Nawaz's government has yet to deliver on promises of making appointments on merit to state corporations, institutions.
LAHORE: There seem to be serious flaws in the state’s decision-making process. There is a lack of necessary administrative experience and proper legal scrutiny of decisions before appointments are made which then fail to stand the test of legal challenges in the judiciary.
A political party in power cannot afford the luxury of selecting a team of cronies or those skilled in the art of sycophancy, especially in a country like Pakistan, faced with gigantic problems, given the threat of terrorism, economic challenges and our history of weak political governments.
It is for the Prime Minister’s (PM) Secretariat to ensure that rules and procedures laid down are followed in letter and in spirit and that discretionary powers are exercised within the confines of the law without breaching constitutional rights of any citizen. The fact that numerous appointments made by this government could not stand up to judicial review should be a cause of worry for the PM. This points to lack of good governance and administrative skills of those appointed by him to execute his decisions.
Much water has flowed under the bridge since PM Nawaz was in power in 1998. There is a relatively independent judiciary, more awareness, a vocal media and equally more expectations of those who voted him to power. His government has yet to deliver on his promises of making appointments on merit to state corporations and institutions. Unfortunately, the PM seems to have almost no visible desire to do so.
Malik Tariq
Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2014.
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