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Shirini, which literally means “sweets” in Persian language ("shirin" = sweet) and its Dari variant spoken in Afghanistan, is the euphemism commonly used for bribes.

In Afghanistan under the Karzai administration, the rampant culture of corruption and especially graft from low-level police officers, who receive low salaries and are said to take bribes to subsist, to the highest level of government officials, became a major source of general discontent and cynicism. Many interactions with authorities require shirini — like getting a new driver’s license or paying a water or electricity bill.

This discontent drove a wedge between the government and the Afghan people, who under this administration grew more and more resentful of the established politics. It would turn people toward the fundamentalist Taliban, which were percepted as relatively "clean".

Taming corruption is seen as crucial to the future of the country and all candidates in the presidential elections in 2009 pledged to fight it.

According to a survey by Integrity Watch Afghanistan in 2007, the average Afghan household had to pay roundabout $100 yearly in petty bribes, while 70 percent of the families in the poverty stricken country survive on less than $1 a day .

References

1. "Pervasive corruption fuels deep anger in Afghanistan - Many long for harsh but clean rule of Taliban"

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