Crisis decision-making is the real test
Those who were a liability in the PSM should have been fired after due process.
The writer is former Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Karachi and can be reached at amoonis@hotmail.com
In a crisis, the real test is of how bold, wise and timely decisions are taken. Pakistan’s predicament is that since its inception till today, there remains a big question mark on the merit of decisions taken by various governments to cope with numerous crises, ranging from the assassination of its first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, in 1951 to the secession of East Pakistan in 1971, and the unfortunate PIA plane crash on May 22 this year.
Crisis decision-making is the nucleus of any state functioning. Whether in a war or in peace time, the leadership of a country is judged for its vision and clarity on making decisions. When the risk-taking capacity of the leadership is unquestionable and decisions are made without any fear, or for personal or political gains, one can expect the right kind of results. The PIA plane crash that killed 97 on board has again exposed the fault lines in the government’s decision-making. Since 1972 — when the politicisation of public-sector organisations began — till today, no state-owned entity including PIA, Steel Mills and Pakistan Railways has been able to perform according to the required standards. Nationalisation of factories, industries, banks, insurance companies, schools and colleges during the first PPP government opened the floodgates of irreversible corruption and nepotism.
The plane crash in Karachi’s residential area has however raised fundamental questions about the absence of a decision-making mechanism in the government to ensure the safety of flights by making the management of PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) accountable and responsible for all plane crashes. The government’s typical attitude of ordering an inquiry after every crash — covering up those responsible and not implementing inquiry reports — exposes the failure of decision-making. It seems various governments regardless of their political affiliations are sure that they will not make any decision on punishing those responsible for the loss of the lives of passengers and crew. As a result, PIA, like other state and semi-state-owned organisations, has become a hub of incompetent, corrupt and dishonest officials who think they are above the law and can get away regardless of any mishap.
Pakistan’s history is replete with examples of public-sector entities like the Steel Mills, Pakistan Railways, Pakistan Post, WAPDA and state-funded educational institutions where large-scale mismanagement and deficits of trillions of rupees every year exposed the government’s failure to firmly decide their proper functioning. People with fake degrees and mediocre caliber gain employment through bribes or personal/political connections with the higher ups. However, the retrenchment of employees of state-owned institutions is not the solution as a competent government must make people work and deliver. Firing PSM employees under the pretext that it is running on losses and had stopped functioning in 2015 is not the solution. Those who were a liability in the PSM should have been fired after due process.
The lack of ownership and responsibility is the hallmark of various regimes, whether civilian, military or quasi-military, which has inducted indifference and non-seriousness in the decision-making process. If Prime Minister Imran Khan decided to make public all inquiry reports of all plane crashes in Pakistan, one can inquire what difference it will make. If the report of the Sugar Commission has been made public, will it punish those responsible for looting more than Rs100 billion?
It is high time for those wielding power in Pakistan to decide if they want to stop the process of covering up, corruption and nepotism or want to look the other way where every now and then there is a national tragedy and scandals costing precious lives and billions of rupees. Decision-making at the national and other levels to weed out corruption and ensure total accountability is not easy in Pakistan where decades of greed, bribes and irresponsibility act as a major impediment to achieve a paradigm shift.
Three major shifts in the government’s decision-making approach and policy are essential.
First, clarity, courage, and risk-taking on the part of the leadership can ensure positive results. Unfortunately, no government in Pakistan and those responsible have been able to decide how to punish those who have ruined the country’s national assets and played havoc with people’s lives. People know the state-run institutions that have been inundated with incompetent and dishonest staff but neither the management of such bodies nor the government held them accountable. Now it seems to be too late because the culture of corruption has permeated the people’s psyche.
The other day, the Federal Information Minister talked about ‘mafias’ and how the country has been hijacked by some people who consider themselves above the law. If incidents like the PIA crash and the sugar and wheat scandals are a source of humiliation for the country, the responsibility lies with the government which has failed to take and implement decisions to weed out corruption.
Second, there are gaps in decision-making because of a lack of professionalism. When decisions are not taken at the right time and personal or political considerations are taken into account, the outcome is failure and loss of credibility. This is what has primarily happened in Pakistan in the last several decades because bad governance has exposed the competence and integrity of several state institutions and their performance is below standard.
Lack of professionalism in decision-making led to the disintegration of Pakistan in 1971; the imposition of the longest martial law in the country in July 1977; India’s occupation of a part of Siachen Glacier in 1984; the Ojhri Camp disaster of April 1988; the Kargil mishap in the summer of 1999; joining the US-led war on terror after September 11, 2001; the release of CIA agent Raymond Davis who was implicated in a double murder case in Lahore in March 2011; and, Operation Gerimino which led to the uncovering and killing of the global terrorist and founder of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, from a house in Abbottabad in May 2011. There are dozens of other events which expose the fault lines in Pakistan’s decision-making.
Third, the pandemic is a recent example reflecting poor decision-making on the part of the federal and provincial governments. The decision to enforce strict lockdown or a smart lockdown or easing the lockdown to deal with coronavirus proves the lack of coordination and consistency in dealing with a virus which not only has lethal ramifications but tends to destabilise the society.
