Daily Times

Corruption is mainly defined as the abuse or misuse of public office or power. It is called the mother of all evils. It erodes the country’s growth and prosperity and engenders several issues ranging from social-economic inequality to poverty and socio-political upheaval. Corruption has been one of the main long-standing issues in Pakistan. It is widely present in every aspect of public life from a patwari to the Chief Executive. It has barred the socio-politico and economic growth of the country. According to a World Bank report, Pakistan needs to address the menace of corruption by uprooting its structural causes:

politically–both the executive and administration are largely running behind the fulfilment of personal agendas;

economically–corruption is triggered to cater for the ambitious and luxurious lifestyle of the administrators and

socially-the artificial standardization of life pushes a public office holder to misuse the office. Pakistan is still struggling with this menace, which has embittered the good governance crisis leading to a dismal ranking of 140/180 in the Corruption Perception Index 2021.

Pakistan needs sweeping and revolutionary institutional and cross-institutional reforms to rise above the graving governance crises.

Transparency is defined as something open to public scrutiny. It is one of the fundamental rights of the people to have conditional access to all governmental functions. This aims at keeping the government’s policies and actions at par with the will of the people as transparency in the administration and government of a country keeps people informed about the key decisions of the government. Transparency also makes the decision-making process inclusive of public participation. Article 19(A) of the 1973 constitution provides for the right to information subject to certain restrictions. However, Pakistan has yet to ensure this right in letter and spirit. Though the KP government has made some progress in this regard, the decision-making process in Pakistan is largely exclusive. People can hardly have access to the whole process of governance, ranging from planning and making policies to the implementation of those policies. Tauqir Hussain throws light on the elitist structure and nature of the three over-prioritised institutions: military, bureaucracy and religious identity.

In short, the whole administrative process ranging from policy making to policy implementation excludes people and hardly takes them into account.

Administration, without a proper accountability mechanism, is doomed to fall to misgovernance as accountability serves as a measuring tool. Accountability holds public officials accountable for the use of public office. It gauges a public office holder whether he has operated by the prescribed rules and if he has worked towards the fulfilment of the assigned duty. The accountability regime in Pakistan is not free from problems. The National Accountability Bureau and the investigative wing of FIA are largely alleged to be immensely politicised. The menace of bribery has also paralysed the accountability watchdogs. Thus, it infringes on the whole administration and governance.

While suggesting the remedies, Pakistan needs sweeping and revolutionary institutional and cross-institutional reforms to rise above the graving governance crises. It needs to revamp its key institutions starting from the legislature to the judiciary. Corruption must be properly dealt with. Transparency and public participation must be ensured. Above all, Pakistan needs proper policy formulation and largely the political will to implement them.

Wrapping up this write-up, Pakistan has been experiencing a plethora of governance crises, which share almost the same cause among others-structural disorganisation. From economic inequality to the absence of the trickling-down aspect of the economy, from the trade deficit and undisciplined fiscal policy to the circular debts, internal and external debts and faster-depleting SBP reserves, the economic milieu of Pakistan is largely misgoverned. Politically, the country has been in a chaotic situation for long; impeding the whole governance and development. The three organs of the government plus the fourth and the fifth pillars of the state are full of challenges ushering into governance crises. As a remedy, Pakistan needs sweeping institutional and structural reforms to undo prevailing grave governance crises.

(Concluded)

The writer has done his Master of Arts in English Literature & Linguistics. He can be reached at abdulsamadkhan
bannu22@gmail.com