Compliant civil bureaucracy?

Scapegoating the civil bureaucracy may not get the incumbent government off the hook because it only reflects poorly on the ruling party leadership’s inaptness in the context of good governance. Civil bureaucrats are not stupid who will stick their neck out by manifesting their allegiance to the former political bosses while undertaking their official duties. They know fully well, barring tiny exceptions, that their job security hinges on serving the incumbent government faithfully and sincerely. They know without the slightest deviation of second thought that showing of minuscule degree of inclination to former political bosses will be at the cost of their survival -- the prohibitive price that no bureaucrat can afford. They also know no matter how smart they play their prejudice against the government of the day, if any, will surface one day to spoil their service record that paves the way or otherwise so far as their future prospects in the service are concerned. It is therefore unfair if not naive to blame bureaucracy for the poor governance because they cannot contemplate not to implement policies of the political government with best of their abilities. So, there is dire need to formulate clear policies to improve governance without the apprehension of bureaucracy putting the cold water on the building of ‘New Pakistan’. They will be at their best for their own cherished reasons.

How painful for the people of this country that their country is generally known for the wrong reasons the world over mainly due to political and economic mega mess? Perceptions are bigger than reality and therefore dangerous requiring mandarins’ serious efforts for rectification at the earliest. But, many indicators are heart-wrenchingly upsetting. Pakistan is victim of terrorism and yet world believes as sponsor of the scourge, and now the country is grappling not to be included in the stigmatic list of FATF. Pakistan’s economy is again in dire strait and the government is desperately seeking a bail out while carrying begging bowel knocking at doors of the IMF and of the friendly countries in indignity and humiliation. Pakistan’s human resource development is at the lowest ebb even in this part of the region, barring Afghanistan. Around 25 million children are out of school those are going to be more of liability than valuable asset. Population explosion is hitting the roof with 44% stented children those would not bode well for the future of the country. Pakistan is known as unsafe country for the newborns because of the higher ratio of them die before their first birthday. The list of failures may continue endlessly. Pakistani nation is indeed starved of good news. Sometimes cricket does break the vicious cycle.

The root cause of the national woes mainly lies in the non-adherence to the Constitution that clearly defines the parameters of the functioning of all the arms of the government without prejudice. But, the unfortunate friction among the state institutions had been instrumental of impeding the nation building process quite often. The nation may not get rid of its recurrence till they sincerely operate within the limits well defined by the Constitution. The unfortunate tendency of individuals or of institutions to usurp the space of other institutions directly hurt the tricotimy of power (Separation of Powers) inexorably affecting the functioning of all the state institutions including of the government as the termers of the alacrity creep into the corridors of power diverting the focus from the development priorities to the survival strategy. This tendency had been rampart in this country resulting in political uncertainty pushing the nation building process backward thereby nullifying the gains made during the sporadic periods of political stability.

Former prime minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani during his watch used to underscore the importance of political stability as absolutely critical for the economic development as economic development without its cover was not possible. PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah while talking to media recently quite rightly asserted that sustainable prosperity in Pakistan could only be attained through the Parliament as all other roads to chaos and confusion with apocalyptic consequences.

Political stability is indeed sine qua non for economic development. It is proven universal truth. It is like written in stone. The ruling party therefore may understand this unblemished wisdom to contemplate to take all possible overtures to create an enabling environment for the promotion and sustenance of political stability in the wake of prevailing perilous uncertainty. Undoubtedly, political stability is a direct consequence of the cooperation between the ruling coalition and the opposition parties in consonance with the imperatives of functioning democracy. At present, unfortunately, no such inclination is visible on the horizon because the ruling party seems to be on collusion coarse to push the Opposition to the wall. The prognosis of such juggernaut may result in squandering the precious time of the nation. The predictable retribution of the Opposition in paying in the same coin is the faith accompli roiling the environment for economic growth. That may also push the economy in a tailspin situation in the final analysis. PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah was quite right when he said in the House that confrontational politics of the government posed dire threat to the democracy as well. PML-N leader Khawaja Asif while speaking at the floor of the House warned of the cascade of political victimisation, adding that it seemed we had not learnt lesson from the political history of ninety’s. His assertion implied, those nations who did learn from history hardly prosper. They were more likely to repeat it to reinforce doom and gloom.

The swelling of politics of vendetta is frankly in glaring conflict with the prime minister’s grappling to keep the morale of the nation sky high by announcing mega projects those, according to him, may change their lives for the better. These include building of ten million housing units within five years, making Pakistan green and clean during the same period, unflinching commitment to bring back billions of dollars of Pakistani money stashed in foreign countries, creation of ten million jobs to address the unemployment problem, building of large number of mega dams to tackle the electricity and water shortage problems comprehensively, and so on so forth. All these promises’ deliverance may surely fall in the realm of impossibility if government and Opposition remained in a state of their horn locked in perpetuity.

The optics of prime minister’s announcements may be good but not good enough for the majority of the people who were given to understand during election campaign by the leadership of the ruling party that their problems of life would be put on the trajectory of mitigation once the PTI government was in the saddle. It was easier said than done in the face of events those unfolded after its coming to power. The people are angry and disappointed as they were given the bad news of to be ready to face the unbearable burden necessary to stabilise the economy. The predicaments of the people relating to their day-today life seemingly may be compounded due to the price hike as a direct result of raise in tariff on gas and petroleum products and on the electricity in the near future.

The government’s projection as being not responsible for the prevalent economic meltdown may not cut ice among people who tend to judge the governance on the basis of relief made available to them. The track record in this count is abysmal. Anticipating the failure in providing relief, now the government has been lately seeking more time period from the people for deliverance. The finance minister’s warning to the nation that difficult decisions have yet to be made to precipitated the stabilisation process of the economy was like a bolt from the sky. Finance minister might be right when reviewed from the perspective of precarious position of the country’s economy. But, people were not impressed as they were inclined to be influenced by the high streets/Itwar bazars than the intricacies and constraints of the corridor of power or of the stock market.

The by-elections results are the symptomatic as how the people judged this government from their perspective. They have indeed given clear message to the ruling party that the people at the grassroots level were not happy with the governance and their support should not be taken for granted. Ordinarily, people’s opprobrium should force the ruling party to review its strategy and refrain from reinforcing the failed strategy. But, the mood of the ruling party leadership looks belligerent and the realisation of building bridges looks a farfetched cry yet. Seemingly hawks are ruling the roost.

The government’s on war path with the Opposition clearly defies the spirit of parliamentary democracy where taking the Opposition along is widely accepted norms of the business of the House. Unfortunately, the government ministers come in the House with their swords unsheathed leaving the Opposition with no option but to pay the hell in equal measure. Such politicking is anathema to the functioning of parliamentary democracy that requires the cooperation of the other political forces in the legislative business of the House. This ethos is exceedingly valid when seen in the context of the composition of the incumbent Parliament of Pakistan where the Opposition parties have formidable presence and majority in the Senate.

Indeed, the stalemate between the political divide is great source of anxiety among the people and political analysts fear its continuity may cause irredeemable collateral damage to the political system and indeed to the federation. Major responsibilities to pre-empt such ugly sight lies on the shoulder of the government as it has greater stakes in the longevity of the political system. The Opposition has been urging the ruling party to jettison the politics of invectiveness and rancour and instead promotes democratic culture in the interest of democracy and indeed for self-preservation of all democratic forces.

muhammadshaheedi@yahoo.com