- And the issue of conflict of interest
Razak Dawood is prime minister’s adviser on commerce and industry who accompanies him on all visits abroad where business matters are supposed to be discussed. Awarding the contract for constructing the Mohmand Dam to the consortium of which his Descon is a part was unfair as it involved conflict of interest. What is more it was awarded in violation of the normal practice as the financial bid of the consortium having the adviser’s firm was opened while the other competing consortium was knocked out on technical grounds. Transparency and healthy competition required that once the second consortium had been removed from the process, the government should have invited more bids to compete with the remaining consortium.
Razad Dawood has also reportedly played a major role in getting Pak Suzuki Motor treated under the Greenfield category to secure an investment of $450 million, eliciting protests from genuine newcomers.
PTI’s information minister has justified the award on the ground that there was no firm in the country which is bigger than Descon. Had any contract been given by Nawaz, Shahbaz or Zardari to any of their ministers or advisors in a similar way, they would have been facing cases today while the beneficiary would have been in NAB’s custody and subjected to coercive interrogation.
It appears that those around Imran Khan holding public offices can get away with being foreign citizens or doing business despite having access to non-public information. The PTI government is treading a dangerous path. This is raising questions about the claims of transparency and fair play on the part of a leadership that continues to maintain a holier than thou posture. There is a need on the part of Imran Khan to realise that he is losing fast the high moral ground claimed by him. Further that he too could one day face accountability. Over confidence has led him to continue to ignore orders from the SC given months back to get his Banigala property regularised. The judgment by KP’s three-member Services Tribunal holding Asad Qaiser and Mushtaq Ghani responsible for promoting cronyism and nepotism in appointments to the assembly secretariat should be seen by him as a straw in the wind.
