THE criticism of the Opposition and the defence of the Government notwithstanding, the very fact that a global report sees an increase in the instance of corruption in Pakistan should be a matter of shame and concern for everyone.
Transparency International, a global corruption watchdog, has placed Pakistan at the 140th position out of 180 countries on its Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2021.
The CPI is an index published annually by the global watchdog, which ranks countries “by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.
” The CPI described Pakistan’s scores as having dropped from 31 to 28 as compared to the previous year which shows that corruption has increased in the country.
The downgrading of Pakistan’s status is particularly worrisome as it happened during tenure of a party, which contested general elections on the slogan of crusade against corruption and accountability/corruption is the only topic that is highlighted in every speech and statement of the party leadership.
This is, however, an inevitable outcome of the fundamentally flawed approach of the Government towards the menace of corruption in the country.
While corruption in the Government ministries, departments and institutions especially in public dealing organizations like police, judiciary, revenue department, tax machinery and utility services is the real problem of the masses, the focus of the Government as well as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has remained on three individuals – Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari.
No one would object to the accountability of the political elite if they indulge in corruption but it is not a prudent approach to focus just on political opponents and let others go scot-free.
The attempt to seek refuge behind this or that lame excuse would not make any sense as the TI uses the same criteria for ranking of all countries included in the list as the report is based on eight different sources measuring how corrupt the public sector of any country is perceived by its business community.
On the basis of the same criteria, Pakistan’s ranking was 128 in 2013 when the PPP Government left and gradually the scores improved in the next five years as the country reached 33 score (117th position) when the previous government of PML(N) relinquished the charge.
However, the CPI scores gradually decreased from 33 in 2018 to 32 in 2019 to 31 in 2020, and now 28 in 2021 — continued fall for the third consecutive year.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, no doubt, enjoys the reputation of an honest and clean leader and credit also goes to him for raising awareness against the menace of corruption and the need for accountability.
The Prime Minister has said that the incumbent Government has done the most against corruption and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has claimed that Pakistan’s low ranking on Transparency International’s corruption perception index is because of the absence of rule of law in the country and state capture as opposed to financial corruption.
Their explanation is understandable but it is also a fact that accusing fingers have repeatedly been raised during the last three years against some members of the Government for their wrong-doings but no punitive action was taken against them except change of their portfolios.
Similarly, the Government paid only lip service to its electoral commitment of reforming the police force as well as the judicial system.
As for rule of law, even if one accepts the logic that the decision to downgrade Pakistan’s ranking was predominantly based on this criterion then the question arises who will ensure the rule of law.
Who is preventing the Government from ensuring supremacy of the law and the Constitution?
The Opposition is lambasting the narrative of the Government on corruption, using the TI report to malign the ruling party and bring into question its performance on this account.
However, the ground realities demand that both the Government and the Opposition should join hands to address this challenge as stigma of corruption is not going to help in attracting foreign investment.
Political differences apart, they should enter into a working relationship to eliminate corruption and other ills of the economy.
The Government, instead of directing all its energies against the Opposition, should concentrate more on good governance.
