Reconciliation and truth

In varying degrees, corruption has always been condoned as part of the system in Pakistan—oil necessary for the running of the political machine. So why the furore about it now? Has corruption crossed previous records, or is it because the polity has become sick and tired of the excesses of our rulers and bureaucrats, both khaki- and white-collared? Or is it the media and the courts which, with their newfound freedom and independence, do not hesitate to expose the rich and the powerful anymore?

Minister of State for Law and Justice Afzal Sindhu did well to release at a press conference the list of the 800-plus NRO beneficiaries. It was ostensibly a courageous thing to do for the government to release a corruption-laundering list which was politically damaging for the ruling coalition. According to some analysts, it was Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s way of getting even with his boss.

If that was so, Mr Gilani was in for an unpleasant surprise. Just a day previously the prime minister had proudly proclaimed that if he and his wife had benefited from the NRO and that if their name appeared in the NRO list, he would resign. But one newspaper carried, along with the NRO list, another prominently displayed item claiming that the prime minister’s wife had settled her default case with the National Accountability bureau (NAB). She was asked to pay only Rs45.5 million, against the total liabilities of Rs570 million. What a steal!

While Mr Zardari, basking in his presidential immunity, has preferred to remain silent on the issue, most of the bigwigs named in the list have disputed its veracity. MQM supremo Altaf Hussain, who had the highest number of cases withdrawn against him, including 31 on murder charges, has described them as politically motivated cases initiated in his absence from the country. The MQM also claims that the against its leadership are only criminal, and not corruption, cases, and that there is a big difference between corruption and criminal cases. As if someone’s literally getting away with murder, as alleged, is less of a serious crime than corruption.

If, as is being claimed, everybody and his auntie in the ruling coalition was a victim of some political vendetta launched by the rulers of the day, and Musharraf, as a benign and humane ruler, had whitewashed crimes that were never committed, then there would be no issue. Unfortunately, the hapless people of Pakistan, especially in these hard economic times, think otherwise. Their politicians, including most of those in the opposition, live way beyond their means.

It is no wonder, then, that according to Transparency International, during the past year Pakistan has slipped in the corruption index from the 47th to the 42nd position.

According to a recent audit of the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) conducted by the Asian Development Bank, most of them simply do not make economic sense. Some of the owners of these projects have installed them simply to pocket the hefty compensation for not running them. One of the politically influential owners of such a project pockets millions of dollars a month for keeping it shut, on the pretext that the government has failed to supply gas to run the plant. This is buccaneering par excellence.

The owner of Haris Steel Mills, who decamped with just Rs9 billion of public money from the Punjab of Bank, in cahoots with the absconding head of the institution, has made the sensational disclosure in the Supreme Court about how he bribed his way out of the country. The people he bribed reads like a “who’s who list,” including federal minister Babar Awan. The same bank lent more than a billion rupees to one of its directors to buy out the mills owned by the family of the chief minister of the province at the time.

The present state of affairs does not bode well for the democratic system that was ushered in less than two years ago. Those who have never believed in democracy and have always sought an authoritarian dispensation are happy. It is another matter that it is precisely due to democracy that serious faults in the system can now be openly aired.

During the overt or covert rule of the generals, which has been the norm in Pakistan for more than half the country’s life, instances of misuse of power and corruption hardly found space in the timid and controlled media. Rarely did the intimidated higher courts take to task such usurpers while they were in power. Musharraf is distinguished by his failure of his efforts to oust the head of the Supreme Court and ultimately had to leave.

It was during his rule that celebrated author and researcher Ayesha Siddiqua tried to launch her book Military Inc., which exposed the corrupt practices of military rule, including cantonment lands, grandiose defence housing schemes and kickbacks on defence deals, but was forcibly prevented from launching her book. It is obvious that military rule is no panacea for corruption, nor does it help to provide a clean government and good governance, just as have the civilian leader set no tradition of transparency.

Notwithstanding the need to clean the Augean stables, it is only civilians who will have to do the job themselves. Unfortunately, in the past they have completely failed in setting up a credible self-accountability mechanism. Mian Nawaz Sharif tried his hand at it by setting up the Ehtasab Bureau under the maverick Saifur Rehman, himself a bank defaulter. Despite its thoroughness, it became a vehicle for political vendetta mainly against the PPP opposition. Most of the cases instituted against Benazir Bhutto and Zardari were instituted during this period.

The successor of the Ehtsab Bureau, the co-called National Accountability Bureau (NAB) instituted by the military government, did no better. In fact, it was shamelessly used to buy loyalties through intimidation and plea bargains for the formation of the “King’s Party.” It was successful in these endeavours, but in the process whatever was left of morality and ethics in politics went down the drain.

With the credibility of the present government at its lowest ebb, thanks largely to perceptions about its own record, it is an onerous task to set up a body, which can do across-the-board accountability and ensure clean government. The courts can do this job to a limited extent, as at the end of the day politicians themselves will have to get their act together. If Messrs Zardari and Gilani are really sincere about running the system and provide a reasonably clean government, they will have to ensure taking the opposition on board.

Fortunately, PML-N supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif is in no mood to rock the boat, provided Mr Zardari also shows sincerity about the strengthening of the system. The government did well to present the Balochistan package in the parliament. Similarly, the virtual consensus on the NFC Award is also a welcome step. But in order to move forward Mr Zardari must seriously return its sovereignty to the parliament by expediting the repeal of the 17th Amendment.

We have heard for too long about the impending reshuffle in the cabinet, postponed many times now on one pretext or the other. Patently corrupt ministers should go and, if not willing to resign, those named in the NRO should be shown the door.

Mr Zardari’s own issue is a thorny one. He enjoys presidential immunity, but since an example should be set from the very top, he should present himself for accountability before the Supreme Court by voluntarily waiving his presidential immunity. After all, he faced these cases for eight years in a hostile political environment.

Whenever I met the late Benazir Bhutto in exile, she always talked about the formation of a truth and reconciliation commission. It is time such a body, comprising credible politicians from both sides of the aisle and eminent jurists, is constituted by her successors. Its mandate should not only be limited to the cleaning up of the Augean stables but to set up standards of morality and fair play in politics.

Comments

  1. We all need to step up and do our bit to bring about a change. Its not going to be easy but if we work together, I am confident, we will be able to provide our children a safe and healthy environment .
    vote for faisal

    Regards
    volunteer

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