Rehman Malik is an incurable gossip. Nobody thought he could ever talk about taking action against corrupt officials in the government departments. And he proved he couldnt. Somehow he has mastered the art of balancing the disadvantages of corruption with its advantages. Three days ahead of the formal launching of the covert operation against the corrupt officials, due from tomorrow, the Director FIA Lahore was sacked. It happened because he had not only ruffled many feathers while probing the alleged plot to murder the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court but also annoyed his bosses at the Interior Ministry by arresting former Minister of State Major (retd) Habibullah Warraich who was charged with plundering the NICL funds. Major Warraich was readily shifted to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology. Understandable. A week in the FIA custody on physical remand and the freezing of his bank accounts worth over a billion rupees must have been beyond the old mans bearing. The matter is now to come up for hearing before the Supreme Court on November 16. It is premature to say whether the Warraich family will fulfill its commitment to pay the first installment of the total liability of Rs 550 million by the due date.
Last week, the Interior Minister appeared on the television screen advising, cautioning and warning the corrupt officials to mend their ways or be prepared to face the consequences. Coming from him as it did, the announcement was a surprise. It received a mixed reaction from a cross-section of society. Yet there were those who are in the habit of looking at the PPP governments decisions with suspicion. And they also included some media hacks. For a TV anchor it was quite an embarrassment not to find all of his guests joining him in PPP-bashing.
You cant expect from a PML-N parliamentarian or a senile retired bureaucrat to say a word of praise for any good thing done by the PPP government. But then you also cant ignore Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) Chairman Syed Adil Gilani welcoming the governments move to purge public sector organizations of corruption. Despite his hosts constant prodding, he remained firm in his opinion that the PPP leadership needed to be appreciated rather than condemned for having realised the need to put an end to the menace. The comment came soon after the global watchdog released its annual report showing Pakistan having jumped eight positions to become the 34th most corrupt nation in the world.
The report gave expression to the public sentiment against the governments inability to combat corruption. This provided an opportunity to the opposition to intensify its demand for mid-term elections. While Nawaz Sharif kept exercising restraint, leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Ch Nisar Ali Khan went to the extent of saying that if the federal government did not change its style of governance his party would be constrained to take the extreme step. And theres no end to this brinkmanship. The PPP leadership cannot escape the blame for causing damage to its own reputation. The practice of patronizing the corrupt and rewarding them with lucrative positions continued even when the governments credibility was at the lowest ebb. The delay in finalising the draft of the proposed accountability bill has raised more questions than it answered.
Theres no denying the fact that the PPP government has some major achievements to its credit. Successful operation against religious extremists in Swat, Balochistan Package and the 18th Constitutional Amendment are a few to mention. Yet it is perceived to be the one to have focused more on patronizing corruption in and around the corridors of power. Nobody whos anybody in this government has ever tried to understand that in politics perception is stronger than reality.
Still Rehman Maliks announcement about combating corruption in the government departments was taken in a good stride. Better late than never. It was good to hear from him that the government was determined to fight what he described as the terrorism of corruption on a war footing and that this drive would begin from the departments directly responsible for public dealing. Perhaps it was the first time that someone in the ruling hierarchy admitted the growth of corruption and expressed his determination to put an end to this menace once and for all.
But the Interior Ministry appeared to be putting the entire plan in jeopardy even before it becomes effective. Major Warraich must have come out of the lock-up laughing at those who had dared lay hands on him despite knowing his connection with the people who matter in the current dispensation. You-scratch-my-back-and-Ill- scratch-yours trick worked in the end! Rehman Malik can still go ahead with his anti-corruption drive but not without trying even harder to dispel the impression that the government he represents believes in making promises, not implementing them.
The writer is Executive Editor, Pakistan Today.