Jakarta. Indonesia holds the sixth position among ASEAN countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2023.

Indonesia's CPI remains unchanged at 34. Despite the stability in Indonesia's CPI score, the country's global ranking dropped by five positions to 115th place in 2023.

"The index shows that Indonesia continues to face serious challenges in the fight against corruption," said Wawan Suyatmiko, Secretary-General of Transparency International Indonesia, in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Transparency International's data also indicates a downward trend in Indonesia's CPI over the past five years. In 2019, Indonesia's CPI scored 40, then sharply declined to 34 in 2022, remaining unchanged in 2023.

The CPI is measured on a scale ranging from 0 to 100, where a score of 0 indicates the highest level of corruption, and 100 represents the cleanest state of affairs.

Indonesia's score is below other ASEAN countries, including Singapore (83), Malaysia (50), Timor Leste (43), Vietnam (41), and Thailand (35).

Singapore stands out as the only ASEAN country to secure a position in the top five countries with the highest CPI in 2023. Meanwhile, Malaysia experienced an improvement in its score following significant reforms in its anti-corruption institution, SPRM, over the past two years.

"Over the last two years, Malaysia has been strengthening its anti-corruption institution since the 1MDB scandal. They have been making improvements and are now showing results with a score of 50," Wawan said.

Despite Timor Leste attaining a higher CPI score than Indonesia, Wawan pointed out that the comparison is not apples-to-apples.

"Timor Leste increased from 42 to 43, but it's important to note that Indonesia has eight indicators, while Timor Leste only uses four. So, it's somewhat unfair to compare the score increases between Indonesia and Timor Leste," he said.

Denmark secured the highest  CPI score in 2023, with a score of 90, Finland claimed the second-highest CPI score at 87, followed by New Zealand (85), Norway (84), and Singapore (83).

According to Wawan, a well-functioning judiciary system contributed to these countries being ranked at the top of the Rule of Law Index. Additionally, strong democratic institutions and significant respect for human rights have made these nations the most peaceful in the world according to the Global Peace Index.

On the flip side, countries with the lowest CPI scores include Yemen (16), Syria, South Sudan, Venezuela (13), and Somalia (11). However, Wawan emphasized that the low scores in these countries are largely attributed to prolonged armed conflicts.

The global average CPI score has remained stagnant at 43 out of 100 for five consecutive years. Wawan said very few countries show sustained improvement, while some historically high-ranking countries are slowly declining.

"The average score reflects a lack of commitment from national leaders and elected officials regarding anti-corruption efforts, including measures against civil liberties and civil society organizations, as well as attacks on freedom of the press, assembly, and association," he said.

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