Elites, accountability and masses: A comparative analysis
IN a period of less than one month, the incumbent Government of PTI has amended the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) for the third time.
From their realistic analysis, it appears that all these amendments are aimed to enable a few individuals to continue their current jobs and protecting others; (ministers, cartels and party workers) who could have faced the consequences of their wrong-doings at later stages.
In the latest Presidential Ordinance, the incumbent Government has “stripped the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC)” of its powers to remove the Chairman of National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Instead, the President of Pakistan has been authorised to take such an action or otherwise as per the wishes of Government.
In a way, the institution of superior judiciary of Pakistan has been undermined and individual(s) have been empowered. Such an act was not expected from the democratic government, which claims otherwise.
This indeed is a step towards weakening the institutions, collectivism and nationalism while promoting the individualism and party workers.
In a nation state, institutions are established to strengthen the state as per their assigned role and mandate.
Strengthening the institution would have facilitated the functioning of the state and society while ensuring their key achievements; protecting the national sovereignty and integrity, economic survivability of the state and disbursement of a uniform justice to everyone in Pakistan.
There are many national institutions, organizations and departments in Pakistan that could not deliver and over the years became a burden over the state. Their performance has been contradictory to the expectations and assigned mandate.
For decades now, PIA, Pakistan Railways and Pakistan Steel Mills and many other organizations have turned-out to be huge burden on the national economy and national exchequer of Pakistan.
The major reasons for the down-fall of these institutions and organizations was political interference in their appointments and functioning.
Besides, factors like preferring individual interests and interests of cartels over national interests and lack of accountability and good governance played the decisive role towards their non-profitability.
There have been involvements of a few individuals, families and elites with vested interests in derailing and damaging of the productive organizations and departments to the current level of devastation.
Through illegal ways, these individuals and elites earned a lot for themselves at the cost of national economy and financial survival of Pakistan.
Despite wider propagation of NAB as a transparent institution, there have been no worthwhile achievements of this national institution rather it has become a white elephant or else an institution of political victimization.
The on-going debate about the performance of NAB raises a query that either there is an in-built fault in the mandate of NAB or else there is lack of will to implement its legal obligation through a neutral mechanism.
This is indicative from the fact that the tall promises of the Government and NAB about recovery of the ill-gotten money have proved false since nothing has added into the national treasure of Pakistan.
Rather deciding the previous issues of accountability, new cases and new scandals are appearing in the electronic and press media after every second day which is given coverage through repeated NAB-related ordinances.
In the past, NAB has paid huge money to the UK based Broadsheet for tracing the ill-gotten money and facilities from former ruling elites, but practically failed to achieve the laid-down objectives, instead wasted huge amount of Pakistani taxpayers money.
There are some influential individuals both among the top bureaucracy of Pakistan and owners of top law firms who have been interacting with Broadsheet and other international firms’ on behalf of Government(s).
But, there is no-one to hold them responsible and demand NAB and relevant government officials accountable for their fraudulent act.
Every day, Pakistani masses helplessly witnesses all these on television channels with allegations and counter allegations without any punitive actions against wrongdoers.
NAB’s failure to recover the ill-gotten money has enabled the already tainted lot to hit back and blame other institutions, Government and the state, creating a chaos and questioning the justice system.
The studious minds contemplate the entire happening as a stage-managed drama for diversion of people’s attention and to pass the time without any progressive ending.
This stage-managed drama is being repeated with new faces and through new strategies without a realization that it has damaging effects on the state, society, economy and, above all, the prevailing political system of Pakistan.
Each government would like to pass its five-year tenure while accusing the earlier one, doing nothing itself.
The people of Pakistan are rapidly losing trust on the current political system and process of accountability.
The repeated trends of bad governance, corruption, lack of meritocracy, injustice, politicization of accountability process and unaffordable price hike (inflation) have created chaos and insecurity among the masses of Pakistan.
Indeed, a stage has reached where majority of the masses find it hard to meet their basic requirements. Leaving aside the imported goods, the masses find it difficult to purchase the home-grown national agricultural product of Pakistan.
Then, away from lavish way of living, the basic necessities of life are not available for the common people at an unaffordable price.
This serial happening in the country at the hands of successive ruling elites is an irony indeed.
The government must concentrate on the essentials issues of governance, justice, accountability and availability of basic necessities of life at affordable price.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
