia. The results show that although compared to previous years the situation has improved, EU and Latvian citizens still feel pessimistic about corruption, a situation which the COVID-19 emergency has no doubt exacerbated. 

How does the Latvian public see and understand what is happening in the country? Do we experience and deal with corruption in our daily lives when we use public services and engage with public service providers (healthcare, education, courts, police, etc.)? Is the Latvian government doing enough to fight corruption and promote equal access to public services? In order to find answers to these questions and seek solutions to relevant problems, we will raise this issue in the discussion “Is there corruption in Latvia? Citizens’ Opinion” in Latvian at the conversation festival LAMPA on 21 August. The discussion will be moderated by Lolita Čigāne, an international consultant on good governance, elections and interest representation.
 

Participants: 

  • Politician and MP of the 13th Saeima Juris Rancāns 
  • Associate Researcher at PROVIDUS and Assistant Professor at the University of Latvia Valts Kalniņš
  • Prosecutor of the Specialised Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime and Other Sectors, President of the Latvian Prosecutors’ Association Jānis Ilsteris
  • Representative of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau Inta Nolle
  • Head of Communications at Civic Initiative Platform Manabalss Didzis Meļķis 

 

In order to gain a better understanding of the results of the GCB in regards to Latvia, Delna has conducted research and published the following recommendations for decision and policy makers: 

  • Develop and implement a regulation of transparent interest representation (lobbying) appropriate to the Latvian context. 
  • Consider amendments to the legislation on the financing of political organisations (parties) to more accurately reflect the characteristics of the Latvian political party system. The government could also consider linking party funding to party activities in terms of attracting members or small donors. 
  • Revise the interest declaration system for public officials: i) make data more accessible and easy-to-use for the public; ii) introduce rules for declarations of family members of top-level elected officials (e.g. Cabinet of Ministers and the Saeima) and of public officials responsible for allocating public resources; iii) introduce a requirement to declare interests as they arise and to update declarations in a timely manner. 
  • Improve the regulation and governance of public participation in public decision-making: (i) encourage public administrations to standardise the way in which they publish information on public consultations and their outcomes; (ii) increase funding for the development of state-funded digital tools aimed at promoting public participation, and support mechanisms to promote public participation in the design and control of the public budget and monitoring of public procurement. 
  • Develop a robust and comprehensive strategy for the use of government data in anti-corruption policy and practice. 

 

Delna’s full analysis of the GCB results can be found here. 

 

Additional information:  

Since its debut in 2003, the Global Corruption Barometer has surveyed the experiences of everyday people confronting corruption around the world. In 2020 the survey was carried out in 27 EU countries and a total of 40 000 people were interviewed between October and December.  

 

 

This activity is financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants programme “Active Citizens Fund” and it reflects the opinion of the Transparency International Latvia. 

 

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