Daily Times

Instead of criticising the recent Transparency International (TI) corruption report that ranked Pakistan 120th on a list of 180 countries, the government had better improve its working. According to the TI, “This year, our research highlights the relationship between politics, money and corruption. Unregulated flows of big money in politics also make public policy vulnerable to undue influence. Countries with stronger enforcement of campaign finance regulations have lower levels of corruption, as measured by the CPI (Corruption Perception Index)”. Within two days of the release of TI report for 2019, where Pakistan lost three points from the previous year’s place, there are reports that prime minister’s Davos trip was sponsored by his wealthy friends. Referring to his cheap foreign tours, and the current one sponsored by a friend, PM Khan said he was determined to save public money by spending least on his tours. The money incurred on his Davos trip is 10 times less than previous leaders’. During his foreign trips, PM Khan has taken commercial flights, stayed in Pakistani embassy buildings, and arranged short delegations. There is no point in questioning his intentions to save every penny for the good of the people, but the prime minister must remember that there is no free lunch, especially when the sponsor of the ‘free lunch’ is a businessperson. The involvement of his friends, industrialists and businesspeople, in political and government decisions back at home is also not a secret. For these reasons, the recent shortage of sugar and wheat was attributed to the involvement of ‘non-elected’ friends of PM Khan in major government decisions.

War on corruption has been the prime minister’s main point during his entire political career. When in power, he has not lost the momentum and has taken up crucial measures to nab corruption. The recent TI report, which is based on perception not factual data, should still be a cause for concern. Corruption watchdogs should be reformed, and staffed with trained, professional and relevant people, who instead of making the whole thing a political, lead institutions professionally. The government has been without any corruption scandal in the last 18 months, and hopefully, it will keep up the streak. *