Bad for business
There was a touch of politics in Ishaq Dar’s otherwise candid admission that a number of sectors of the national economy were operating under influence of cartels. But the Apr 2008 to Apr 2013 time frame he mentioned, though true, seems to imply a correlation between the previous PPP government and cartelisation. It would have been far more prudent to admit that the practice has gone on for years, and showed no signs of reversing after Apr 2013, when the present dispensation came to power. And, as lord of the government’s economic team, is it not Dar sb’s duty to employ the Competition Act of 2002 and check this practice in reality, however much it troubles him in theory.
No doubt the finance minister is only too aware of various senior politicians responsible for cartelisation in at least some of the sectors he mentioned. And if the decade of democracy (‘90s) was good for one thing, it was making politicians realise what happens when those in power persecute and prosecute those out of power. Sooner or later the pendulum swings, and politics of vendetta becomes an integral part of democratic politics. And nobody wants to go there again.
Yet these are critical times. And it is not just Dar sb’s duty to crack down on cartels, it is also a serious requirement of the economy. All laws and procedures are in place. The only thing wanting is official resolve, which, in this case will mean apprehending all those involved in corrupt practices. And, of course, that will also mean netting some bigwigs from within the ruling party. The finance minister will do well to remember that security and economy were the N league’s two main campaigning points. Now that the army has taken over security arrangements (after glaring government failing, not to mention), it is all the more important for the civilian leadership to take control of the economy. And accommodating corrupt practices and people will not cut it. Someone in Islamabad will have to be tough on economic malpractices; best if it’s the finance minister.
