The Who’s Who of Pakistan’s Fallible Men

I can vividly recall a quote by the late veteran Baloch politician Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti from the 1990s when I used to cover parliamentary proceedings in Islamabad. Commenting on the deplorable state of affairs and the apathy of legislators, he had said on the floor of the house: “Give me 217 crores, and I will buy you the entire parliament.”

He was referring to the number of members of the National Assembly then, and their eagerness to fall in line for a price tag. Incidentally, the then Speaker of the National Assembly Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, who is Prime Minister now, had expunged the remarks. A decade down the line, Mr Gillani admits that all is not well in the Republic of Pakistan, and the curse of corruption has eaten up its vitals.

Despicable enough, the Who’s Who list of corrupt people comprises people belonging to the ruling hierarchy of the country. Moreover, it doesn’t stop there, and runs deep into many of the political parties, serving and retired bureaucrats and ex-services personnel. The staggering number of people accounted for, who had benefited from an impugned piece of legislation granting them immunity from prosecution runs into more than 8,000. Though the so-called National Reconciliation Ordinance, promulgated by former president General Pervez Musharraf, has exhausted its lifespan and has not been legislated into law, possible prosecution of the corrupt still remains a distant possibility. The list of beneficiaries, dished out by the office of Prime Minister, points a finger at President Asif Ali Zardari, many of the cabinet ministers, allies and opposition politicians, serving ambassadors, armed services personal, government secretaries, corporate bosses, top-notch bank executives, and pen pushers in the rank and file of bureaucracy.

Though corruption is hardly a secret in Pakistan, the fact that the country has risen in the dubious hierarchy to be ranked by the Transparency International at 42nd among the world’s most graft-prone countries is worrisome. The dubious distinction, as well as the corrupt reigning supreme, is not only a dilemma, but also a shame for a proud Pakistani nation. Not only the rot needs to be cleaned, the Augean stable cleared as well. Unfortunately, there is hardly any office or person to which the nation can look up to in realising such a goal. Judiciary, civil society and the media — to which the nation looks with awe — can neither dispense with their role nor take refuge behind the big leaf of excuses. The corrupt not only need to be exposed and prosecuted, but also ensured that they do not have any role in representing the nation.

It’s high time for a resilient nation to take the reins in its own hands. It has for long been taken for a ride in the name of national security, democracy and religion. Its chequered history is one of deception, dismemberment and dictators. And even today, all those at the helm of affairs have shamefully compromised with the nation’s future to enjoy the privilege of being in power to protect their petty interests. This is simply unacceptable to a nation, which is reeling under terrorism, political instability and a worsening economic crisis. Bad governance, and one with bias and discrimination, has further exacerbated the problem. Pakistan’s biggest drawback has been that it has failed to build institutions and strengthen the rule of law, and had unnecessarily relied on personality cult. The trend needs to be reversed, and made sure that it begins with a process of stringent accountability across the board. No sacred cows should be spared under any pretext.

Though not much can be expected from parliamentarians, who have their own political compulsions, this house has to act differently from its predecessors. Unlike its counterparts in the past that truncated people’s sovereignty over the affairs of the state by investing powers in a coterie of selected men, current National Assembly has to take a different approach. The NRO should never become a law in any sense. We must make sure that its beneficiaries, and the corrupt under any benchmark, are made to pay for their actions. Pakistan has an opportunity in disaster, and the parliament needs to ensure that opportunists and freebooters do not undermine its vitality and jurisdiction. As an immediate recourse, many of the controversial legislative and executive decisions taken by previous, and for that matter the present, governments need to be reviewed, and if necessary, reversed. The stigma of corruption, and the extra-burden of the corrupt, in our body politik need to be shunned. The looted billions belong to the impoverished nation, and they have every right to recover them from the pinnacle of presidency to the con artist on the street. Otherwise, late Bugti will have many a reason to laugh at in his
 eternal abode.