There is general agreement that corruption in Pakistan is endemic. Even the most diehard PPP loyalists accept it, though they are at pains to point out two relevant arguments. First, it is not unique to their leadership and any mechanism designed to specifically deal with the menace must ensure across-the-board accountability that includes not only politicians but also bureaucrats and members of the armed forces. And, two, charges of corruption against their party leadership were never proven and therefore, must be dismissed as political victimisation.
Accepting these arguments is tantamount to laying to rest all charges of past corruption against all - legitimate or not-so-legitimate. Skeptics might refer to this blanket pardon, if it ever takes place, as the new National Reconciliation Ordinance. However, pragmatists may be tempted to note that the "no-go" instructions reportedly issued by the Interior Minister, with respect to investigating allegations of corruption, against those wielding influence within the PPP ranks and the presidential pardon make any attempt to implement court orders with respect to past corruption in letter and spirit extremely suspect. But what of the ongoing corruption, or that which dates back to March 2008, when the present government took over? The Prime Minister and his entire 90 plus cabinet/advisors say 'go to the courts.'
What, however, the PPP stalwarts continue to ignore is the very obvious fact that the onus of investigation of corruption rests with the government as does the preparation of a viable case. The police/FIA/rangers are under the control of the Minister of Interior (a PPP appointee) and the prosecution branch is administered by the office of the Attorney General of Pakistan (another PPP loyalist). There have been numerous observations of an obvious bias, in favour of an accused with close ties to senior members of the executive by the judges of the Supreme Court, in cases where the august court was compelled to take suo motu notice. In other words, the government continues to stonewall investigations in which the accused are those who are close to its leadership. The typical response of the Prime Minister, whose own family members are implicated in several multi-billion rupee scams, is to challenge the accusers to go to the courts and prove the veracity of their accusations, thereby conveniently absolving his government from its responsibility to investigate the matter and then proactively prosecute the accused.
Revelations of multibillion rupee scams in Pakistan take what is, by now, regarded as a normal course. First a story is aired/appears in the electronic/print media, highlighting the scam in some public sector organisation, implicating its chairman/managing director who was appointed in the post-February 2008 elections. Subsequently, in some cases, suo motu notice was taken by the Supreme Court and in others, a case was registered in the public interest by some lawyer/NGO/employees. Then follow the court's directives to the law enforcement agencies, including the police, FIA, Rangers or indeed the National Accountability Bureau to begin investigation. Stonewalling the entire investigation begins soon after. The list of this sequence of events is exhaustive.
The story of massive corruption in Pakistan Steel (PSM) broke in the middle of 2009. However one of the principal accused, reportedly with close ties to those in the corridors of power, has still not been questioned. The Federal Interior Minister informed the court in 2009 that his decision to change the officer investigating irregularities in the PSM, with a reputation for honesty, was not mala fide. In this case, as in others, the state prosecutor relied on the investigation report and defended the accused. Chairman of the National Insurance Corporation Limited is in custody, but not a single rupee has so far been recovered from him. Pakistan International Airlines provided jobs to jiyalas that its financial books simply can not support.
The Prime Minister appointed a National Reconciliation Ordinance beneficiary Adnan Khwaja as Managing Director of the OGDCL and sacked him only after the court began to hear the case of his illegal appointment: illegal because subsequent to the court declaring the NRO ultra vires and an accountability court decision barring Khwaja from holding any public office for 10 years, he was given the charge to head the OGDCL. Pakistan Railways is yet another white elephant that continues to require large bailout packages that the Treasury can no longer support. Corruption and inefficiency in WAPDA is also legendary.
And not to be outdone, the tax collecting branch of the government, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), mentioned by former Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin as responsible for over 500 billion rupees worth of leakages each year, has shown that it is still competing with others in terms of level of corruption. The recent scam implicating Customs officials with respect to the Afghan Transit Trade that allowed them to divert products destined for NATO forces to the local market and make billions of rupees over a long period of time provides proof of this contention. However, those who reckon action maybe taken against these customs officials, who may not be politically connected, must remember that in this country the process of convicting a tax official is very long and arduous. What must be a source of serious concern is the government's decision to succumb to US pressure and allow Afghan goods destined for India through Wahgah - a decision that would considerably enhance the take home package of customs officials stationed upcountry.
Ministries too are not exempt from wasteful expenditure as well as corruption charges. The inquiry into massive fraud allegedly by the former Religious Affairs Minister absolved him of all wrongdoing, while the quality of the inquiry came under criticism by the Supreme Court judges. The former Health Minister's alleged corruption led to his not losing the ministry but being transferred to another, where his behaviour came under criticism by Pakistani athletes during the Asian games. Raja Parvez Ashraf's rental power projects (RPPs) are in a class of their own, in terms of loss to the exchequer and led to the Supreme Court compelling those RPPs which violated their agreements - that in any case favoured them - to return money to the exchequer.
In the above situation for any party, be it a coalition member or be it in the opposition, to actually set a 45-day deadline appears to be naïve at best, downright ludicrous at worst. The PML (N) argues in favour of an accountability law that has been pending in the National Assembly standing committee for the past three years, in which attendance by Babar Awan the Law Minister has been on no more than a couple of occasions. For the PML (N) to consider that once the bill is passed, it would miraculously begin to be implemented in letter and spirit and thereby usher an era of clean government defies intelligence. In addition, the PML (N)'s decision to hold parleys with the government on the economy in an attempt to end a critical component of the party's ten point agenda and accepting Hafeez Sheikh as team leader from the government side is bewildering: Hafeez Sheikh has no political clout, unlike his predecessor, and has shown no inclination to challenge flawed contracts approved by members of the cabinet, and has yet to come up with a single proposal based on his economic expertise, based on local knowledge. True that Babar Awan was seen lurking next to Sheikh during the PML (N) and Finance Ministry officials media briefing, who uncharacteristically, remained silent but the devil in this case as they say is in the quiet.
To conclude, the PML (N) and (Q) as well as the coalition partners that are parlaying with the government on reforming the economy would do well to remember that what this country needs now is not an independent judiciary but an independent investigative body - be it police or FIA or rangers or indeed the National Accountability Bureau - as well as an independent office of the Attorney General. Without strengthening these two bodies justice would continue to be denied to the people of this country.