Till the time a culture of professionalism is inducted in the country’s work ethics, one will continue to experience failure in crisis decision-making. Lack of accountability, bad governance, absence of law, corruption and nepotism have become entrenched in the state and societal organs.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 12th, 2020.
Crisis decision-making is the nucleus of any state functioning. Whether in a war or in peace time, the leadership of a country is judged for its vision and clarity on making decisions. When the risk-taking capacity of the leadership is unquestionable and decisions are made without any fear, or for personal or political gains, one can expect the right kind of results. The PIA plane crash that killed 97 on board has again exposed the fault lines in the government’s decision-making. Since 1972 — when the politicisation of public-sector organisations began — till today, no state-owned entity including PIA, Steel Mills and Pakistan Railways has been able to perform according to the required standards. Nationalisation of factories, industries, banks, insurance companies, schools and colleges during the first PPP government opened the floodgates of irreversible corruption and nepotism.
The plane crash in Karachi’s residential area has however raised fundamental questions about the absence of a decision-making mechanism in the government to ensure the safety of flights by making the management of PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) accountable and responsible for all plane crashes. The government’s typical attitude of ordering an inquiry after every crash — covering up those responsible and not implementing inquiry reports — exposes the failure of decision-making. It seems various governments regardless of their political affiliations are sure that they will not make any decision on punishing those responsible for the loss of the lives of passengers and crew. As a result, PIA, like other state and semi-state-owned organisations, has become a hub of incompetent, corrupt and dishonest officials who think they are above the law and can get away regardless of any mishap.
Pakistan’s history is replete with examples of public-sector entities like the Steel Mills, Pakistan Railways, Pakistan Post, WAPDA and state-funded educational institutions where large-scale mismanagement and deficits of trillions of rupees every year exposed the government’s failure to firmly decide their proper functioning. People with fake degrees and mediocre caliber gain employment through bribes or personal/political connections with the higher ups. However, the retrenchment of employees of state-owned institutions is not the solution as a competent government must make people work and deliver. Firing PSM employees under the pretext that it is running on losses and had stopped functioning in 2015 is not the solution. Those who were a liability in the PSM should have been fired after due process.
The lack of ownership and responsibility is the hallmark of various regimes, whether civilian, military or quasi-military, which has inducted indifference and non-seriousness in the decision-making process. If Prime Minister Imran Khan decided to make public all inquiry reports of all plane crashes in Pakistan, one can inquire what difference it will make. If the report of the Sugar Commission has been made public, will it punish those responsible for looting more than Rs100 billion?
It is high time for those wielding power in Pakistan to decide if they want to stop the process of covering up, corruption and nepotism or want to look the other way where every now and then there is a national tragedy and scandals costing precious lives and billions of rupees. Decision-making at the national and other levels to weed out corruption and ensure total accountability is not easy in Pakistan where decades of greed, bribes and irresponsibility act as a major impediment to achieve a paradigm shift.
Three major shifts in the government’s decision-making approach and policy are essential.
First, clarity, courage, and risk-taking on the part of the leadership can ensure positive results. Unfortunately, no government in Pakistan and those responsible have been able to decide how to punish those who have ruined the country’s national assets and played havoc with people’s lives. People know the state-run institutions that have been inundated with incompetent and dishonest staff but neither the management of such bodies nor the government held them accountable. Now it seems to be too late because the culture of corruption has permeated the people’s psyche.
The other day, the Federal Information Minister talked about ‘mafias’ and how the country has been hijacked by some people who consider themselves above the law. If incidents like the PIA crash and the sugar and wheat scandals are a source of humiliation for the country, the responsibility lies with the government which has failed to take and implement decisions to weed out corruption.
Second, there are gaps in decision-making because of a lack of professionalism. When decisions are not taken at the right time and personal or political considerations are taken into account, the outcome is failure and loss of credibility. This is what has primarily happened in Pakistan in the last several decades because bad governance has exposed the competence and integrity of several state institutions and their performance is below standard.
Lack of professionalism in decision-making led to the disintegration of Pakistan in 1971; the imposition of the longest martial law in the country in July 1977; India’s occupation of a part of Siachen Glacier in 1984; the Ojhri Camp disaster of April 1988; the Kargil mishap in the summer of 1999; joining the US-led war on terror after September 11, 2001; the release of CIA agent Raymond Davis who was implicated in a double murder case in Lahore in March 2011; and, Operation Gerimino which led to the uncovering and killing of the global terrorist and founder of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, from a house in Abbottabad in May 2011. There are dozens of other events which expose the fault lines in Pakistan’s decision-making.
Third, the pandemic is a recent example reflecting poor decision-making on the part of the federal and provincial governments. The decision to enforce strict lockdown or a smart lockdown or easing the lockdown to deal with coronavirus proves the lack of coordination and consistency in dealing with a virus which not only has lethal ramifications but tends to destabilise the society.
Till the time a culture of professionalism is inducted in the country’s work ethics, one will continue to experience failure in crisis decision-making. Lack of accountability, bad governance, absence of law, corruption and nepotism have become entrenched in the state and societal organs.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 12th, 2020.