The incessantly unfolding disclosures about the demeaning activities of senior members of the political hierarchy provide a credible reiteration of widely-held perceptions. The conduct of the executive branch of the government has not been any better either. Lumped together, the two institutions of the state constitute the vast platform for turning this country into a haven of unprecedented and unmanageable loot.
The latest episode of the PML(N) legislator trying to escape the clutches of law after he had been hauled up for a massive scam is a glaring example of how this breed of people believe that they are above the dictates of law. Now that the party MNA has been arrested and the investigation is in progress, one is constrained not to comment on it beyond the loss of moral dimension that all such transgressions essentially reflect. This applies more to the members of a party that has consistently laid claim to the high moral ground that it deems to have acquired since making a ‘contribution’ to the revival of a free judiciary in the country. It is a different matter that while a long march was being show-pieced in the open, the Chief Minister of Punjab was allegedly busy conspiring on the quiet with the US representative in Lahore regarding ways to ‘strangulate’ the Chief Justice after reinstatement.
Quick to come out with lethal criticism of all such transgressions by members of other political parties which, incidentally, come aplenty, the PML(N) leadership has shown reluctance in dealing with the matter in a manner that would cultivate a minimum level of confidence. Serving the offending member with a show-cause notice appears to be a clever ploy to camouflage the nature as well as the extent of the transgression.
In the domain of governance, the party chief executive is inordinately pre-occupied with the ‘when’ of every conceivable project as against its ‘why’ and ‘how’. That’s why, in the end, most of the ‘pioneering’ projects have been dogged by their lack of sustainability. A casualty that cost the provincial exchequer in billions was the ‘Sasti Roti’ scheme which was abandoned without a word of apology. The ‘Daanish’ super-structure has been built on the mass-grave of a vast network of schools spread throughout the province. Instead of injecting funds to make them sustainable for the larger good of the poor people of the province, funds were diverted to a grotesquely expensive undertaking that would, at best, contribute to a miniscule minority of the people of Punjab. The doling out of largesse at the expense of the state is an art the political elite have perfected to the core.
For all the years since the last elections, the entire spectrum of the national political leadership has been the recipient of scathing criticism at the hands of Nawaz Sharif and company for being corrupt. Concurrently, the party’s leadership was publicising the TI report that Punjab was the ‘least corrupt’ of the provinces. While it acknowledged that there was corruption in the province, there have also been instances of its functionaries having tried to suppress investigation into allegations of corruption. A glaring example is a letter written to the Director General, Directorate of Anti-Corruption Establishment (copy available) by a gentleman who is now a sitting secretary of the Government of Punjab to “withdraw all complaints (regarding massive embezzlement in his previous department)” since he did not consider it to be in “public interest to prosecute these cases”. In his remarks transcribed on the side of letter, the DG declined the request for it “being offensive to law”. Instead of initiating an enquiry against the concerned civil servant, he was rewarded through his induction as the secretary of an important provincial department. Incidentally, the enquiry remains pending to date because, understandably, it involves some other officials who are considered close to the ruling hierarchy in the province. A fall from the stars and a broken limb carry the tell-tale marks of justice derailed.
Pakistan has suffered immensely at the hands of the traditional political elite who owe their genesis to the patronage of a string of military rulers – the very same people they come round to despising. While they may have a reason to settle their personal scores, it should not be pursued at the cost of the state and its integral stakes domestically, regionally and internationally. This hate wave which is being spewed incessantly by various functionaries of PML(N) is reflective of the venom that traces its bite back to the day their government was toppled. It is as if their mind has remained stuck in that groove and refuses to untangle. Consequently, their outbursts are whimsical and devoid of a credible base that should constitute the making of true political leadership. What we have, instead, are charlatans masquerading as politicians who have their monumental stakes invested in the economies of countries other than Pakistan. It is a malady that afflicts the entire ruling elite of the country: while some of them go on frequent jaunts to cooler climes to re-check their balance sheets, others have taken permanent residences there as they continue to harangue the terrorised multitudes.
It is time the gruesome circus was brought to an end. But the one institution that is sufficiently equipped to do so and in whom the nation had reposed its faith appears to be in deep slumber tackling mundane matters as the monolith of corruption and abdication of governance continues to demolish the edifice of the country. Is it time for another long march?
The writer is a political analyst. He can be reached at raoofhasan@hotmail.com