Challenges of a New Government Clean from Corruption, Prosperous and Happy People, Will It Be Realized?

Denmark-Switzerland is a country free from corruption. Human development is also good. Corrupt countries are otherwise bad. Indonesia?

Transparency International, Tuesday (30/1/2024), released data on Indonesia's Corruption Perception Index or IPK score during President Joko's leadership Widodo 2014-2023 stagnates at number 34. President Jokowi is also considered to have failed to lead the eradication of corruption. Looking back, what was the GPA report of the previous Indonesian president?

Corruption has had a negative impact on a country's development. On the other hand, a country that is free from corruption has an impact on increasing human development and making its citizens prosperous and happy.

At least this is reflected in the Corruption Perception Index (IPK) data released by Transparency International recently. Human Development Index or Human Development Index (HDI) was previously issued by the United Nations Development Program, and the World Happiness Report (WHR) was issued by independent researchers.

Several countries that are free from corruption have good human development and their citizens are happy. Conversely, countries with high levels of corruption also have poor human development and their citizens have a low level of happiness.

Also read: Poverty, Corruption and Social Assistance

Denmark is the cleanest country in terms of corruption with a score of 90 (out of a maximum of 100) in the CPI 2023. CPI is the perception of businesspeople and experts on corruption in the public sector. This index is a combination of 13 data sources covering 180 surveyed countries.

On the contrary, countries with high levels of corruption also have poor human development and their citizens have low levels of happiness.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO (KUM)

Corruption-themed murals and graffiti in Kebayoran Lama, Jakarta, Thursday (29/8/2019).

In terms of HDI, Denmark is ranked 6th with a value of 0.948. The first rank on the HDI is occupied by Switzerland with a value of 0.962. Switzerland is also included in the category of countries that are highly clean from corruption with a value of 82.

The HDI data is used in the preparation of the Human Development Report 2021/2022 entitled "Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World", which was released on September 8, 2022. This data uses six composite indexes provided by various international public sources.

South Sudan is one of the countries with the highest corruption with a score of 13, ranking 191st or the lowest on the HDI.

Denmark and Switzerland are also countries with high levels of happiness. According to the WHR 2023, Denmark ranks 2nd and Switzerland 8th. Finland, which ranks first as the happiest country, ranks 2nd as the cleanest country from corruption with a score of 87. Finland's HDI is also good, ranking 11th with a score of 0.940.

On the contrary, countries with high levels of corruption have poor rankings in HDI and WHR. South Sudan is one of the countries with the highest corruption score of 13, ranking 191st or at the bottom of the HDI. Afghanistan, which ranks 137th or the lowest in the WHR, also has a relatively high corruption score of 20.

Meanwhile, Indonesia, which has a GDP per capita of 34 and ranks 115th, only occupies 114th position in HDI and 84th position in WHR. Indonesia's GDP per capita in 2023 is the same as that in 2022, but the country's ranking has dropped by five places. Previously, Indonesia's score declined from 38 and ranking 96th in 2021 to a score of 34 and ranking 110th in 2022. This will be a challenge for the new government resulting from the 2024 elections.

Danger of corruption

These three data show that corruption has a negative impact on human development and makes citizens miserable. Quoted from the Anti-Corruption Education Center which is managed by the Deputy for Education and Community Participation of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), corruption makes the price of public services expensive, people become poorer, and facilities are limited. education and health.

Corruption makes public service prices more expensive, people become poorer, and education and health facilities are limited.

Economic development comes to a halt and development plans are hindered as a result of corruption. In fact, corruption erodes local wisdom and leads to negative behavior.

When contacted in Jakarta on Friday night (2/2/2024), Transparency International Indonesia researcher, Alvin Nicola, explained that the Corruption Perception Index (IPK) reflects the level of trust that business actors and experts have towards legal certainty. The low score of IPK confirms that corruption is still the main obstacle that hinders high-quality investment flows and ease of doing business in Indonesia, mainly due to law enforcement which is considered to not yet meet a sense of justice.

KOMPAS/ERIKA KURNIA

Transparency International Indonesia researcher, Alvin Nicola.

"A low GPA reflects the state's failure in distributing resources to the community, making it difficult for residents to access or feel the impact of social, health, education, and other policies," explained Alvin.

A low GPA reflects the failure of the state in distributing resources to the community, making it difficult for residents to access or experience the impact of social, health, educational and other policies.

This means that when a country is free from corruption, the quality of its development and the standard of living of its people also improve. Conversely, as explained by Alvin, a country that falls into prolonged conflict is often triggered by corruption. Dissatisfaction with the government can lead to social upheaval. As a result, political stability cannot be maintained and order cannot be preserved.

Crime has a wide impact

When contacted separately, Zaenur Rohman, a researcher at the Center for Anti-Corruption Studies at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, explained that the United Nations Convention Against Corruption states that corruption is a crime with wide-ranging impacts, such as lowering the quality of democracy and affecting all aspects of life, including the welfare of society.

Although the correlation between GPA, HDI, and WHR needs to be scientifically researched, according to Zaenur, it turns out that countries with good GPAs also have good HDI and WHR rankings. That is something logical because a relatively clean country implies good quality of human resources. A country that is free from corruption automatically supports the formation of good human resources.

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

UGM Trawl Researcher, Zaenur Rohman.

"Because the country is clean, its government is effective, and the welfare of the people is fulfilled, it is logical that their happiness is high," said Zaenur.

Because their country is clean and their government is effective, the provision of people's basic needs is also fulfilled. It is logical that their happiness is high.

The situation is different in countries with high levels of corruption. Budgets related to public interests, such as education and health, which greatly affect the quality of life and aspects of happiness, decline in quality.

Also read: Tin Corruption Leaves Environmental Damage and Children Drop Out of School

Corruption in the fields of education and healthcare impedes access to citizens' rights. High levels of corruption make it difficult for the state to fulfill its citizens' rights, especially in the areas of education and healthcare. As a result, the state is unable to produce high-quality human resources. The citizens' rights are also not fulfilled, leading to low happiness levels.

Zaenur emphasizes that high corruption causes a loss of justice. "The loss of justice is truly felt by citizens in corrupt countries, making it difficult for them to experience a good quality of life," he concluded.

Of course, now the hope is that the new government resulting from the 2024 election will create a corruption-free country so that the people can prosper and be happy. Will they be able to do it?