Anatomy of merit

And how blatantly it is being flouted…

Rule of law or rule of rulers is the dilemma this country has been confronted with right since its independence. Every new government comes with the banner of bringing rule of law and merit and every new government makes headlines for bending all laws to suit its honchos. Unfortunately so seems the case with the present rulers as well. The PML-N’s reputation of keeping it in the extended family was one repositioning they needed to do to send an immediate message to the public that they will be different this time. However the beginning has started to look like déjà vu.

Most state institutions are in perilous shape. Take any institution with Pakistan or national preceding its title – Pakistan international Airlines, Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan Railways – and you immediately think of massive losses, rampant corruption and unmerited appointments in top echelons. Each and every government has failed to stop the massive leakage of funds in these institutions that eat up taxpayers’ money in billions to subsidize their inefficiency. Thus PML-N’s resolve to turnaround these ailing institutions and make them sustainable is a main point of economic revival of the country. In their manifesto they have very rightly pointed out that the heads of these institutions will be chosen after a strict professional short-listing based on open and competitive hiring practices. To implement this they have advertised these posts in newspapers as well. However the appointments so far are not according to the procedure defined. Their explanation is that since time is short and most of these organisations are in deep trouble, men of merit have been appointed as a stop-gap arrangement to bring the mismanagement under control.

Merit not only means that you have the experience in the industry concerned and have a clean record of performance but also that you have been weighed against the best available in the field and have qualified on the multiple criteria. Even if they are stop gap arrangements there needs to be some transparency and merit behind them. The two examples of merit being put aside are the appointment of Najam Sethi as the acting head of PCB and the appointment of Khalid Aslam as the chairman of PIA. Najam Sethi is a respected figure in media and was also the acting chief minister of Punjab in the interim government. So does that make him a specialist stop-gap guy who merits an appointment of running government affairs and cricket affairs with equal ease? Was there nobody available at this short notice who could have known and managed the game better?

The PIA has been making headlines in the recent past for all the wrong reasons, with reports focusing on delays, near escapes from huge accidents, strikes, losses – signs of an institution with chronic and irreparable malaise. Everyone knows that an airline that has helped build the Emirates and Singapore airlines in the past is not a dire case of lack of potential but lack of honest and professional management. The PML-N government advertises for seeking professionals and appoints Shujaat Azeem as advisor to PM on PIA. That he happens to be the brother of Tariq Azeem may not be enough to say that it is just cronyism again; that he appoints Khalid Aslam as acting MD again may just be an ignorance of appropriate HR practice; that the gentleman’s first executive decision is to promote party bigwig Mushahidullah’s two brothers in PIA definitely begs a question. But how can PML-N justify two things: one that Shujaat Azeem aside from having a Canadian nationality has also been cashiered by the Pakistan Air Force; and second on his appointment one of the first things he has done is to get a license approved for his own private charter company. He apparently charted the PM in his plane during the election campaign and got him to issue instructions to expedite all the formalities. A man whose main job is to try to save PIA from nose-diving into oblivion but is busy having a business of his own sanctioned, not a case of a blatant conflict of interest, a case of clear violation of rules, a case of merit being thrown out of the window, a case of clear nepotism and favouritism?

Merit means unscrupulous stringency on adhering to rules and regulations. The impact of one bad decision has an impact on so many decisions. Within days of declaring their road map based on basing everything on merit, key appointments on key positions are now being compared to President Zardari’s cronyism. The PIA was gifted to Zardari’s friend Captain Ejaz and later it was rumoured that the President’s sister is bringing a competitive airline and thus PIA is being ruined to make space for it. What are the chances of putting professionalism back in this organisation if the head of the organisation is getting his chartered plane company approved?

Merit is not based on the opinions of those in positions of power. Merit is not based on just having worked in industries related to the institution. Merit is not defined by being loyal to an organisation for years. Merit is not defined by time and environmental expediencies. Merit is defined by established principles that have become rule of laws over a period of time. Thus the turnaround plan for PIA including cutting down unprofitable routes, closing down a few stations and buying new planes will yield short term gains. The Emirates is not about the number of planes and the number of routes; the same types of planes and routes PIA has also been employing. But Emirates is more about the quality and commitment of people heading and managing it. If PIA fails to bring that commitment and care in its employees, no amount of route and plane restructuring will bring it at par with the top airlines.

Merit is the only way of bringing a sense of fairness and competitive spirit in organisations and institutions. If an employee knows that even if he breaks his back to get results, promotions are going to be on the basis of who knows whom in the organisation, he will eventually become disengaged. For any government or institution to succeed merit based on non-discriminatory application of rule of law is the only way of eventually creating a culture where people feel accountable for their performance and are able to align their growth to the growth of the institution.

The writer is an analyst and columnist and can be reached at [email protected]