Behold a Trojan Horse
As far back as 1989 it was clear Hubco would be an albatross around Pakistan’s neck but we are a glutton for punishment and we persisted with this scam. When eventually confronted, Hubco countered with an extremely effective propaganda campaign, holding the country’s financial liquidity hostage and virtually putting all future investment in Pakistan under jeopardy. In this no-win situation we should be thankful we managed to cut our losses and accept, however unpalatable, Hubco’s terms for surrender. With a Trojan Horse or two as a trump card up their sleeve, Hubco’s investors can be excused for laughing all the way to their private banks. Someone someday will do an exhaustive case study to include those who, viz (1) conceived this monstrosity both in (a) Pakistan and (b) abroad, to include government and non-government functionaries, international financial technocrats, consultants, etc (3) nurtured the project, engineers of all kind, bureaucrats, politicians etc (4) were the investors, Japanese (later replaced by Saudis), British, Singaporean, US, etc (5) built it, mainly construction companies, equipment manufacturers, etc (6) then profited by it, mainly almost all of the aforementioned (7) took part in the cover-up and sustaining of the scam, including WAPDA personnel (8) acted as accessories to a combination of media and diplomatic blackmail designed to force us to swallow the bitter pill and (9) lastly, whose children’s grandchildren will continue paying through their nose for the next millennium, long after Hubco is a pile of rubble and rusted scrap?
Vision, and the Lack of It
The last Federal Cabinet meeting saw the Chief Executive exhorting the Finance Minister to process proposals for water for Karachi on a “fast track” basis. Simultaneously he tasked the Ministry of Water and Power to solve KESC’s financial and technical problems so that Karachiites would not be subjected to the acute discomfort of 2-3 hrs of daily loadshedding at prime office time. The Chief Executive probably does not know that one member of his Cabinet made a historical “contribution” to the lack of potable water and uninterrupted electricity being faced by Karachiites in particular and Pakistanis in general.
Symbols for Accountability
Contrast the Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif, appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to answer charges of corruption in the French Minehunters deal, to Ms Benazir Bhutto, required to answer questions raised by her role in the purchase of five secondhand helicopters by the Cabinet Division and refusing to do so. For someone who has a lot to answer for, she can be quite obdurate most of the time, all cooperation, honey and sugar when it suits her. With great fanfare she appeared on April Fools Day before the Nazir of the Sindh Ehtesab Bench case to take bail on a surety of Rs. 25,000, but she still refuses to appear before the PAC. Answering the PAC summons Mian Shahbaz Sharif confidently answered the queries of Maj Gen (Retd) Naseerullah Khan Babar, former Interior Minister in the PPP Cabinet, and convincingly proved to Gen Babar (and the PAC) with the help of his passport that the information given to Gen Babar based on which the General had levelled the allegations, that he had travelled to France to “influence” the French deal, were wrong. With Gen Babar not able to substantiate the charges, the evidence on record was found to be incorrect and the PAC held the allegations to be false, exonerating the Punjab CM. On this Gen Babar did the honourable thing and immediately retired from politics. Both the events are symbolic of the new season for accountability in Pakistan. Shahbaz Sharif deserves kudos for creating precedence, appearance before various forums is not only being avoided on different pretexts by Ms Bhutto but also by Mian Shahbaz’s Sindhi counterpart, Liaquat Ali Jatoi. Gen Babar did us proud by doing the honourable option available for the upright when proven publicly wrong, such things rarely happen in Pakistan, in Japan they would have committed hara-kiri. Not that senior government functionaries should start appearing in every court on every charge but when the inquisition is desired by one’s colleagues of the elected Assembly, the decorum and dignity of that institution demands the presence of those from whom propriety requires answers from, particularly pertaining to their honesty and integrity. Earlier to Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s appearance before the PAC, the PM’s appearance before the Supreme Court (SC) on a contempt of court charge in Nov 97 had symbolically conveyed to all and sundry that no matter how high the office and the mandate notwithstanding, the authority of the Supreme Court of Pakistan transcended any other authority in the matter of dispensation of justice. For politicians who subject themselves to the court of public opinion on a continuing basis, submitting to the authority of the judiciary in an environment that tends to normally manipulate justice, is an important and giant symbolic step for accountability. However politicians are not the only breed that start filibustering every time a court of law asks them to appear for some reason or the other, bureaucrats very seldom make an appearance and that only on very deep sufferance and with great resentment. Since the judiciary is still not separated from the executive, judges and magistrates below the level of the SC and the High Court remain in apprehension of the long arm of the bureaucracy.