Accountability
While everyone seems to understand that the first priority of the military regime should be the economy, public anger about the loot of the national treasury engineered over the last 50 years (but far more pronounced over the last two decades) makes accountability the primary objective in the public perception. For “the great silent majority” who have seen the quality of their lives deteriorate even as a privileged few became rich beyond compare, it is important to take the looters to task. The disparity between the haves and have-nots has to be seen to be believed, the middle class has virtually been wiped out, bringing the 23% of the nation’s poor to a high of 40%. Since the economy is inter-connected with the accountability process the success of the government will lie in effecting a fair but ruthless exercise in this respect. What is recovered of the ill-gotten wealth will show up in the balance sheets of the nation’s economy as positive cash flow. The credibility of the Chief Executive and his team will largely rest in the public perception of whether and how accountability is carried out, without fear and/or favour or selectively and/or as an eyewash.
One of the first moves of the Chief Executive has been to appoint newly promoted Lt Gen Syed Mohammad Amjad as the Head of the Accountability Cell. Amjad who has an excellent reputation both of integrity and competence, will have his work cut out for him even though he will have the benefit of having plenty of material on politicians and some bureaucrats from Ms Benazir’s period of rule about Mian Nawaz Sharif, friends and associates and likewise during Mian Nawaz Sharif’s governance stint on the likes of Ms Benazir, etc. Sifting through the material to locate fact from fiction will be quite an exercise. This represents just the tip of the iceberg when one takes into account the highway robbery carried out on a wholesale and continuing basis by the bureaucracy for over five decades. To assist the new head of Ehtesab, the Chief Executive has made an excellent choice in Maj Gen (Retd) Inayatullah Khan Niazi, a man of impeccable character and integrity. A soldier to the core Gen Niazi has a history of being blunt, forthright and unswerving in doing the task given to him. Together they will make an excellent team.
Amjad’s problem is that proliferation of illegal money over a period of 50 years has created a huge elite with extensive social contacts. This powerful coterie from both sides of the divide can influence the course of any enquiry from being focussed on them, i.e if judicious use of money does not corrupt the investigators themselves. Moreover, these relationships have been intertwined through marriages, political and business alliances, etc into a virtual “Gordian knot”. We are in this mess because even those with sincere intentions have found it impossible to cut through this morass without harming themselves. How many times have we heard about motivated influence not only sidelining any enquiry but putting the investigators themselves into trouble?
In the first instance, all solicitation on anyone’s behalf should be formally recorded. One of the ways western countries make sure no one tampers with the bidding process for any tender is to have a rule to document all approaches of any kind made by anybody on somebody’s behalf. Similarly in any ongoing investigation, if the approach is on legal and technical grounds, they would be certainly justified in putting it in writing. All use of influence on anyone’s behalf should be a matter of public record. This exposure to public cynosure will act as a deterrent against attempting to change the course of justice. An example can be set by the Chief Executive and his closest aides by identifying those who try and reach them to campaign on anyone’s behalf but do not dare to put their “recommendations” in writing.
The next problem is of sharing information among the various agencies and coalescing it on the Accountability Cell. The initial targets should be the loan defaulters and known tax evaders. All information should be clubbed together for investigation and subsequent prosecution by the Accountability Cell. All issues of malfeasance in government revenues should be referred to one head, this should include customs, excise, wealth tax, etc. It is ridiculous to note that those prosecuted under excise evasion do not get prosecuted on income tax grounds even though both the departments come under the Central Board of Revenue (CBR). Anything picked up by the various intelligence agencies about these individuals/entities should be referred to the Cell.
All details should then be keyed in by the Accountability Cell by computers in order to cross-match. Tracing out tax evasion is far more difficult given the fact that most tax officials are corrupt to the core. Mr Moinuddin Khan, formerly Chairman CBR, has given a very detailed picture of his short but effective stint and how he was systematically hampered from doing his task. Business houses have built up their relationships with politicians, bureaucrats and even the military over the years in such a subtle and sophisticated manner that there is a vested interest to avoid any deep probe. Like the Mafia in the US, over the years those who have accumulated wealth through illegal means have gone into legitimate business with sound professional operations with professional expertise making for a perfect camouflage of their criminal past. Transparency International has held numerous seminars with Interpol’s help to focus how countries can react to uncover such illegal entities. At the same time outright criminals including drug smugglers have gone into joint ventures with foreign parties so as to get the protection of western governments who are sensitive to their investment being subjected to harassment of any kind. With large cash flows, criminal elements will seldom be found near loan defaulter’s list, unless they use that as a convenient cover to safeguard their interests. It is essential not only to identify such people but also to trace out their ill-gotten assets. Man is an animal susceptible to temptation, a close watch must be kept on the “catchers” themselves, they could well end up in the rye themselves.
The other day the Governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) spoke on TV about going after people’s lifestyles in the recovery of loans. Even if the highest paid government servant were to save Rs 10,000 per month out of his salary over a period of 30 years, it is simply an absurd proposition he could not afford even one residential house worth Rs 3.00 to Rs 4.00 million. Any government servant having more than one house must be made to justify how he got the property. If he has it in more than one name, then why so? The first thing that must be done is to seek public declaration of assets as the Chief Executive has voluntarily done, to include all the bureaucracy as well as all those involved in the running of the Government, whether in the public or private sector. These should include the names of parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties, cousins, etc. A check should be made on all their earnings as it is unlikely that the “names” used will have a tax record or for that matter any financial record. If they have money and have failed to declare it, the tax people need to get their pound of flesh. Reward should be given as incentives to those who inform on ill-gotten wealth, and help should be sought from the private sector, both from individuals and from corporate entities.
Accountability in Pakistan will certainly cover a vast majority of the elite, i.e if it is properly carried out. There will be vested interest to thwart the process. Another temptation may be to start from the immediate predecessors and forget about the previous years, more as a self-defence mechanism that ignores ground realities. That will be real tragedy, to ignore those who have made corruption a protected institution in Pakistan.
Make no mistake, irrespective of other areas of concern, the success or failure of the military regime will lie in what the Accountability Cell manages to accomplish.
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