Ali Ahmadov, deputy chairman of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP), has questioned the accuracy of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.
“This report has not been prepared fairly,” Ahmadov said on Wednesday. "The criteria which Transparency International used in putting developing Azerbaijan in last place are not known."
Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index measures the perceived level of public-sector corruption in 180 countries and territories around the world. The CPI is a "survey of surveys", based on different expert and business surveys, the organization says.
The 2009 index, published on 17 November, ranks Azerbaijan 143rd out of 180 countries. New Zealand came first in the list, with the lowest perception of corruption.
Ali Ahmadov said that according to representatives of all international organizations, there can be no corruption where there is development or, to put it another way, development is impossible where there is corruption.
“The whole world clearly admits that Azerbaijan is developing rapidly. So on what criteria does this organization put Azerbaijan in 143rd place? I think the approach is wrong. Some organizations make these reports with specific purposes in mind for some countries. I think there may a purpose here,” he said.
Commenting on remarks by Andreas Gross, the Council of Europe's former rapporteur on Azerbaijan, that Azerbaijan is the poorest country in terms of democracy of the council's 47 member states, Ahmadov said this may be Gross' subjective view.
“Taking into account Gross’ attitude towards Azerbaijan, we can say that his words do not reflect the real situation in Azerbaijan at all,” Ahmadov said.
APA