CHAPTER THREE: DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL GOVERNANCE 294. During the period of 2005–2006, the legal system had to deal with over 8300 cases of corruption (such as favouritism in the award of public tenders, use of influence, corruption, misuse and misappropriation of public funds) in which public officials, in all sectors, were implicated. 295. Among these cases, those associated with the banking sector attracted the most attention, not only because of the size of the sums involved, but also because of the number of persons. For example, 289 people were implicated in the Local Development Bank affair, 124 in the El Khalifa Bank affair and 68 in the case of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of Algeria. Further factors causing interest were the nature of their positions (e.g. senior managers of the state, businesspeople, and heads of public and private enterprises) and the degree of complicity. 296. The opinion survey carried out on this subject gathered information from stakeholders who gave the following views and recommendations, which can be summarised as follows: Corruption is becoming a scourge from which no sector is spared, not even scholastic establishments. A general sense of impunity prevails and no fears are expressed in relation to monitoring bodies. Stakeholders emphasise that generalisation should be avoided, as there is clearly a lack of communication on the subject, particularly in the media. Work needs to be done in relation to training and information, as well as the establishment of information gathering and call centres. The declaration of assets needs to be more credible and systematic. While it is necessary to avoid clichés, the causes of corruption should be noted, e.g. the absence of a code of ethics, the absence of sanctions, and insufficient management control. It is important to stem the source of automatic entry by having systematic recourse to the administration and to reconsider criteria for the selection of employees. Accountability should be systematised. The constitutional responsibilities of officials and their remuneration must be re-assessed. Reluctance based on fear to denounce the misappropriation of funds should be the subject of legal measures in the context of preventative mechanisms and the fight against corruption. Stakeholders stressed that transparency constitutes the best form of the fight against corruption. 297. The survey highlighted the fact that 20 per cent of the respondents considered the level of corruption to be very high or high, 41.1 per cent that it was moderately high and 37.2 per cent that it was low. 99