Poll: Egyptian ethics going 'from bad to worse'

Cairo (Earth Times - dpa) - A clear majority of Egypt's citizens believe ethics in the country are going "from bad to worse," according to a recent government-sponsored poll on corruption published Tuesday. Almost 84 per cent of the 2000 Egyptians polled by the cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center and the Ministry of State for Administrative Development said they believed that corruption has increased in Egypt, said the results published in the daily al-Masry al-Youm.

More than 88 per cent of respondents from around the country said they believe their compatriots "suffered from a contradiction between word and deed," with 83.1 per cent identifying politicians as the worst offenders, followed by the police, at 73.2 per cent, and religious authorities, at 43 per cent.

Egyptians had the most faith in the judiciary, the study found: Only 38.4 per cent of respondents said they believed judges were hypocritical.

More than 43 per cent of Egyptians surveyed rated politically powerful businessmen as the most corrupt group in society, followed by merchants, police and local government officials, the study found.

Just over 50 per cent of respondents said they put their faith in God to safeguard their rights.

The Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International in 2008 found that global businessmen and experts ranked Egypt as among the most corrupt countries in the world. Only 65 of 180 countries were viewed as more corrupt, the study found.

The Egyptian government in 2007 established a committee to combat corruption, and Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif has identified efforts to clean up government as among his top priorities.