Create consensus, rid the country of corruption

Corruption or corrupt practices is like a termite. It is a curse for any society. Initially, it eats away at the credibility of any institution – public or otherwise. Then, deficit of trust starts taking root which finally weakens the castle of any government. And society as a whole goes to nowhere.

Of late, the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) survey revealed that most Pakistanis are convinced that some corruption prevails in the government departments.

The survey, conducted in February, randomly selected 6,030 people at 603 locations almost from across the country. It found that over 60 per cent of participants believed that there is corruption either very high or somewhat high in a number of leading state-run organisations.

Well, if one doesn’t agree with the statistics. Let’s keep them aside for a moment.

Who else knows better than the common man as to what is happening in the government departments. Can anyone obtain his property documents verified and signed at the time of purchase by the authorities concerned without ‘pleasing’ them with some ‘extra bucks’?

Are getting utility services – including gas, water or electricity connections – always hassle-free, like go and fill out a form, attach necessary documents and the service is right there at one’s doorstep? Or ask a taxi driver if ‘ever’ he was given his cab’s fitness certificate by only paying the due fee? One always wonders. There was hardly a government, democratic or otherwise, in the country’s history which was never accused of corruption.

As the Panama leaks fiasco takes its toll on the government, the situation is scarcely any different. The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government is being targeted by its foes, not owing to its method of governance, but graft scandals. And this time moral corruption also has no exception.

Just imagine, recently the country’s top graft busters raided the house of Balochistan’s finance secretary and seized hefty cash amounting to Rs730 million and jewellery worth nearly Rs40 million including a cache of foreign currencies. If representatives of all political parties sitting in both lower and upper house of parliament come to a consensus on an irresistible national issue, then why not against the festering issue of graft? It is quite surprising, isn’t it? Isn’t it our national issue? Can’t we become a graft-free society once and for all?

If every individual or political leadership claims to be an ‘honest’ person, then what are they waiting for?

Let’s create consensus, start a credible accountability process and rid the country of corruption.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2016.