International Anti-Corruption Day in Pakistan coincided with the epic confession of the Federal Minister for Religious Affairs in the Supreme Court: Even if there is corruption, it is far less this year than what had been committed previously. In any civilised society, this would have been reason enough for the incumbent to apologise to the people and quit forthwith. Not so in our country. He remains adamant that he is not responsible for the horrendous mess and, therefore, should continue spearheading the plunder game.
On the positive side, the day was marked by the return of US$ 21 million to the state exchequer by two Rental Power Plants under the Supreme Court orders. This amount had been paid as mobilisation advance to Walters Power Project and its local associates for installing plants at Naudero and Guddu. Incidentally, the two top men of Pakistani politics are allegedly implicated in this classic case of massive corruption. The Rental Power Plants case is still sub judice and should be heading towards its logical conclusion over the coming days.
Elsewhere, understandably, it was all quiet on the International Anti-Corruption Day even when, by all perceptions, corruption remains a major impediment to the development initiatives in the country. Unfortunately, this is not shared by the ruling elite that remain deeply mired in innumerable blatant scandals encompassing the management of prime national institutions, award of new projects to cronies, sycophants and front people and lucrative patronage of criminal mafias operating in diverse sectors. Transparency Internationals 2010 Global Corruption Barometer report reveals that 77% people in Pakistan believe that corruption in the country has increased in the last three years while 73% think that the present regime has been extremely ineffective in controlling it. Strangely, the three top corrupt institutions in the country include the police, the political parties and the parliament. Among the least corrupt are the military, the media and religious bodies.
Instead of showing sensitivity to this dominant public perception about the incidence of corruption in the country and taking immediate remedial steps, the government remains busy in manipulating legislators in the parliament to lend support to the Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) that is likely to adversely impact the prices of a large number of items of daily public consumption. In its drive to have the legislation sail through the parliament, it has found a strange bed fellow in the person of the US ambassador in Pakistan who has undertaken a hectic trip across the country explaining the virtues of further taxing the poor people of Pakistan. In a speech at the Karachi Stock Exchange, the ambassador said: This legislation (RGST) is critical to enabling the private sector to grow and create the jobs and profits Pakistan needs to succeed over the long term. In the first instance, why should he be advocating a proposed legislation that, strictly speaking, remains an internal affair of Pakistan?
Also, his presentation showed a lack of understanding of the malaise that afflicts the tax domain of the country. While the government is ever eager to further burden the underprivileged of the country, it assiduously refrains from bringing within the tax net the huge and rampaging mafias in the agriculture, real estate and stock exchange sectors. His advocacy speech in Karachi came a day after his PR-rich visit to Lahore where he was shown enjoying the traditional local breakfast with a follow-up activity of inaugurating an Apple shop in the city. He may well believe that these shenanigans would endear him and his government to the people of Pakistan reeling under the ever-increasing burden of taxation and for whom the prospect of two decent meals in a day is fast becoming a sour dream. For that to happen, Mr. Ambassador, you would need a thorough re-orientation of your approach to this beleaguered country. It must exhibit sensitivity to the growing suffering of the people and move away decisively from the ruler-ruled equation in bilateral relations among two sovereign countries. It does not fall within your ambassadorial responsibility to make efforts to bail out arguably the most corrupt government in the history of Pakistan in the name of saving democracy and the system. Rest assured, democracy would only be strengthened at the exit of the incumbent corrupt dispensation.
According to one report, there are over US$ 200 billion belonging to the rich and wealthy of the country stashed away in Swiss banks. In a recent and noteworthy development, the Swiss House of Representatives has accepted the demand of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to share with other countries data regarding suspected fraud. It is now legally bound to provide information in cases where money not declared to tax authorities has been deposited in Swiss banks. What on Gods earth is stopping the Government of Pakistan and other authorities to ask the Swiss to provide relevant information about innumerable suspect cases pending in various courts of law as well as those that may not have been detected so far? After all, immunity does not cover the entire corrupt elite of the country! Or, is it that the process is not being initiated out of fear that the tell-tale marks may lead to arenas meant to be out of bounds for the delicate nuances of jurisprudence? Think about it!
The writer is a media consultant to the Chief Minister, Punjab.
