Changing hands: Creating a populist model for privatisation

A privatised cricket board can be set up to test the model.

ESSEX:

There is a lot of talk in and outside the country about the government’s failure in Pakistan, with some political analysts categorising it as a “failed state”. Whether Pakistan provides an example of a failed state - or as Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani terms it “a state within a state” - is subject to political debate. However, President Asif Ali Zardari acknowledges that state-run corporations are not functioning up to the mark.

This is obviously an admission of failure by the government in running public sector organisations. Only time will tell if the government’s failure is partial or complete in its nature and scope. This article does not attempt to go into this debate but rather proposes the creation of a populist model for privatisation in the country.

There are a number of arguments in favour of privatisation and liberalisation, in terms of improved efficiency and productivity, and decrease in corruption and waste. A number of countries, including neighbouring India, have benefited immensely from their market reforms, leading to sustained growth rates in such countries. In Pakistan, however, the process of privatisation has been criticised for its opaqueness, sluggishness and incompleteness. Consequently, even the authoritarian governments with the likes of Parvez Musharraf   in power have shied away from privatising the likes of Pakistan Railways and Pakistan Steel Mills.

Before suggesting privatisation of the likes of Pakistan Railways, Pakistan International Airlines and many more industrial and non-industrial undertakings of the public sector, it may not be a bad idea to use cricket as a test case. As a popular sport, cricket engenders national unity, and at times has been used as an instrument for diplomacy between India and Pakistan.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a government body responsible for regulation, operation and promotion of cricket in the country. It has seen its ups and downs, but it is fair to say that in the recent past it has failed to manage the affairs of Pakistani cricket to the satisfaction of most stakeholders in the game.

The proposal is simple yet intriguing. It is proposed that an alternative cricket board, may be named Pakistan Alternative Cricket Board (PACB), be set up by the private sector. The proposed PACB can choose a team from the national talent pool and groom it for six months, before negotiating international matches with the national teams of other test playing nations. If it can be demonstrated that PACB in fact performs better than the existing PCB in terms of organisational efficiency, financial profitability and sustainability, and, most importantly, that the “alternative” national team performs better than the regular national team, then there is a definite case for privatisation of cricket in Pakistan. It will not only generate a lot of economic activity and jobs but can also be used to develop a populist case for privatisation of state-owned enterprises.

It will be interesting to see if Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) shows interest in such a proposal especially considering the political rhetoric its Chairman Imran Khan has used in his current political campaign. Imran Khan claims to have “done it” in cricket. It is time to test his all-encompassing skills to show results off the ground.

The success of such a model should then be used to create a populist demand for privatisation of economic activity in the country. The likes of Pakistan Railway, PIA, and all other production processes must be privatised, apart from those that have direct or indirect relevance to national security, law and order, and regulation and governance.

The writer is an economist and PhD from Cambridge University.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2012.