Corruption is the biggest problem for citizens, who are not optimistic that it will decrease neither in the future. According to citizens, judges, ministers, MPs, mayors and prosecutors are the most corrupt, shows the survey on the assessment of corruption carried out by the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC).
A total of 80 percent of respondents think that the desire of those who are in power to get rich fast affects the widespread corruption, while a significant factor is also the lack of strict administrative control over corruption, non-enforcement of laws and insufficient protection of persons who have reported corruption.
– Even though about one third of citizens (33,7 percent) had been exposed to corruption pressure, and 32,9 percent had been involved in corruption, still, corruption remains unpunished. This percentage, turned into absolute numbers, under the assumption that it is a matter of individual cases, shows that it concerns potentially over 550.000 committed acts. In 2020, a total of 82 people were convicted for abuse of official position or bribery, more specifically, a 0,015 rate of efficiency of the institutions, that is the percentage of cases processed as opposed to those that we assume happen, indicated MCIC.
A small number of citizens, or only 4 percent, have said they would pay a bribe, and 17 percent would pay if they could afford it. Unlike them, 45 percent would not pay under any circumstance, and 31 percent would not pay if there was another way to solve the problem.
Almost three-quarters of the citizens think that there is a possibility or big possibility for corruption pressure in the future as well. On the scale from one to five, where one means that there is no corruption at all, and five means high-level widespread corruption, 75 percent of citizens gave highest marks for widespread corruption in courts, 71 percent for widespread corruption in the prosecution and over 66 percent think that corruption is widespread in the Government and Customs.
As to trust in the anti-corruption institutions, almost 33 percent of citizens have full or partial trust in corruption being tackled in the Government, 30 percent in the Ministry of Interior, while the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption is in third place with around 24 percent.
According to MCIC, trust in these institutions has significantly dropped compared to 2019 and 2018.
The survey for the needs of MCIC was implemented by IPSOS on a representative sample of 1014 adults. The survey was conducted in the period April 27 to May 20 this year.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
