Fawad questions ‘senseless’ transparency Int'l report
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry addressing media in Islamabad. SCREENGRAB
As the ruling party faces fresh headwinds and political rivals seize on the country’s descent on the global graft index to bash the government, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has termed the ranking ‘senseless’.
In a major blow to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) accountability narrative, Transparency International placed Pakistan at the 140th position out of 180 countries on its Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for the year 2021.
The report emboldened the government's political rivals who stepped up their campaign.
The information minister deplored that at a time when the World Bank (WB) had confirmed Pakistan’s economic growth of 5.37 per cent, and lauded the government's policies to deal with the pandemic, a “baseless” report with no substance made headlines.
ہم کس قدر منظم مافیا کا سامنا کر رہے ہیں کہ ایسے وقت میں جب عالمی بینک نے پاکستان کی 5.37 فیصد سے ترقی کی تصدیق کر رہا ہےکرونا سے نبٹنے کی حکومتی پالیسیوں کی تعریف عالمی سطح پر ہو رہی ہےایک ایسی بے سروپا رپورٹ آتی ہے جس کا سر ہے نہ پیراور ایک پریس ریلیز پر ہیڈ لائنیں لگ جاتی ہیں
Fawad said the report maintains that the rule of law had declined in Pakistan, “but nobody knows on what basis it has made the claim”.
Despite there being no mention of financial corruption in the report, the stories mentioned in the press release were such that they encouraged even a “corrupt opposition” to criticise the incumbent government.
Further referring to the opposition’s critique, the minister retorted that “It is the glory of the Almighty that the PML-N and Fazlur Rehman call Imran Khan's government corrupt,” stating that such claims were highly hypocritical.
‘System has collapsed’
On the other hand, the ruling party’s chief rival, PML-N, continued piling on and sharpening its attacks on the government over the report
Reacting to statements of members of government, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said that instead of ignoring the report, the prime minister should reflect and hold himself accountable for breaking a decade-old record of corruption.
The PML-N leader said Transparency International’s report on rising corruption was a “declaration” that the system has actually collapsed under PM Imran's rule.
Read PM Imran defends govt against damning Transparency Int'l report
In a statement issued on Wednesday, he lambasted the prime minister for “surpassing those in corruption against whom he joined the politics”.
Shehbaz said that TI’s report calls for reflection and pondering over reforms at the national level. “He [Imran Khan] has surpassed those in corruption against whom he joined the politics.”
“Imran Khan has not just proven dangerous for Pakistanis but deadly,” he added.
‘Global certificate of corruption’
Reacting to the information minister’s tweet about the TI’s report, PML-N spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb said it was shameful that “the global certificate of corruption” was not enough to soften the ruling party's “mulish and arrogant tone”.
“The Transparency International has termed Imran Khan a thief because historic corruption and looting has taken place in the country,” she said, addressing the information minister.
She said the report was clearly saying that all kinds of corruption in government and public affairs have increased and recalled that PM Imran himself had used the TI’s reports to “lecture” on corruption.
“The report is based on the facts about your own theft of flour, sugar, medicine, electricity, gas, and LNG," she added.