Accountability blues

An increasing number of people are wondering when are the Sharifs investing in Pakistan

The fight for justice against corruption is never easy. It never has been and never will be. It exacts a toll on our self, our families, our friends, and especially our children. In the end, I believe, as in my case, it is well worth holding on to our dignity.

Frank Serpico

Accountability can be broadly defined as the obligation of an individual or organisation to account for its activities, accept consequent responsibility, and disclose the results (of enquiry) in a transparent manner. This responsibility would naturally extend to matters involving money and other entrusted property.

For nations to survive and prosper, accountability remains the most compelling requirement on the part of institutions, leaders and people alike. Nations failing to pay heed to this essential component are generally consigned to the dustbin of history as would be evidenced by incessant reminders from the past. Even worse would be the case of those who thrive on the art of dodging accountability, but are in the forefront of clamouring for the same from others citing themselves as the prime examples of conformity to the highest scales of the virtue.

Unfortunately, it is in our midst that we find a host of leaders progressing and prospering by practising the art of how best to escape the clutches of accountability. That is why they have not only thickened their skins through stints in power, they have also devised and put in place clever mechanisms that are ideally suited to further their lust for more.

Individuals are not alone in their greedy quest to escape the dragnet of accountability. The state institutions are equally guilty of this failing. They have used the platforms provided by their professions to repeatedly escape the formulation and implementation of credible systems and mechanisms to guide everyone to stay within the confines of the appropriate constitutional parameters, professional requirements and ethical benchmarks.

The current media spectre being enacted every day is a living example of the absence of the necessary laws and mechanisms to guide the conduct of institutions. Here, the burgeoning power of the media has been criminally used to escape the formulation and imposition of a code of conduct to regulate the institution.

The current media spectre being enacted every day is a living example of the absence of the necessary laws and mechanisms to guide the conduct of institutions. Here, the burgeoning power of the media has been criminally used to escape the formulation and imposition of a code of conduct to regulate the institution. Instead, its proponents hold forth their courts every evening to the angst of the millions of hapless viewers, pontificating to the world on a plethora of preconceived virtues and vices regarding the goings-on in the country and their lopsided recipes of salvation. It is a pitiable display of lack of intelligence, comprehension and a sustainable rationale. Who has given them this right? Do they derive it from irresponsibly exploiting their new-found freedom, or the non-implementation of the clauses of their license emanating from a weak, ineffectual and complicit government and its attendant institutions including the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA)? Simultaneously, it is also indicative of a serious lack of expertise and ethics at the grassroots level, thus gravely impacting institutional performance.

Media is not the only institution afflicted with this malaise. Pick up any department of the state and you’ll hear harrowing tales of their lack of transparency, capability, capacity and delivery. It appears these departments have been constituted for the advancement of the interests of the coterie of people who come to be associated with them through their various stages of existence. They are milked dry to the personal aggrandisement of their handlers as also of their associates-in-crime till they are rendered non-functional and have to depend on the largesse of the state for their continued survival. The government does not disappoint as it has a direct interest in further corrupting an already corrupt system because therein lies its own survival. This is the crux of the criminal nexus that one sees connecting leaders with institutional decay.

It has gone on like this for years, even decades and this is the way it is likely to be in the foreseeable future also: every actor working to his personal advancement and that of his criminal cohorts wherever they may be placed. The only change that is visible is that there are now more avenues and, consequently, more opportunities available, thus facilitating more people to indulge in the sickening trade.

A special mention should also be made here of the only institution dealing with accountability in the country: National Accountability Bureau (NAB). It should, more appropriately, be renamed as the Nawaz-Zardari Inc as its principal purpose seems to be safeguarding the evil-duo from prosecution. In the process, by cleverly manipulating the powers inordinately vested in the person of the chairman, the incumbent is proceeding steadily and stealthily to having his beneficiaries exonerated from all wrongdoings that they may have been guilty of. It is like handing them a clean chit to continue chartering their political careers built around brazenly and cruelly exploiting the national assets to their personal advancement.

An avid testament of the corruption of the Sharif and Zardari families is provided by the figures of the State Bank. During the two tenures of Nawaz Sharif (1990-93 and 1997-99), total loans of Rs22.35 billion were written off. In his first tenure, a total of Rs2.39 billion were written off and, during his second term, the amount written off went up to Rs19.96 billion. The written-off loans during the two tenures of Nawaz Sharif constituted approximately 74.5 per cent of a total of Rs30.18 billion written off between 1986 and 1999. During the two tenures of late Benazir Bhutto, a total of Rs7.23 billion loans were written off, constituting 24.2 per cent of the total written-off loans. Rs494.97 million were written off in her first tenure and Rs6.74 billion in the second term.

