Democracy Needs an Opposition
Without check and balance, even a democracy can become a dictatorship. For too long, we have had total rule unfettered by an opposition strong enough to effectively counter the totalitarian urges of the rulers, elected and unelected. The result has been that those who are mandated by the people to enforce the rule of law have invariably become the major violators of law in the land. Other than an extremely faulty system of democracy that enjoins “the first past the post” system rather than an actual majority of the votes cast, thereby giving a minority a rule over a majority, the practice in South Asia is to centre “democracy” around personalities, with only lip-service given to ideology and constitutional mores. The result has been voter apathy as more and more people are frustrated in the democratic process, with progress denied to the masses and confined to a privileged few or those whom they choose to associate with them.
In Pakistan the present Opposition lacks credibility. As much as Ms Benazir may try and charm foreign audiences to deny her corrupt governance, this is now a documented fact of life. She and her husband can invent any number of technicalities to escape the process of law, there is a pretty open and shut evidence against their corruption on scores of counts. What is amazing is that despite her known indiscretions, she continues to be blatant about her denials. This leads to a more serious charge, of brazen faced misrepresentation of the truth on a daily basis — and this is the stuff of leadership she has provided to the people of Pakistani! And she does not stop at that, having subjected the people of Pakistan to economic misery to accumulate illegal wealth, she is actively engaged in activity that is detrimental to the interests of Pakistan. And she is not alone, party workers mesmerised by her charisma one can understand but mature party leaders who privately acknowledge her and her husband’s corruption should only have contempt for her instead of publicly defending her. These include party colleagues as well as the smattering of allied leaders like Nawabzada Nasrullah, Hamid Nasir Chattha, etc, etc, who are guilty of abetment, having turned a glazed eye to the Zardari shenanigans. They have put the person (and their own selfish interests) before the national interest and any person who does that does not deserve to be called a leader. Leaders must have credibility and in the face of facts all those who are still supporting Ms Benazir lack the moral responsibility they owe to the people they profess to lead. That leaves only erstwhile ally ANP in the opposition and while one may disagree with them on any number of counts, the fact remains that they are at least credible and not prone to tell outright lies repeatedly as some of their colleagues in the Parliamentary Opposition do. The MQM, which despite being in the government, oppose their colleagues on most counts, has also lost its credibility over the years. A once-fine movement, founded on the rightful need to give the Mohajir community a rightful say under the sun, has now degenerated into corruption. When a leader is away in self-exile far away as is Altaf Hussain it is difficult to control the party’s militant cohorts who have made collection of “protection money” or “Bhatta” into a fine art, or for that matter their white-collar leaders who have mastered the art of siphoning off big money in Karachi’s mega-projects. As such their once-vaunted simplicity and credibility have been rather shot as they have descended into “business as usual”.
First Major Blow for Accountability?
On March 22, 1994, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) took significant action to restore the credibility of the Pakistani banking system by removing the top management of Mehran Bank and replacing them with an SBP-appointed Chief Executive. At the same time, FIA arrested the real owner of the Bank, Yunus Habib. To support the case against this gentleman, the Governor SBP laid out the findings of a Committee headed by a Deputy Governor of the Bank, viz. (1) Mehran Bank had been repeatedly violating the statutory liquidity requirement by failing to maintain the liquid assets as provided under Section 29 of the Banking Companies Ordinance 1962, (2) Mehran Bank had been extending loans and advances far in excess of the credit limit set by SBP in clear violation of SBP directions, (3) Mehran Bank had been issuing false certificates in various areas, (4) the management in clear violation of commitments, had given liberal export refinance to defaulters, and (5) the Mehran Bank has committed a breach of trust by not depositing rupee equivalent of US$ 36.7 million (Rs.1.1 billion) to the SBP against the sale of Dollar Bearer Certificate (DBCs) within the stipulated time frame.
On Feb 1, 1994 in an article in THE NATION entitled “DETERIORATION OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS” we wrote that, “The overall environment is one of lack of accountability. In this wild-west atmosphere financial cowboys ran riot. One esteemed gentleman as Provincial Chief of a major NCB advanced hundreds of millions of rupees to fake companies owned by his associates. When this was discovered and he was removed from office, he twice made a comeback on the strength of pressure from authoritative quarters. Instead of being brought to trial he was “permitted” to “honourably” resign. Subsequently he was given permission to open a private bank by the Nawaz Sharif Government, to the credit of SBP they refused to let him become either Chief Executive or Chief Operating Officer, this restriction being made on the basis of the SBP reference to his original bank. However, it is widely rumoured that he is on his way back into the financial corridors of one of the remaining NCBs, this is certainly not on the basis of his reputation but on other “considerations”. He symbolises a pattern of survival manifest in all those engaged in malfeasance, these men are good for conducting financial mayhem in all political seasons”, unquote. Continuing to record the saga of this gentleman in an article entitled “Money and Power”, in THE NATION on Feb 15, 1994, to quote “With bureaucracy letting control slip somewhat to some politicians, a new class of senior banking executives ran riot in the wholesale plunder of the banking system in collaboration with them. If any non-governmental organisation (NGO) with investigative experience is given a mandate (and an incentive as bounty, say 10% of the plundered total they manage to locate), Pakistan’s financial coffers can be refilled dramatically. Excellent data may also become available to the Income Tax and Wealth Authorities e.g. the gentleman who plundered over Rs.4000 million from the banking system. The present modus operandi has become so blatant that people of known dishonesty are increasingly put into control of some financial institutions with impunity, their lack of credibility and reputation makes them insecure and thus totally dependent on their masters for their continued existence, a solid insurance for their continued loyalty. Even the last bastion of financial integrity in the country, the universally esteemed State Bank of Pakistan is now under attack”, unquote. While one must not condemn a man without giving him a chance to have his say in court, the fact of the matter remains that Yunus Habib’s financial misdemeanours were widely known throughout the Pakistani banking system. How ISI’s foreign exchange funds came to be parked in Mehran Bank is another story that one may not press for media disclosure in the national interest but why was Mehran Bank reluctant to part with the ISI’s money and where did it get the courage to hold such powerful institution as the ISI ransom? Enough smoke exists to focus on the source of the fire in a closed-door enquiry.