The Corruption Perceptions Index of Armenia for 2021 testifies about the veiled anti-corruption fight carried out by the political authorities: Governing Board of the CSOs Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia

The Governing Board of the CSOs Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia has issued a statement which reads:

“Today, on 25 January, the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2021 (hereinafter referred to as the Index) where Armenia is in the 58th place among 180 countries with 49 points was published. Armenia shares the 58th place with Greece, Jordan and Namibia. It should also be noted that according to the 2021 Index, Armenia has not registered any progress compared to the previous year of 2020. If we look at the neighboring countries, as in previous years, this year Georgia is in a higher position than Armenia, in the 55th place with 45 points. Turkey is in the 96th place with 38 points, Azerbaijan is in the 128th place with 30 points, and Iran is in the 150th place with 25 points.

Denmark, Finland and New Zealand occupy the first three places with high free of corruption levels, each of which received 88 points and equally shares the first place.

It should also be reminded that the Corruption Perceptions Index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Despite some success in the fight against corruption in recent years, the Armenian political authorities have consistently made statements at the highest level, often accompanied by the introduction of the principle of zero tolerance for corruption; however the public perception of corruption in Armenia is still low. And the scores for 2021 show that the public at large has not seen significant anti-corruption reforms in the past year; has not felt any efforts to eliminate or reduce corruption in its daily life, from which it can be concluded that the anti-corruption fight in Armenia is carried out only through open texts and insignificant procedural changes. The Governing Board of the CSOs Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia considers that the unchanged indicators of the Corruption Perceptions Index 2021 are conditioned by the following circumstances:

– Anti-corruption institutional systems in Armenia do not have real independence, and their leadership is appointed as a result of political arrangements and not as a result of open and transparent, competitions which provide equal opportunities (see, for example, “Who and How failed the Anti-Corruption Institutional System in Armenia?” and “The Election of the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee was ensured through a Veil Competition Anti-Corruption Committee was ensured through a veil contest”).

– The Armenian authorities do not take into account the assessments of specialized international organizations in reviewing anti-corruption tools (see, for example, GRECO’s Second Compliance Report of the Fourth Evaluation Round on Armenia, adopted on 6 December 2019, and the Interim Compliance Report  of the Fourth Evaluation Round on Armenia, adopted on 22 September, 2021).

– A number of anti-corruption strategy actions are carried out in order to have positive quantitative indicators, while at the qualitative level the impact of these actions is not assessed and should be considered as formal (see, for example the Monitoring Report of the “Republic of Armenia Anti-Corruption Strategy and Its Implementation Action Plan for 2019-2022” and the “Monitoring Report of the Actions of the Republic of Armenia Anti-Corruption Strategy and Its Implementation Action Plan for 2019-2022 to be performed in the First Half of 2021” implemented jointly by the CSOs Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia and the Armenian Lawyers’ Association).

– The political authorities do not take into account the opinions and recommendations of specialized civil society organizations in the fight against corruption, and show a discriminatory approach in relations with the civil society community by working with CSOs loyal to the political authorities by denying real participation and creating the illusion of a seemingly struggling democratic state.

– In fact, systemic corruption has not yet been eradicated in the country, which has taken on a different form and content based on false law-abiding. In addition: patronage, nepotism and other manifestations of corruption have become widespread

Thus, the Governing Board of the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia expresses its constant concern over the ongoing veiled anti-corruption struggle carried out in the country and reaffirms its repeatedly stated position that in order to effectively fight corruption, it is necessary to have an independent anti-corruption institutional system, with all its nodes, which should be managed by persons selected/appointed as a result of apolitical, open and transparent real elections, and an important part of their daily work should be active, sincere and constructive cooperation with the public at large and the specialized structures, as well as the uninterrupted implementation of their professional, free from political influence functions aimed at anti-corruption education, prevention of corruption and application of measures of responsibility.

Governing Board of the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia

25.01.2021

Note 1. The CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia is a professional civil society structure, which was founded on 28 November 2014 in Yerevan. The Coalition currently has 70 civil society organizations, and the Secretariat is run by the Armenian Lawyers’ Association.