Transparency International’s (TI’s) 2023-edition Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) “paints a troubling picture” of Central Asia, “an area struggling with dysfunctional rule of law, rising authoritarianism and systemic corruption”, regional advisors at the watchdog said as the ranking was released on January 30. “The average score of 35 out of 100 makes it the second lowest-scoring region in the world,” added the advisors, Altynai Myrzabekova and Lidija Prokic, referring specifically to TI’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. Berlin-headquartered TI’s CPI (which uses a points scale of 0 t…