STRATEGY TO ELIMINATE

CORRUPTION IN PAKISTAN
∗
Dr Memoona Shahid
Corruption: A Historical Perspective
How Corruption Can Be Defined?
There is no single, comprehensive, universally accepted
definition of corruption. Attempts to develop such a definition
invariably encounter legal, criminological and political problems.
Moreover, various defined forms of corruption and corrupt
practices keep evolving and new forms keep sprouting up making
it difficult and rather unpractical to confine this phenomenon to
the ambit of one definition. Bearing this difficulty in mind, many
International and National Organizations have prepared a long list
of corruption offences, thus adopting operational approach instead
of seeking to define corruption in generic terms. Etymologically
the word “Corruption” comes from the Latin verb “corruptus” (to
break); it literally means broken object. Conceptually, corruption is
a form of behaviour, which departs from ethics, morality, tradition,
law and civic virtue. Anyhow, Corruption can be defined as:-
“Corruption evolves such behaviour on the part of office
holders in the public or private sector whereby they
improperly and unlawfully enrich themselves and/or those
close to them, or induce others to do so, by misusing the
position in which they are placed.”
More simply it comprises “the misuse of entrusted power
for private benefit.” The National Anti-corruption Strategy (NACS),
Pakistan, has adopted the aforementioned broad definition that
encompasses what is popularly understood by ‘corruption’ and
‘the corrupt’.”
Corruption and poor governance have been the main
causes of regimes failures in the sub-continent. During the British
period, corruption existed in the form of liberal grant of lands to
the feudal who perpetuated the British interest in the region. The
public procurement and contracting system adopted in the pre-
independence era created yet another major avenue for financial
corruption that touched new peak during the World War –II, thus
justifying a need for enactment of specialized anti-corruption laws
for the first time in the sub- continent.
The refugees influx during independence gave rise to
numerous settlement scams. The period of industrialization during
the Ayub’s regimes, facilitated Industrialist Bureaucrats nexus that
supported each others interest, whether moral or otherwise. The
award of permits and bank loans on political consideration basis
during this era engulfed the national scene with corruption that
continued till dismemberment of East Pakistan in 1971. The new
Urban Middle Business Class also emerged during this time, which
wielded tremendous influence on politics through their agitational
potentials.
The successive governments from 1972 onward did little to
contain the menace. The political cum financial corruption became
the major cause of deterioration in the public and private sector
institutions. None of the governments ever attempted a serious
anticorruption drive that in essence remained elusive and
cosmetic in nature. During the Eighties and Nineties, national

Dr Memoona Shahid is the co author of the An Advance Study in
Pakistan Affairs. This book is the most authentic and credible source of
Pakistan study. She is considered authority on Pakistan.
policy of Deregulation and Privatization gave phenomenal rise to
corruption in Pakistan. Grants of business and industrial bank
loans without securing proper collaterals, privatization of state
commercial enterprises, Housing and social sector/infrastructure
development scams brought the national exchequer to the brink
of collapse. The banking defaults touched an unprecedental peak
in the country.
Causes of Corruption
The following have been major causes of corruption in
Pakistan: -
a. Flagrant abuse of power by the public office holders.
b. Lack of serious programme of combating corruption in the
country. The investigative/watch-dog agencies could not
develop as per the aspirations of the public.
c. Elected government’s perpetual failure to develop proper
ethical and business standards for the public and private
sector.
d. Political leaders incompetence and betrayal of public trust with
penchant for self-enrichment.
e. Lack of transparency in the government’s decision-making
process.
f. Lengthy and cumbersome procedures in the executive system.
g. Weaknesses in the judicial system.
h. Poorly paid salary structure in the public sector.
i. Illiterate, apathetic or ignorant populace, with inadequate
public discernment of political choices.
j. Absence of adequate internal / external controls to prevent
bribery.
Types of Corruption
Corruption has numerous facets and types, some of which
are:-
a. Extortion: This is one of the ugliest forms of corruption, in
which innocent people are forced to pay for none of their
faults;
b. Abuse of Public Office: Such as using the advantages of a tax
audit or legal sanctions to extract personal favours;
c. Bribery: It takes two to bread corruption: giving and taking
bribes;
d. Graft: Graft is the act of a public office holder personally
benefiting from public funds in a way other than prescribed by
law;
e. Campaign Contributions and Soft Money: In the political arena,
it is difficult to prove corruption, but impossible to prove its
absence. Politicians are placed in apparently compromising
positions because of their need to solicit financial contributions
for their campaigns. Often, they appear to be acting in the
interests of those parties that fund them, giving rise to talk of
political corruption.