The inimitable words of Oliver Cromwell resonate through one’s consciousness: “Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse. Gold is your God. Which of you have not bartered your conscience for bribes?”

These figures clearly manifest that the two leaders were instrumental in writing off a much larger chunk of loans in their second stint in power as compared to the first – learning the tricks of the trade while in the saddle! Imagine what the PPP government would have done in its next stint in power under Asif Zardari and what one should expect of Nawaz Sharif now that he is back in the prime minister’s office. It is absolutely loathsome.

The spiralling of the Sharif business empire after he became the Punjab finance minister under the tutelage of General (R) Jilani is mind boggling. The worst part is that it was made possible through huge sums of borrowed money that were written off by various leaders to advance their personal political ambitions. One principal culprit who facilitated the illicit growth of their industrial empire was General Ziaul Haq. When the first Public Accounts Committee (PAC) calculated the written off loans, the Sharifs were one of the two people on top of the criminal list: the Chaudhrys of Gujrat with Rs22 billion and the Sharifs of Lahore with Rs21 billion. This is part of the PAC record.

That is well into the past. Since then a lot more has happened which, quite literally, even escapes the stretched-to-breaking-point limits of the bizarre. Their investments have now been directed towards other capitals of the world with little to no financial stakes in the Pakistani market. This reflects their (lack of) commitment to the country that they have come to rule through a grossly flawed election process. Billions may have exchanged hands to make that mockery possible which is well within the ethical benchmarks of the Sharifs. The incumbent finance minister Ishaq Dar confessed to money-laundering in a 40-odd-page detailed statement. Understandably, a growing number of people have started wondering aloud as to when, if at all, are the Sharifs going to invest in Pakistan.

This does not reflect the entire spectrum of their corruption as most of it remains hidden from the public view because of the complicity of co-beneficiary individuals and institutions. It is like corrupting the entire system leaving little prospect of being caught. Consequently, instead of correcting the system and acquiring the services of individuals of sound integrity and character to probe the mega-corruption scams of the high and the mighty, the accountability charlatans generally dismiss the marauding loot and plunder of the leaders as part of the white-collar crime syndrome that cannot be busted.

Raymond Baker, in his book titled “Capitalism’s Achilles Heel”, provides a sickening dossier on the corruption of the Sharifs. According to the book, the Sharifs allegedly milked a clean $160 million from the Lahore-Islamabad motorway project, $140 million in unsecured loans from Pakistani banks, more than $60 million through rebates on sugar exported by mills controlled by them and $58 million from prices paid on importing wheat from the US. The author states that “the extent and magnitude of this corruption is so staggering that it has put the very integrity of the country at stake” and goes on to describe the elder Sharif as looking “corpulent” among “opulent” surroundings” – be it in Jeddah or elsewhere. Many offshore companies have also been linked to the Sharifs, three in the British Virgin Islands by the names of Nescoll, Nielson and Shamrock while Chandron Jersey Private Limited has been named in the Channel Island.

Whichever way one looks at it, the options are laden with regression and depravity, with promise of more of the same. If one were to clinically delineate the essential ingredients of a leader best suited to carry forth the politics of the status-quo in Pakistan, he or she would have to be a massive loan-defaulter, a versatile double-cross, a perennial transgressor of the rule of law and suffering from acute intellectual paucity.

The inimitable words of Oliver Cromwell resonate through one’s consciousness: “Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse. Gold is your God. Which of you have not bartered your conscience for bribes?”

Now, for a moment, behold the so-called movement that apparently is taking shape for the sake of bringing in electoral reforms in the country? Just try to get a measure of the divergence of opinion among the stake-holders that appear to be gathering on a single platform to spearhead the movement: the street fascism of the MQM, the failed promise of the PTI, the abominable track-record of the Chaudhrys, the degenerate fanaticism of a bulk of the religious outfits lined up dutifully to reap the dividends and the fringe groups – all vying for a place on the stage. Who would be that one person to lead this sickly motley crowd in the battle to change the fate of the country? It escapes me, and millions of others who can think rationally and pragmatically.

Whichever way one looks at it, the options are laden with regression and depravity, with promise of more of the same. If one were to clinically delineate the essential ingredients of a leader best suited to carry forth the politics of the status-quo in Pakistan, he or she would have to be a massive loan-defaulter, a versatile double-cross, a perennial transgressor of the rule of law and suffering from acute intellectual paucity. So, hail the Sharif and the Zardari clans!