More importantly, have we seen the back of bad governance?
The day this article appears in this paper will be the last day of the incumbency of decidedly the most corrupt government in the history of the country. So, should one say good-riddance and let that be it? But, more importantly, have we seen the back of bad governance in Pakistan?
Looking at the track-record of the PPP-led coalition over the last five years, one cannot imagine that any ‘democratic’ government would like to leave such harrowing legacy behind – a kind of legacy that is a matter of shame even for its most ardent supporters! What were the principal factors that contributed to this below-par performance and how can such factors be addressed if better results are to be achieved in matters of governance.
The PPP leadership would, of course, cite the fact that it did not have a comfortable majority on its own. Therefore, it had to make compromises with its partners whom it needed to form the government. Since it required the support of the MQM for its government at the centre, it also had to adjust the party in the provincial administration in Sindh where it could have easily formed a government on its own. The PPP was a coalition partner in the KPK in the ANP-led government and, initially, was also part of the PML-N-led government in Punjab whom it also unsuccessfully tried to topple by eliciting the support of the PML-Q. Balochistan was a strange case where the entire assembly was part of the provincial cabinet.
This is just one side of the story and makes little by way of logic in defending the absolute abdication of governance on the part of the PPP-led government. The level of corruption that this concoction and its functionaries were able to rise to is absolutely unimaginable in the echelons of governance even in the most backward countries of the world. The entire 5-year span of the government was pock-marked with a spate of corruption allegations which just would not go away. What made it so much unpalatable was the patent and shameful unwillingness of the government to take steps to eradicate the menace. Even when the Supreme Court (SC) stepped in to advise the government to launch investigation into mega scams afflicting national institutions, its stance was that of obstructing the prospect of justice. The prosecution element remained non-existent throughout these five years. Quite a few of its ministers were directly involved in these corruption fiascos while its hand-picked cronies and sycophants heading various security and accountability institutions actually helped criminals escape the clutches of law. The government’s defiance of judiciary and its adjudications concerning dozens of matters of national importance touched ludicrous proportions which even resulted in one of its prime-ministers being given the marching orders by the SC.
There was total absence of policy making of any shade or colour. The law and order situation kept deteriorating and there has been an upsurge of wanton and brutal killings in various parts of the country, but more specifically in Karachi, Quetta and throughout the KPK. Even when the SC pointed out the failings of the governments in Sindh and Balochistan, there were no significant steps taken to arrest the mayhem. In Karachi, the SC pointed out the existence of the armed wings of various political parties and advocated for their disbanding. Again, no steps were initiated by the government to comply and the killing-spree in the city has continued unabated. Quetta has witnessed some of the most harrowing scenes of ethnic cleansing directed against the Hazaras, but it did not awaken the provincial government from its deep slumber. In fact, the members of the government were hardly seen in the province. They were merry-making far away in the safer sojourns of the federal capital while the provincial chief minister was mostly out of the country with no one knowing where to locate him.
The complicity of the Punjab government with extremist elements has been a well-known thing through years. During its present incumbency, the partnership has been further cemented only to let the country suffer. The shameful incident at Gojra led to a lot of hyperbole by the chief minister of the province, but it yielded little by way of catching the culprits and handing them over to law. Understandably, this abject lack of action led to yet another humiliating catastrophe directed against the Christians in Joseph Colony, Lahore where their entire habitation was put to the torch by the marauders using the tool of ‘blasphemy’. Some say there was a PML-N legislator behind the entire drama because he wanted to grab the land where the Christians lived. Once again, the provincial government has been loud on proclamations, but, going by its track record, there is little expected by way of initiating meaningful steps to eradicate the menace. Its criminal association with the extremist elements who have filtered into the political arena and with whose support the PML-N will again try to come into power is a major obstacle in the path of moving against the perpetrators of the Joseph Colony tragedy.
KPK, for most of the last five years, has remained in the grip of militancy and a majority of its cities and towns have been perpetually under attack. While the provincial government has repeatedly aired its resolve to continue fighting the militants, it has done little by way of taking cogent steps to contain the infiltration. Some of the senior members of its government have also been targeted by the extremist factions. In spite of all the bravado, the spectre of militancy has continued to expand in dimension and intensity. Crumbling in the face of this unremitting onslaught, the KPK government, too, has started trumpeting the option of dialogue with the militants.
These are just some of the manifestations of bad governance that has shown through all echelons of the federal and the provincial administrations. Is it that, with the coming elections in about two months, a miracle may happen in shape of the people seeing the back of bad governance? The chances are loaded against the prospect because corruption, most notably of the intellectual variety, emanates from the very system that we bank on for relief. Unless the causes are addressed, it would be fool-hardy to find redemption by focussing only on the symptoms.
The writer is a political analyst. He can be reached at [email protected]
