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| Power, people and poverty |
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Thursday, November 26, 2009
Kamila Hyat
The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor
The list of 8,000 or so beneficiaries of the NRO throws up few surprises. We all knew the top beneficiary was the president and this has been confirmed. NAB has denied that the list has in any way been manipulated. Not surprisingly, those who figure on it show little abashment and it has been made clear we should not expect those who currently hold key offices to step down.
The only exception to this has come in Punjab where an advisor to the CM has indeed quit after featuring on that ignominious list.
The fact that well over 7,000 names are those of government officials while only 36 politicians figure on the document indicates that perhaps the focus on political corruption has played a part in disguising the rot that eats away at our system and threatens to bring it down. The latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) from Transparency International (TI), which ranks Pakistan as 139th on a list of 180 countries ranked on the basis of perceived dishonesty in various sectors also offers little that is new. The question for all of us must be how we can escape the cycle of misrule that traps the majority of citizens, and contributes to the poverty and lack of power that dominates their lives.
There is evidence from around the world that different kinds of corruption usually co-exist. Corruption for need, or petty corruption of the kind we encounter when we pay out small bribes, is often encouraged by a culture of corruption for greed, or large-scale corruption committed by those entrusted with power. Tackling corruption has not been easy. Even well-meaning governments, who have risen from among the ranks of the poor to grasp power, have struggled to do so. The leftist government that came to power in Bolivia in 2003, after social unrest that led to change, eventually turned to Norway to learn how to prevent revenue from natural resources being drained away by the wealthy, and a taxation system put in place to ensure that oil and other assets could benefit the poor.
Citizen watchdog bodies –-- in India, Chile and Uganda, among other countries -- have sometimes been able to bring about change by demanding more access to information about public spending. There are also other factors. In East Asian countries, including Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, China and others, land reforms, protection for industry, focus on merit and spending on health and education have promoted development. Western models have not always been followed and, in some cases, at least corruption has not necessarily impeded growth -- though this of course is not to advocate that its presence be ignored.
Today, we need to see what we can learn from these diverse examples. The problems we face are complex. They tie in together in more ways than one. Powerful social elites see advantage in maintaining the status quo and turn a blind eye to wrong-doings whether they occur in the political sphere or elsewhere. Feudal interests are propelled forward by denying education and empowerment to the people. The extraordinary inequities we see in many places, and which exist not only between individuals but also between regions, impede economic growth and also hamper the building of any kind of consensus on what we need as a nation.
To move towards the drawing up of a blueprint we can use to move forward and to build a society that is close to crumbling, we need first to develop an agreement on what needs to be done. For this to happen, we must encourage as many ideas as possible to be placed out in the public space. The ideas must come from every sector of society. Not all of them will be worthwhile or hold any value at all. But it is only when many thoughts are available, suggestions spread out, that the ones that promise least can be discarded and the remainder used as stepping stones that lead towards a future. Ideally speaking, the task of developing such a plan is, of course, that of the government. It should be working towards the drawing of people into a dialogue. The positive impact this can have has been seen recently at the meetings on the NFC award, where concessions were made by the more powerful provinces and the criteria for the award expanded beyond population alone. There are, of course, still many challenges ahead but at least a start was made. The same process of discussion and debate should be widened.
We also need a state that holds legitimacy in the eyes of people. Through history, it is when states and citizens work together that the swiftest development is seen. In some cases, it is true authoritarian regimes that have coerced people into following particular paths but in time, these regimes have usually accepted a need for greater openness. Democratic set-ups within which active groups of citizens have played a role in directing policy have often done the best of all. Widespread corruption, coupled with poor governance detracts from the willingness of people to work with the state or to accept its authority. This is the situation we face today.
Citizens must find a way to hold leaders accountable. We need to develop stronger organisations to make this possible. The 2007 movement that brought together lawyers, students and journalists offered some hope. Such initiatives though need to link up with more diverse groups -- including those representing peasants and workers. The petty internal politics that prevent such organisations from finding their potential must be abandoned. Citizens will have to find a way to make the state deliver what they need. It has shown little will or ability to do so unprompted.
The dividends of more active roles by citizens have been seen in many places. Women's movements, environmental activism and movements led by disempowered members of the under-class are just some examples of this. We face a problem too because people who live within the territory that makes up Pakistan are so obviously reluctant to see themselves as a whole. They are divided by class, by wealth, by privilege, by ethnicity, by language and by much more. These divisions have through the decades been deliberately created. New ones based on religion and sect have been used to set up new barriers. These need to be broken down so that people can work together to take more control over their lives and dictate the direction of a state that has lost all sense of morality and responsibility to its people.
Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com
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