VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin affirmed that the government remains steadfast in its crusade against corruption despite a decline in Indonesia's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score in 2022.

"It is normal; sometimes it hikes, sometimes it drops. Nevertheless, the government is committed to eradicating corruption," Amin stated at the Yogyakarta Presidential Palace here, Saturday.

The government will assess factors that might have been causal to the decline in the CPI score, Amin affirmed.

The vice president stated that the government will also evaluate where the worst decline occurs in order to ensure effective countermeasures to improve the national CPI score.

"We will assess the causes of the corruption index decline, we will assess it. KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission) employed three approaches of education, prevention, and action simultaneously. We will assess where the decline occurs," the vice president remarked.

Meanwhile, Amin stressed that the improvement and digitization of government services, such as through Public Service Centres established in several regions, aimed at providing quick services for residents and reducing corruption.

"Through digital and contactless services, (the process) will be quick, easy, and give zero chance for bribery. We have also established 'integrity zones' in bureaucracy as well as in corruption-free zones. All of these measures are to reduce corruption," Amin stated.

On Tuesday (January 31), Transparency International Indonesia (TII) launched Indonesia’s CPI data for 2022, which tanked four points to 34, from 38 in 2021 or is in the 110th position out of 180 countries surveyed.

The CPI draws on eight data sources and expert assessments to measure public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories. A score of 0 represents very corrupt while a score of 100 signifies very clean.

With these results, Indonesia was only able to increase its CPI score by two points, from a score of 32 over the last decade since 2012. In 2021, Indonesia's CPI score was 38, with a ranking of 96. (Antaranews)