Politics of freebies

As Pakistan’s political rivals intensely clash to demolish one another, the British prime minister’s choice this month to return the cost of freebies he received earlier, must serve as a timely lesson for the country’s ruling elite.

The equivalent of roughly $8500 returned by Keir Starmer was paid against the cost of tickets to a musical concert, horse racing events and a football match.

These expenditures were challenged on the grounds of being improper and therefore not fit to be charged to the public treasury. In sharp contrast, such freebies will be left unnoticed by Pakistan’s political class with a history of seizing a lot more during their tenures. Ignoring such largesse over time lies at the heart of the erosion of values in public life over previous decades.

Today, opposition leader Imran Khan remains tangled up in the ‘Toshakhana’ case, involving the sale of gifts that he received while serving as the prime minister. But his predecessors, Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari gained equally if not much more, when the laws of the land were set aside to allow them to purchase luxury vehicles after they paid far below their actual prices.

These choices remain just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, in a country where largesse for the ruling class at the public’s expense has been an acceptable norm for long.

Down the line from the top tiers of government to the bottom, grabbing assets of the state as legitimate patronage is a recurring theme in Pakistan’s history. And it’s a legacy that has only wrecked Pakistan’s prospects in more ways than one.

The ruling class, which is represented by elected legislators at the centre and the provinces, stands far removed from legislative business which ought to be their primary responsibility. Instead, they have repeatedly chosen to focus on seizing patronage, notably development funds for their constituencies as a matter of top priority. This has been closely followed by other malpractices, notably overseeing appointments of their favourite bureaucrats and police officers at key positions within their constituencies.

Exactly how these funds for development are spent has seldom been probed deeply enough. Anecdotal evidence, however, has repeatedly pointed towards the incidence of widespread corruption in such expenditure.

The unbridled use of ‘freebies’ that has evolved in Pakistan over time has already cost the country very dearly. It stands right at the heart of rampant corruption spread across Pakistan over the past decades.

Eventually, there has been an erosion of the quality of politics, management of administration and law enforcement, and key aspects of economic management. Once corruption became the norm, Pakistan’s prospects across the board suffered in ways that made a recovery for the better an uphill battle.

A turn-around to reclaim the legacy of the glorious days of Pakistan’s past fundamentally requires several steps. Ending the use of freebies as a reward for stepping into elected office must be the starting point. In this exercise, it is vital to enforce the law in its entirety, requiring political players irrespective of their affiliations to stand accountable.

Such an exercise will only prove useful if the way Pakistan’s political conduct and economic decision-making are revamped.

On the one hand, all links between politics at all levels and the grant of patronage must be severed. This will require the establishment of independent structures to oversee the functioning of the civil service without any intrusion from Pakistan’s ruling class. Civil servants including senior figures in the police must be kept immune from being posted to or from their positions under orders from elected representatives.

Likewise, the rights of opposition figures must be protected from being blatantly violated in cases involving the police. In Pakistan’s journey towards the evolution of its democratic politics, opposition politicians have too often been targeted by their foes using police officers patronized by them.

On the other hand, ending the use of ‘freebies’ as an acceptable norm in politics is essential, to cleanse Pakistan’s economic outlook from a hugely regressive trend. For long, members of Pakistan’s ruling class have used their clout to pressurize business interests.

In return, their gains have ranged from favours from the business community for their affiliates to outright favours for ruling politicians. In addition to the apparent rise in the cost of doing business, investors targeted are left unnerved over being effectively harassed repeatedly by the ruling class, unless they pay up.

At a time when Pakistan has just received its 25th bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to avert a balance of payments crisis, much follow-up work needs to be done.

Ending the link between the ruling class and patronage is essential to allow Pakistan to stand on its own feet, and avoid a return to another crisis that will require yet another IMF loan driven by painful conditions. Short of decisive action backed by tough reforms, Pakistan’s outlook will just not change for the better.

The writer is an Islamabad-based journalist who writes on political and economic affairs. He can be reached at: farhanbokhari@gmail.com