THE population has a ?cynical? view of its institutions. This is what a national ?perception survey? of corruption done by Straconsult for the Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) has revealed. According to the results published last week, 67.7% of the persons questioned are convinced that corruption is very bad in our society and ? even worse ? they do not see the situation improving.

The customs department is the institution perceived as the most affected by corruption (66.1%), followed by the police (53.9%) and the National Transport Authority (36.2%). As regards individuals, it is no surprise to discover that most people believe politicians are the first to be involved in corrupt practices: ministers (50.3%) followed by members of parliament (42.8%).

Although 58.6% of poll respondents are ready to denounce a corrupt practice (particularly in parastatal institutions where 71.6% would not hesitate to denounce), the problem is that 69.8% are not aware of the procedures used to denounce someone.

People have a positive attitude to ICAC because of its will to fight corruption. According to the survey, 68% think that this institution is ?positively engaged? and only 2.3% believe it is ?practically not engaged.? Besides, together with the police, it is an institution to which the public would go to make a denunciation. Quite surprising that the second more corrupt institution, according to the survey, is also one of the best places to make a denunciation. It is also surprising that the ICAC still benefits from public support after the internal crisis it has been through and has not yet totally emerged from.

The fact that several fraud and corruption affairs have recently been in the limelight may explain the public?s attitude. The MCB/ NPF scandal for instance may still be too fresh in people?s memories. However, the scandals uncovered lately do not necessarily mean that corruption is increasing. If we want to be optimistic, it could even mean that corruption is going down or at least will soon go down as these frauds, having been made public, might discourage others.

The conviction nevertheless remains, among the population, that corruption will expand or at best remain at the same level. With 80% of the public that has never been directly affected by corruption, it must indeed be a matter of perception?