THE scourge of cronyism and conflicts of Interest has been instrumental in destruction of SOEs and Sports organizations in this country, apart from our economy. PIA and PCB are the two latest victims of this curse. What could be a more blatant manifestation of total disregard to Conflicts of Interest than recent appointment of a sitting minister in caretaker set-up of Punjab as chief selector. Poor law enforcement and a compromised and politicized judiciary, that should have carried on the legacy of CJ Cornelius, instead of the likes of CJ Munir and three other judges of the Federal Court who regularized a gross illegality on the basis of Doctrine of Necessity in 1955.
Instead of emphasis on investing in human resource development, so vital for development, the disregard for health, education sector etc., has made matters worse. This will continue as long as the elected and paid elite of this country consider SOEs, ambassadorial assignments, sports organizations and key appointments as “Spoils of War” to be doled to their semi-literate cronies as favours. Pakistan cannot come out of this crisis, which threatens its sovereignty and existence, unless this mindset changes. We have to overcome this existential crisis that threatens our existence and sovereignty.
For decades smuggling under the guise of Afghan Transit Trade has been going on, yet every government has failed to curb this gross illegality. As long as Afghan Transit Trade transportation was through secured cargo trains, it was regulated. All over the world, states develop their transportation sector, especially Railways, which profits from goods transportation and subsidize passenger traffic. There seems to be some hope and light at the end of the tunnel, because current head of sensitive institution accepted this malpractice and expressed his intentions to curb smuggling and penalize all those responsible. Remedial measures can only be adopted if we accept the malice.
Almost all state-managed organizations where cronies have been appointed have been infected with financial indiscipline. Many of them were being operated profitably or breaking even, providing services to citizens of Pakistan, before abuse set in. The irony is that there is no dearth of qualified specialists in various cadres. It was criminal to prefer cronies, who neither had requisite qualification or experience in the relevant field. These cronies obey orders of their godfathers, and nepotism follows. These SOEs have become dumping grounds for welfare of a few. It is a recipe for disaster to appoint any individual who could not qualify for admission to professional colleges of repute in engineering, medicine, economics etc., as head of SOE involved in these fields. This adversely impacts morale of qualified scientists, engineers, doctors, economists, business management professionals etc., who then move abroad and brain drain follows.
The accumulated losses incurred by PIA, PSM etc., along with poor collection of revenues through direct taxation, accompanied with tax amnesty schemes has forced Pakistan to seek foreign debts, on terms which compromise our collective interests. The institutions of state, funded by taxpayers, instead of serving as deterrence, are facilitating this abuse. This is a burden that Pakistan can longer afford.
Media reports about 164 retired civil and uniformed officers, who have adopted foreign nationalities, getting pensions in foreign exchange, exposes the mindset of the paid elite and the political executive which allowed this illegality. Why should this poor country be burdened by pensions and perks of this thankless lot, including plots allotted to them? The administrative indiscipline that dominates corridors of power should be eradicated with an iron hand. It could not have transpired without approval of Finance Ministry, State Bank and Accountant General of Pakistan. One can gauge from this the quantum of money that was transferred to foreign countries by these former state employees and their political godfathers.
Almost every sports organization including squash, hockey, cricket, athletics etc., is in a shambles, because of appointment of controversial cronies. Why should political party heads be involved in appointment of PCB Chairman and their Board of Management? It has now been over a decade since the Pakistan Olympics Committee was gifted to a retired officer by Musharraf junta, and under his tenure this country has hardly won any medal. There was a time Pakistan was famous for squash and hockey. Today there is hardly any good news. Why cannot the federal government and powerful quarters let sport’s bodies be run and managed by sportsmen of integrity like Majid Khan or Jehangir Khan?
PIA which had all the ingredients to operate profitably or break even with an assured average passenger load of above 75% from its own ethnic traffic has become a burden upon the national exchequer. Commercial aviation is a highly competitive industry which is subjected to state and international regulatory controls of every country whose airspace it overflies or land en-route. Richard Branson, a billionaire and owner of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays holds a pilot’s license, but he considered it not enough to manage his own airline. He selected a qualified and experienced person Shai Weiss, an MBA from Columbia University, who had served as Director Checkpoint Software Technologies, senior associate Morgan Stanley, with extensive financial and operational experience as Executive VP and Chief Commercial Officer of Virgin Management Group, before being appointed as CEO.
Compare this to the choice of individual cronies like S Azeem, A Haroon etc., nominated by political parties. None of them ever attended any college. They served as pilots and each of them had a controversial background. It defies logic, how they were cleared. One of them was shunted out of PAF, while another involved in Kidney Hill Land scam in Karachi, apart from many other controversies. Over 700 fake degree holders were recruited in PIA, already overstaffed. Appointing a single essential parts vendor located at a remote location, in the UK in 2004 and again in Dubai in 2011-12, instead of multiple vendors along the route structure was a sure recipe for disaster.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Lahore.
Email: [email protected]views expressed are writer’s own.
views expressed are writer’s own.
