A few days ago two reports appeared in the media unraveling corruption by two top bureaucrats.
One report by Ansar Abbassi revealed that Rs.248 million have been spent on the wedding of daughter of a bureaucrat. Tax authorities have confirmed that no declarations have been made which could justify such wedding expenditures. The sources of income used to fund the wedding are also unknown. The bride reportedly also made multiple trips to Canada, the UK, Mexico and UAE, suggesting a life style far beyond what is reflected in tax returns. It is case of corruption and tax evasion.
Another report that a serving DIG police has bought property worth $20 million in Canada, shifted his family to that country and come back to join his duty. A few days ago defence minister KhawajaAsif had revealed on the floor of the national assembly that myriad of bureaucrats had brought properties in Portugal. But he did not have the heft to say anything about corruption of the politicians and parking of the filched funds abroad.
The above revelations are only a tip of the ice berg. The fact is that the bureaucrats, politicians and rulers have all purloined the national exchequertaking advantage of the inbuilt avenues of corruption in the system of governance, a legacy of the colonial era.
Corruption is generally defined as misuse of entrusted power or authority by the elected politicians or appointed civil servants for private gains. It usually entails embezzlement of funds, nepotism, kickbacks, bribery as well as deliberate attempts to perpetuate a system with inbuilt avenues of corruption, graft and entitlement. Corruption has many forms but the major cause of concern are the systemic corruption and political corruption which germinate other forms of corruption that eat into the social and economic fiber of a country besides generating social tensions and hampering economic progress.
There are no two opinions about the fact that we are a society completely immersed in corruption, which decidedly is the bane of our socio-economic development and national integration. Successive rulers are responsible for this detestable phenomenon, which due to its trickle-down effect has penetrated into entire fabric of our society.
We have often been hearing from the rulers their resolve to eliminate corruption from the echelons of the government and the society as and when it suited their political interests. But the fact is that whatever accountability mechanisms they did put in place, they were meant to target their political opponents rather than an arrangement for across the board accountability.
We do not need a democracy which reinforces monopoly of elite classesand landed aristocracy on political power. Unfortunately the single constituency system to elect public representatives to run state affairs is the main factor in perpetuating the corrupt system of governance. The expenditure involved in contesting elections is so huge that no person from the middle class and the lower middle class can even think of trying his luck and the field is left open to the elitist classes. The social structure of our society is such that the system becomes hostage to the ‘electables’ who play a great role in the make and break of regimes fomenting political instability. They also blackmail the rulers to extract undue benefits from them at the expense of the masses and torpedo any attempt at reforms. So the vicious circle of corruption among the politicians in connivance with bureaucracy continues unabated.
The first priority in regards to ending the monopoly of the elite and landed classes on political power should be switch-over to the proportional representation system in which people vote for the party and not individual candidates. The parties get representation in the legislatures according to the percentage of votes obtained in the elections and also form government accordingly. They nominate competent and deserving people to the legislatures. This eliminates the avenues of rigging in elections which invariably has been the cause of political instability in the country. This will to a great extent plug the avenues of political corruption.
The country also needs strict accountability of all public representatives, rulers and the bureaucrats. This will require a drastic and ruthless crackdown on those who have filched public money, indulged in un-checked corruption and also transferred their ill-gotten money abroad. I do not think our politicians would ever do it. This can be done only by an honest autocratic ruler who has no political ambitions and is not bothered about political backlash in the state interest because the state and its people deserve preference over anything else. I would like to suggest a way forward.
First of all it should be announced that all those politicians, rulers and bureaucrats who have made fortunes through corruption should come forward and return the looted money to the national exchequer promising no legal proceedings against them. I am sure that it may not have a wholesome effect. It should also be announced that anybody member of the public giving information about money and assets built through corruption will be given 25% of the recovered wealth, promising secrecy. Those who fail to take advantage of the announced Amnesty be made an example for others.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Islamabad.
