Does corruption index reflect the reality ?

When the activists of the Aragalaya floated anti-racist slogans,  a Tamil journalist had then sought former Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V.Wigneswaran’s views on it

After ten years of negative performance, Sri Lanka has risen from 121stplace to 107th place on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2025. It is a 14-place climb, as the places are decided from minimum corrupt country to maximum corrupt country.

The country has earned 3 points more than its previous year’s score, indicating the highest jump in the survey in its history. Yet, it remains below the global average score which stands at 42. Sri Lanka earned only 35 which is given out of 100. Despite the commendable performance, it must be noted that we are still behind 106 countries out of 182 countries considered.  

This is a survey on the perception about public sector activities. Its outcome for the year 2025 indicates that “16 percentage of public service users paid a bribe” and “79 percentage of people  think government corruption is a big problem.”

If 16 percent (around a sixth) of public service users had paid bribes to get  things done at government offices in a digital era,  and this happening  under a government whose top members  have made sacrifices in their usage of vehicles, official residences, fuel allowances and pensions, it is not surprising that 79 percent of people say that  government corruption is a big problem. It is also an indication as to how difficult it is to eradicate corruption. 

The National People’s Power (NPP) came to power through the last Presidential and Parliamentary elections entirely on an anti-corruption pledge. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake bet his entire economic programme on his anti-corruption campaign.

Also, in spite of the Aragalaya, the popular uprising against the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government in 2022 being prompted by an unprecedented economic crisis that resulted in weeks-long and miles-long queues for fuel and cooking gas, its prime slogans targeted the corruption and recovery of assets stolen by  corrupt politicians and officials. And the people’s choice during the post Aragalaya elections was none other than the NPP which had never been accused of corruption. 

It was this promise for  unblemished governance rather than economic policies that catapulted the NPP from three percent votes at the 2019 Presidential election to 42 percent  at the 2024 Presidential election,  and to 61 percent votes at the subsequent Parliamentary election.  

When the activists of the Aragalaya floated anti-racist slogans,  a Tamil journalist had then sought former Chief Minister of the Northern Province C. V. Wigneswaran’s views on it. The former Supreme Court judge said it could be treated as a true change of heart only if they voice the same slogans  after they get the unrestricted supply of fuel and cooking gas.  This argument seems to be applicable to the anti-corruption slogans floated by  southern people during the Aragalaya. They continued to hate the leaders of former governments, especially the Rajapaksas,  even some time after the queues vanished. But,with the NPP government’s drive against corruption starting to face various snags -- technical, administrative as well as political -- there were signs of mind change in the southern parts of the country as well. 

It was clearly manifested at the local government elections in May last year. Dashing the hopes of those  who wanted instant action against  corrupt politicians and officials has ironically made a section of the people to turn to the same corrupt politicians. Yet, it is not clear if those elections would serve as a trend setter in the face of the government’s response to the recent floods and landslides triggered by the Cyclone Ditwah,  as well as the self-contradictory and inconsistent anti-government campaigns on the part of the Opposition parties. 

Not a single action

Penalising corrupt politicians and officials is not a single action, but a process which sometimes will take time, depending on  its inherent obstacles,  as well as the law’s delays due to technical glitches and bureaucratic unscrupulousness. Whatever it may be, many people have begun to question the commitment of the NPP government in its own anti-corruption drive. Also, a set of perfectionist loyalists of the government have been catalysing this skepticism among the people. 

Governments going back on their promises of cracking down on corruption is not new. Chandrika Kumaratunga stated that she would flay  corrupt politicians in public at the Galle Face green. It is clear that she did not mean it literally, but she herself was later branded as bandit queen by senior journalist Victor Ivon. Then, the leaders of the so-called Yahapalana Government were accused of the infamous Central Bank bond scam, one of the biggest frauds in Sri Lankan history committed within the first two months of  government, despite their promise to punish  corrupt politicians including the Rajapaksas of the previous regime. 

This went on. No action was taken against  culprits of the high-profile scandals such as the sugar tax fraud and the garlic sale fraud during the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government. Despite the Ranil Wickremesinghe government boasting about the passage of  Anti-Corruption Act of 2023, the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) exposed corruption involving millions of rupees in the National Youth Servises Council and the National Gem and Jewellery Authority which occurred on the eve of the 2024 Presidential election.

Frauds without culprits

Hence, it is natural that  people are inclined to believe that history was repeating when those who accused of corruption by the current leaders walk freely,  and investigations drag on for months. 

Already, the Opposition have somewhat convinced the people that  fraudulent acts have taken place in the release of containers from the harbour without physical inspection in January last year,  and in finding low quality coal in two shipments imported recently. What they failed to do is to identify the fraud,   and who the culprints were. Ironically, no Opposition politician seems to be prepared to take legal action against these purported frauds.

Transparency International’s index is one about perception and indicates how people -laymen, experts and investors - perceive corruption levels within the state machinery of a country.  Cynicism within the society over seeming inaction by the government,  and the ability on the part of the Opposition parties to convince  people about  real or perceived involvement of the government leader in corruption could have a bearing on such perceptions,  and thereby on such indexes.