The bureaucratic burden could be one of the reasons why Latvia’s rating in the Corruption Perception Index (CUI) has worsened, as LETA was told by interviewed politicians.
New Unity Saeima faction leader Edmunds Jurēvics told LETA that corruption prevention is an important task for the government and state administration in general.
“On the one hand, it is a fight against specific cases or processes, but on the other hand, legislative changes are needed to make the fight against corruption more effective and open,” said the deputy, adding that the current Saeima has done a great deal in preventing corruption. One major contribution was the reform in the State Revenue Service.
One of the reasons why corruption is on a rise, according to Jurēvics, is bureaucracy. “Intermediate corruption risks often appear in places where there is too much bureaucracy,” he explained, adding that this is why the government’s insistence on lowering bureaucracy is important.
Jurēvics believes that work on the reduction of corruption needs to continue. “The situation in legislation has improved, but there is still a lot of work left,” said the politician.
The head of the Saeima faction of the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS), Harijs Rokpelnis, told LETA that in general, there are several factors that can affect corruption. For example, a difficult economic situation creates the ground for corruption. “The biggest challenges we face in recent years require us to do everything we can to improve living conditions and reduce the need for corruption,” added Rokpelnis.
Rokpelnis, too, mentioned bureaucracy as of the reason behind corruption. “If we have to go through many circles of officials to perform one simple action, there is an increased likelihood that someone might try to interfere with these actions and secure some benefit,” said Rokpelnis, adding that reduction of the bureaucratic burden is an important objective for the parliament.
To reduce corruption, it is important to strengthen law enforcement structures. Rokpelnis pointed out that care must be taken that it is not possible to engage in corrupt activities in these bodies and that those who engage in illegal activities are punished in accordance with the severity of the law.
As previously reported, in the latest Corruption Perception Index (CUI) published by Transparency International, Latvia’s result, unlike those of Lithuania and Estonia, has gone down lately.
This means Latvia has failed to accomplish the objective listed in the country’s National Development plan 2021-2027.