Collective indifference towards graft

Corruption, the purest form of tyranny, thrives when people of good conscience choose to remain silent. Following are two fascinating quotations, lightly paraphrased for brevity, which might help put the argument in perspective. Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, remarked that ‘corruption, embezzlement and fraud are functions of human nature and exist everywhere. No one has ever eliminated these, however, successful economies keep them to a minimum’. Acclaimed Hollywood film director Martin Scorsese, once quipped that ‘themes of crime and political corruption will always remain relevant’. The underlying common variable in the two quotes is the fact that the achievement of a corruption-free society is well nigh impossible.

Pakistan obviously is not an exception in this social realm. The exception in the land of the pure, however, lies in the scale and level of corruption. The malaise has permeated to the very top and the measure of its amount is elephantine in proportions.

Arbitrary disbursement of developmental funds to members of National Assembly is a practice that can be traced back a long time, however, it became institutionalised and overtly acceptable most prominently in the Zia era who needed to keep the provincial and federal legislators pinned down under the weight of these hefty sums for his own survival. Regrettably, the ugly practice continued under the late Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo and the not so honourably remembered prime ministers who followed him. Musharraf continued with the practice as well, for the same reasons as Zia and today it is the most authentically democratic and perfectly legal way to bribe senators and legislators.

It is woeful that the practice has been mainstreamed to a level where hardly anyone notices it. This general apathy and indifference is tantamount to being an accomplice in this crime. Senators and lawmakers are coerced in the name of either depriving them of these funds or by pledging more of the same. It has effectively become the most potent weapon for the ruling elite to mould the opinion of MNAs, MPAs and senators in line with their vested interests. This essentially translates into rigged voting in both the houses of parliament and passing of bills and amendments in the Constitution that are sometimes inherently inimical to the state and to the spirit of democracy.

The government has supposedly dished out close to Rs21 billion in the last few weeks in order to sway the vote against the bill sponsored by PPP which was tabled to ensure that Nawaz Sharif steps down as head of the ruling party after his disqualification from the Supreme Court on account of corruption. The bill was defeated in what was prima facie a legal and democratic proceeding. In essence, however, it was shallow and beneath the dignity of the custodians of public trust to behave in the manner they did. The issue was embarrassing for the ruling party on another account though. Twenty-two members of the ruling party did not turn up to vote against the PPP-sponsored bill despite the fact that they had been threatened of being deprived of these lucrative sums of money in the name of developmental funds.

This is by far the most manifest evidence of ‘no confidence’ in the ruling party by its own members since even the lure of substantial sums of money could not cajole them to oblige the ousted PM. Seasoned politicians in PML-N have spoken out against the party leadership on the issue.

The election year is approaching and massive funds are set to be diverted for influencing public opinion at the last moment with short-term welfare measures designed to hoodwink the masses; a practice fully entrenched in our political system. PTI chief Imran Khan is arguably the only politician on record to have strongly opposed the distribution of these developmental funds directly to legislators and has promised to undo the practice if his party comes to power. Whether PTI will deliver is a matter of speculation. No science, they say, is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2017.

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