Daily Times

Breaking news: after electricity and gas, petrol has also been declared an endangered species and thus cannot be used, only talked about or seen, as items to be treasured in a museum as memories of what they used to be once upon a time. Just imagine that when all over the world oil is in oversupply and is being sold at desperately low prices, in Pakistan it has disappeared and is now being bought in bottles of mineral water at prices higher than the oldest wine. It is flabbergasting, mindboggling and baffling until you look at the picture of the Prime Minister’s (PM’s) crisis management committee putting their heads together to solve the mystery of ‘whodunit’. You have a PM with the look of being lost and never found, you have a finance minister with the look of so-what-this-is-just-another-issue and you have a petroleum minister who sulkily says, “Okay, if you insist, so be it.” Investigation takes place and guess what? All are absolved of all crimes except the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO). The acting head and the other heads acting on behalf of various ministers are sent rolling to make the PM not look like a complete loser.

The real scandal may surface in a few days or weeks but the scandal already out and proven factually is that the PML-N can write a book on how to destroy institutions. The age-old formula is: just place an incompetent person on top and then see how the incompetence comes roaring down the ranks. The Noon style of management is to highlight all major posts in ministries, bureaucracy, judiciary and media and then appoint people who have not only proven loyalty to the Sharif family but are likely to support and enable all decisions legal or illegal, moral or immoral with blind subservience. The famous experienced team of the government has definitely lived up to its years of knowhow. Major experience means being the yes men of the two brothers and their proven record of covering up for all major goof ups by the government with utmost aplomb and nonchalance. Pervez Rashid is the biggest example of this trait as he, in so many years, has perfected the art of saying with conviction what others would be shy of saying even hesitantly. While he is the government’s information minister, he uses all government platforms to promote party stances as is the case with his frequent press conferences defending Sardar Ayaz Sadiq’s case as this case relates to Sardar Ayaz Sadiq’s election from the Noon League ticket and not as the Speaker of the National Assembly.

When the man at the top sets the tone of appointing people who have an unblemished record of loyalty to him, they in turn will do the same for all posts under them. Such is the reluctance of the government to appoint people who are professionally competent that, despite the fact that the Supreme Court (SC) has withdrawn the commission for selecting heads of state-run enterprises, 22 statutory bodies and 33 public sector companies are still headless or operating on acting appointees. PSO is a classic example of such a company. The acting Managing Director (MD) Amjad Janjua was appointed in October 2013 only for three months till the permanent MD was selected. In August 2014, the establishment division sent a letter to the PM mentioning the irregularities of his appointment. The Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources found the posting of the incumbent MD of PSO illegal and asked the government to replace him. “The acting managing director PSO, who is very junior and is currently under FIA and NAB investigation, should be removed immediately,” Senator Mohammad Yousaf wrote to the PM and relevant government agencies on behalf of the committee. The Senate committee observed that a person on the exit control list because of investigations by the FIA and National Accountability Bureau should not be allowed to run a company with an annual turnover of more than Rs 1.5 trillion. Instead of removing him, the PM changed the rules to accommodate this rare talent in PSO. This appointment has not only ruined PSO but also the petroleum industry and the government’s own credibility.

Crisis and errors are part of even the most efficient governments. However, the difference between the ones that succeed and those that fail is their ability to learn and not repeat errors. How can we safely say that the petrol crisis or other disasters will not recur if we know that the style of management will not change? The new MD appointed at PSO, Mr Shahid Islam, is another contentious candidate with the mixed record of being at PIA in the past with dubious performance. However, if the previous MD was a crony of the finance minister, the new one is an old friend of the minister of petroleum. When the top man bends rules, so do all others. The frightening cross-functional war between ministries and ranks bodes ill for the future. Just look at the assessment of various ministers on this crisis and there is this oily feeling of a disaster postponed but not thwarted. The PM dismissed the MD and deputy MD of PSO while the petroleum minister insists that PSO was not to be blamed as the unexpected rise in demand of petroleum due to fall in oil prices could not have been forecast. The investigation report blames OGRA while OGRA has blamed the oil marketing companies. Another inexplicable point is: why did the shortage occur in Punjab only while Karachi, with the largest population and the most extensive industrial base, never had this shortage? These unanswered questions increase the risk of such economic disasters being repeated.

For institutions to perform, the mindsets have to reform, for the mindsets to reform, the process has to start from the top, for the process to start from the top, an admission of responsibility for the mess needs to come from the leader, for the leader to make this admission, a high degree of integrity is a prerequisite — the integrity to refuse your near and dear ones appointments of importance and appoint men of merit regardless of their loyalties. For this to happen a culture of accountability is needed where people who have messed up are not just removed from posts but are made to pay each penny wasted of public money and for this to happen, the public and media have to constantly expose and raise their voice on these professional criminal acts being carried out in institutions funded by taxpayers’ money. It may seem a long haul but look at it this way: even one incompetent man changed in one institution may result in savings of billions and jobs and lives of thousands of deserving people.

The writer is an analyst and columnist and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com