Effects of Corruption and Corrupt Practices
The effects of Corruption and Corrupt Practices, on any
society are long term and multi-directional. Some of these effects
on our society are as under: -
a. Effect on Politics, Administration, and Institutions: Corruption
poses serious development challenges. In the political realm, it
undermines democracy and good governance by flouting or
even subverting formal processes. Corruption in elections and
in legislative bodies reduces accountability and distorts
representation in policy making; corruption in the judiciary
compromises the rule of law and corruption in public
administration results in the unfair provision of services. More
generally, corruption erodes institutional capacity of the
government as procedures are disregarded and resources are
siphoned off.
b. Economic Effects: Corruption also undermines economic
development by generating considerable distortions and
inefficiency. In the private sector, corruption increases the cost
of business through the price of illegal payments, the
management cost of negotiating with officials, and the risk of
breached agreements. Although some claim that corruption
reduces costs by cutting red tape, the availability of bribes can
also induce officials to contrive new rules and delays.
Corruption also lowers compliance with construction,
environmental or other regulations, reduces the quality of
government services & infrastructure and increases budgetary
pressures on the government.
What should be the National Anti-Corruption
Strategy?
This section outlines the strategy for strengthening each of
the national integrity system pillars, and identifies specific
measures that can be adopted to fight corruption, either directly
or indirectly.
The strategy must aim at tackling corruption in Pakistan
through a combination of action on three mutually reinforcing
fronts:
 Prevention – systemic, institutional, legislative,
administrative reforms and public education and awareness
raising, aimed at building democracy and a strong civil society,
and an early and effective removal of incentives/compelling
factors and opportunities for corrupt practices, also increasing
the risk/deterrent effect;
 Monitoring – the regular and systematic measuring of the
nature, causes and extent of corruption through reliable and
verifiable data collection, analysis and co-ordination;
 Combating – improvement in the legal and institutional
arrangements for the detection, investigation and prosecution
of corruption.
The emphasis on the combination of prevention,
monitoring and combating marks a departure from reliance only
on enforcement approach and is the key to successfully tackling
corruption.
Themes of the anti-corruption strategy
Political Will: demonstrations by a range of key leaders of
commitment to change
Transparency: openness in dealing with the public and public
opinion
Accountability: responsibility for the performance of public
duties
Meritocracy: promotion of the most talented and able to perform
Deregulation: systematic removal of unnecessary regulations
and processes
Rationalization of discretionary powers: reduction,
wherever possible, and proportional to level of
responsibility
Standardisation and automation: simplification and
widespread use of technology Efficiency of service delivery:
progressive performance improvement Professionalism and
competence: investment in recruitment and training Public
participation: active engagement of civil society and the media
Change management: measures which facilitate change, for
example, capacity building and awareness raising.
The following sections set out the strategy for each of the
national integrity pillars.
Legislature and political system
Various measures can be deployed to help create this
culture in the political leadership, the political parties, the electoral
process and the legislature. Although, some measures are specific
to each of these areas, there is a common theme - there must be
Political Will and a zero tolerance approach to corruption. The first
deviation from this approach will serve to undermine the national
anti corruption policy and bolster cynicism and apathy. We can not
ask the low paid official, with no hope of social advancement to
resist temptation if the educated and wealthy are not prepared to
do the same. Political Will does not just mean supporting and
resourcing National Anticorruption Strategy (NACS) – it means
setting an example, and resisting the temptation to let political
exigencies outweigh the principles of good governance and zero
tolerance.
The immediate post election period should witness a high
profile event, with extensive media coverage, at the federal and
each of the provincial levels, at which the newly elected legislators
come together to give their public commitment to NACS. They will
develop, individually commit to, and collectively adopt an
integrity pledge. Politicians will require training in anti-
corruption measures such as the code of conduct, conflict of
interest avoidance and reporting.
The incoming government should set itself public and
verifiable goals that can be monitored by the media and civil
society, enabled by transparency. Transparency can be enabled
by various means: parliamentary proceedings to be televised and
broadcasted; integrity pacts on high profile procurements in high
risk areas.
