Houses of Commerce and Industry
Every institution in this country seems to be self-destructing at an alarming rate. During 1989, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) enjoyed its most prestigious year since inception, by Mid-1990 FPCCI has sunk lower than it would care to admit. Essentially the same GROUP holds sway over the elected management, only a change of personalities having taken place, in actual fact a sea change of fortunes has occurred.
Tariq Sayeed’s tenure as President was certainly FPCCI’s golden year. By gentle, velvet-gloved persuasion, he managed to bring all the disparate contending forces together. FPCCI for the first time eclipsed even the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the most powerful (and effective) Business Chamber in Pakistan normally.
Located in the same city, FPCCI was used to lip-service attention only. Without diminishing KCCI’s prestige, Tariq Sayeed raised FPCCI to its rightful place as the pre-eminent Chamber of the country.
KCCI is ideally located in the virtual centre of Karachi’s commercial activity and as such has been within easy reach of businessmen who can at best spare only a few moments from their pre-occupations for important Chamber activities. However because of acute traffic congestion and lack of floor space, the Chamber Building is not representative of KCCI’s prestige, it cannot even house more than 20% of its members at any one time. On the other hand, FPCCI location has its own dynamics, housed in its own building, beautifully designed and custom-built for Chamber activities. Both the Chambers are very competently staffed, under its affable Secretary General, Aziz Y. Siddiqui, FPCCI enjoys a decided professional edge over the more experienced KCCI bureaucracy. With the deterioration of law and order, the constricted adjacent areas in KCCI’s vicinity have turned into potential traps and FPCCI has now taken a psychologically more important position because of its safer accessibility, businessmen now find it more convenient to visit the FPCCI.
Symbolic of Pakistan’s business potential, with more and more foreign delegations and individual businessmen visiting, the FPCCI is taking over the functions which were previously the prerogative of the KCCI’s alone in the main commercial city of Pakistan. The force of Tariq Sayeed’s personality and his diplomatic skills managed to unite the rank and file, resulting in more substantial interchange with the government and recognition thereof. Businessmen have historically enjoyed good rapport with the Federal Government except during 1972-77, this goodwill has been mostly individual rather than as a group. The government has traditionally never given businessmen the collective consideration, except on formal occasions, that as prestigious associations they should have enjoyed. For the first time, FPCCI started a meaningful dialogue with the government, represented by Federal Ministers instead of bureaucratic functionaries. The Prime Minister herself has graced discussions on various occasions. The force of business pressure on government’s policies can be seen from a radical change in PPP’s avowed manifesto, to the credit of the PPP Government they have pragmatically bent backwards because of economic reasons away from the nationalisation platform, opting instead for de-nationalisation and privatisation.
Into this love-fest was thrust Raja Abdul Rahman as President FPCCI. Not known for his delicate touch, a hangover from his ab initio profession, essentially he was the nominee of the same group as Tariq Sayeed, being a relative by marriage served as no disqualification. While 1989 passed in a spirit of cooperation, unfortunately things started to unravel for reasons beyond his control with the beginning of Raja Sahib’s incumbency. In the last quarter of the financial year 1989-90, the Government announced a stiff fuel-hike, a form of indirect taxation employed by all Third World governments to replenish their depleted coffers. The law and order situation had already deteriorated to a great degree, businessmen being increasingly lucrative targets, the community was already up in arms. Tariq Sayeed had dampened martial ardours intelligently by letting the business community blow off steam (he invited the eloquent Aitzaz Ahsan, Federal Minister for Interior, to address the businessmen in Karachi in a seminar on Security, Mr. Ahsan promptly obliged by a rhetorical filibuster). The demand for action by businessmen translated into direct action as the crime situation became worse. Raja Abdul Rehman now reaped the benefit of Tariq Sayeed’s reign, various business organisations and associations all got together finally under one platform despite the disagreement on the approach to various issues, a movement was started called the Movement for Restoration of Peace (MRP). Raja Abdul Rahman found himself Sir Galahad of a united business community and proceeded to make the most of it.
The high point was a Long March in Islamabad on May 26 where about 1,000 businessmen from all over the country constituting 70% of the topmost management in the private sector took part. Many of those taking part in the searing heat of the day were in their 50’s and 60’s, some journeying all the way from Karachi, their combined awesome presence saw them through police road blocks. To the Government’s credit they sent Federal Minister-type negotiators willy-nilly at various watering points to listen to the businessmen’s point of view. Nothing much came off it, the processionists remained adamant. Raja Abdul Rahman’s prestige as FPCCI’s President was enhanced as a genuine leader of the business community, so far so good.
The presentation of the Federal Budget by the long suffering Ehsanul Haq Peracha saw all hell break loose, the businessmen became militant and decided to go to war against the Federal Government by refusing to put advertisements on TV, go on countrywide strike etc. The Government showed no inclination to give any comfort to the businessmen while the Budget session was on except lip-service assurances, agreeing to give the businessmen some time — at the fag end of the finalisation of the Federal Budget. A meeting with the Prime Minister served as a prestige point, the disappointment at the delay was displayed by the call for a countrywide strike, only partially successful, quite a comedown from the original unity and solidarity displayed. One cannot negotiate from a position of weakness.
The trappings of the PM’s office, the personality and charm of Ms. Benazir herself had its effect when the delayed meeting took place eventually, Raja Abdul Rehman came out gushing from the meeting, horsily announcing that they had got “extraordinary concessions from this political government, which was more sensitive to the businessmen’s feelings than any other since the Shaheed-i-Millat”. As a sop to save the businessmen’s face, the PM made the right noises but gave away nothing, only a few tax concessions amounting to a paltry Rs.0.52 billion. The combination of power and money is volatile, when you mix it with greed, even good men (and women) go astray. The business community, forever skeptical, suspected Raja Abdul Rehman’s about turn in the face of so little overall gain for the business community. His detractors accuse him of getting personal benefits by scuttling the greater cause of Pakistan’s Commerce and Industry, he has his own point of view about not continuing a fruitless confrontation.
Raja Abdul Rehman’s rise from a humble background is something to be proud of, when respected members of the business community, President of KCCI and Vice-President of APTMA among them, are involved in a jostling match in his Chambers with his security guards, it is nothing to be proud of. When a bunch of untrained security guards point weapons at you, they act more or less like goons.
Hot words may have been exchanged, but to go beyond words is to demean the office of the President FPCCI and his Organisation, talk about a “Movement for the Restoration of Peace” then becomes a farce. Whatever be the actual facts this has been a most unfortunate development, surpassing the parameters of normal decorum and has to be condemned. Given provocation on either side, given the high passions and egos involved, one is still not ready to accept the raising of the fist in anger in the prime business institution in the country.
Something must be done to restore peace, tranquility and mutual respect in the business community. Guilty or not, Raja Abdul Rehman must immediately resign as President, he cannot inspire the respect of the business community within the community or sustain it outside, particularly in dealing with the Government. Whatever their involvement in the fracas, even as the aggrieved party, Khwaja Qutubuddin, President KCCI, and Farooq Soomar, Vice Chairman APTMA, must also resign their offices as a symbolic gesture. All of them can then stand for re-election, that is the democratic way of getting back the confidence of the electorate they represent. In the interim, the Senior Vice President FPCCI should take over as Acting President FPCCI so that the prestige of this prime business institution of Pakistan does not suffer. There is an act of accountability in this suggestion, maybe the business community can show the way to our politicians.
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