BALKH - During their first ever direct interaction with their constituents, about a dozen lawmakers from the northern Afghan province of Balkh said last week that despite their efforts to end corruption it still remains a serious problem facing the country.

“It has become really hard to fight against today’s biggest problem in the country: corruption,” said a Member of Parliament (MP), Mohammad Abdu, speaking in a hall filled with about 400 participants.

Echoing people’s view that both the legislature and the government have not been able to live up to people’s expectations, Mr. Abdu admitted that a cycle of corruption is preventing a smooth progress of the country.

He also urged the people to speak out when they see corruption.

“Your votes put us in power and we owe you the service we signed up for, stand up and criticize us, don’t let us get away with it,” he said.

“We are witnessing that widespread corruption has infected the entire country,” said another MP representing the province, Abas Ibrahimzada.

Corruption is a major problem in Afghanistan. The 2012 Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International ranked the South Asian nation as one of the most corrupt in the world.

A report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in February this year said despite some progress, Afghans paid almost $4 billion in bribes in 2012, a 40 per cent rise since 2009 equaling double the country’s domestic revenue. The findings, prepared jointly with the Afghan High Office for Oversight and Anti-corruption, reported that half of Afghan citizens paid a bribe while requesting a public service.

During the interaction, organized in the Balkh provincial capital, Mazar-e-Sharif, on Wednesday, by the Provincial Council, the lawmakers also tried to allay fears that the country may plunge into a state of uncertainty after 2014, when the country elects its new president and the international military ends their combat mission marking a new phase of the country’s future.

“When people ask me what is awaiting Afghanistan after 2014, I tell them ‘prosperity,’” said Mr. Ibrahimzada.

During the daylong interaction, participants brought up a number of issues with the parliamentarians who then responded to each of them.