Crisis of governance

In the discipline of international relations (IR), good governance and efficient leadership are regarded very significant intangible sources of national power. Since its inception as an independent state, Pakistan has been plagued by lingering and insidious bad governance. Presumably, all of the existing political and socio-economic issues of the country can be attributed to the deeply-seated ineffective leadership.

Good governance is a prerequisite to the democratic continuity and uninterrupted prosperity of a country. There is a range of examples that clearly show that even resource-strapped nations have become economically prosperous and militarily powerful only with the help of good governance. In Far East Asia, even though Japan, Taiwan and Singapore are devoid of natural resources, they have still made strides on all fronts only because of competent leadership heading them. On the other hand, Pakistan is replete with precious natural resources, but the country is still lagging far behind owing to entrenched bad governance and brewing leadership crisis.

To impartially assess the level of good governance in Pakistan, it is imperative to take into consideration some pre-determined parameters of quality governance identified by the World Bank (WB). According to the WB, maximum participation in governance is the first and foremost precondition of good governance. Arguably, Pakistan’s politics is quite exclusionary. Dynastic and hereditary politicians have largely monopolised the power corridors since the 1950s. Such powerful and influential politicians heavily rely on immense wealth to readily purchase votes from the poor and uneducated people. Thus, the politically educated youth barely ever get to reach parliament, and the country is deprived of the competence of the youth required to expedite the development process.

Competence, effectiveness and efficacy are also some ingredients of good governance. These qualities mean that the leadership possesses the capacity and capability to create result-oriented policies meant to attain maximum delivery of public services. The incumbent government seems to be lacking in all of these qualities.

All of the legislative assemblies in the country are oblivious of needed legislation. Most of the acts passed by the government dismally fail to meet the required demands of the ever-increasing population. Many policies crafted by the government result in further misuse and misapplication of dwindling cash.

Impartial accountability and responsibility also play a central role in good governance. Almost all public institutions and office-bearers are largely unaccountable to competent authorities regarding their discharge of constitutional responsibility. Against the principle of parliamentary democracy, the ministers of the executive departments are not responsible to the legislative body. The national investigative agencies and accountability bureaus are toothless to look into the corrupt practices and irregularities committed by the potent and wealthy politicians and bureaucrats.

Transparency and openness ensure good governance. Both lay stress on the uninterrupted but necessary public access to information on decisions and transactions made by the government. In Pakistan, since corruption and unconstitutional measures are the order of the day, the public is systematically kept in dark about the activities of MNAs and MPAs. For example, the people are hardly provided with any information about the substantial funds afforded to the irresponsible ministers.

Last but not the least, rule of law is of paramount importance for the sustainability of effectual leadership. The concept of rule of law means that all and sundry are regulated by the same law of the country, and the officialdom is not treated with special laws. Moreover, whenever anybody violates the law, he is promptly punished by the same law. In our country, influential politicians and powerful criminals are above the law.

The aforementioned yardsticks make it abundantly clear that good governance is still a distant dream in the country. As a result, some wealthy and mighty families have had an unchallengeable hold over government and the dwindling resources of the country long enough. The ordinary people of the country, more than 90 percent of the population, are purposely deprived of their due political, socio-economic and educational rights granted to them by the constitution. The country, as a consequence, lags behind other developing South Asian states in terms of economic prosperity.

It is never too late to bring in the required reforms in governance. The proposed steps should include full participation of the educated youth in the government, implementation of rule of law and transparency in all matters of the government. If the incumbent government shies away from reforming the ineffective and rotten system, the country will continue to suffer.

The writer is an independent researcher, blogger, columnist based in Karachi.

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