site.btaUPDATED Link between Fight against Corruption and Local Government Is Key to Democracy

The link between the fight against corruption and local government is crucial for democracy, said Paul McCarthy, Europe Regional Director of the International Republican Institute, on Monday. He participated in the opening of a forum on "Combating Vulnerabilities to Corruption at the Municipal Level."

Municipalities are closest to people's lives and provide services from cleaning to education, McCarthy said. He said local elections are something where a few votes can dramatically change the outcome. It is at the local level where democracy is felt on a daily basis, he said.

Corruption can distort democracy. The idea of equal representation can be distorted by outside influences and can deflect the allocation of resources, McCarthy said.

People refuse to report corruption for lack of a meaningful result, states a survey on vulnerabilities to corruption at municipal level in Bulgaria conducted by the International Republican Institute.

According to the data, five municipalities surveyed - Vidin, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Plovdiv and Haskovo - have established a number of channels through which citizens can raise concerns, make suggestions and give opinions on municipal priorities and plans. Despite improvements in mechanisms for citizen participation, interviewees with experience in government or civil society from all municipalities were pessimistic about citizen participation, the analysis says.

People have lost confidence in formal municipal channels for participation and do not find them particularly useful, attractive or effective. The involvement of civil society in the work of the municipal administration and council is inconsistent, selective and fraught with suspicions of patronage, clientelism and bias. These four common vulnerabilities pose a threat to the integrity of local democracy in Bulgaria, the survey notes.