Effective asset declaration and random monitoring is essential. An
open register of legislators’ interests and updating procedures will
be required. All legislatures should publish an annual report of
achievements, including specific sections on NACS
implementation.
This is a prime example of how the national integrity
system could and should work, by all the pillars individually and
collectively applying all pressures within their control. It is for
exactly this reason that measures to strengthen the National
Integrity Pillars are not overlooked in favour of more immediate
anti-corruption measures. The key point about these measures is
that we are not naïve, expecting the politicians to change their
underlying attitudes necessarily – although this is the ultimate
objective – but to give them little choice or opportunity to act
otherwise.
 The pressure needs to be brought to bear immediately
and continuously: dialogue is urgently needed in the run up to the
election, as the new governments take office, when the
assemblies first sit, in the early stages and at regular intervals
thereafter. Debate about corruption must be encouraged in the
media; politicians must be required to make public their
commitment to NACS and their personal integrity. This type of
intensive and radical approach will only work effectively if it
receives the backing from the highest political leadership. The
President, Prime Minister and Chief Ministers should be the first to
make the pledges.
There are other critical, albeit not immediate, needs also:
to introduce democratic processes and transparency into the
political parties and to strengthen electoral system and
processes. Strengthening of the Election Commission is required.
A model for interim administrations pending elections would help
ensure the integrity of the electoral process. The law banning
floor crossing by members of parliament must be implemented.
Legislatures can be strengthened further. Reform of the
public sector, and training of new legislators, should help to
reinforce the division between legislative and executive functions,
and between policy making and administrative functions of
government. This should be reinforced by a law prohibiting
legislators from interfering in executive functions.
But it is the integrity initiatives which carry the greatest
and the highest risk: the risk of failing, of measures such as
Integrity Pledges and codes of conduct being cynically abused
and losing their ethical currency in the country. However, they
also bring the potential for the greatest benefit. Sufficient
lobbying and training should persuade the politicians that these
measures provide an opportunity for the political legitimacy
which has hitherto been absent for many years.
The Executive
There are three main routes to delivering this strategic
objective: privatisation, deregulation and simplification of
revenue collection and reduction in the number of taxes.
The process of privatisation should be expedited. The
importance of privatisation for the anti-corruption strategy is that
effective private sector disciplines are the most effective way of
changing a culture of neglect and greed in the delivery of
functions and services by a demoralised public sector.
Privatisation is no panacea: it involves pain and requires steadfast
commitment to achieve the necessary transformation. Without
this transformation, it is practically impossible to change the
entrenched malpractices of indolent and corrupt public service. It
will be imperative that high standards of transparency and
meritocracy are applied to the privatisation process.
Integrity pacts will be a useful tool in privatisation,
satisfying the public of the transparency and integrity of the
process, and ensuring that the privatisation agenda is not
undermined by accusation of corruption in the process.
Deregulation can be achieved by repeal of unnecessary
regulations. An efficient approach to deregulation would be the
announcement of an intention to review and repeal regulations
wherever required. All public sector bodies should be required to
identify areas of unnecessary laws and regulations, encouraging
open competition between departments to reduce government
size and cost.
With regard to taxation, there is an urgent need to
critically review taxes and duties which achieve no significant
return for the exchequer. Simplification of procedures and
reduction of tax rates currently generating little revenue should
increase significantly government receipts without increasing
costs of collection. Other measures, such as eliminating discretion
and face-to-face contact between tax assessor and taxpayer are
common to all forms of service delivery.
The government’s policies on privatisation and
deregulation provide an enabling environment for reforms in these
areas. However, there are two impediments to implementation.
First, the privatisation programme is on hold, for a number of
reasons. Secondly, reforms in these areas will remove
opportunities for middling, but nonetheless, highly lucrative
corruption by those with the power to block the reforms. We can
expect the reforms of particular regulation, subsidies and taxes to
face a barrage of resistance from decision makers, those
benefiting from the system.
Public Sector Management
The strategic objective can be delivered and corruption
driven out by undertaking the following measures:-
Whilst the difficulties of implementation are obvious, the
clear conclusion of different opinions is that “lean government is
clean government”, and that downsizing sets the groundwork for
the strategic objective set out above. Lean government will also
enable improved remuneration. To enable the government to
make informed decisions about reforms and downsizing, it will
need improved HR management information systems and better
information about the size and shape of the civil service.
Delivering the strategic objective will also need strong
institutional leadership with integrity. Appointing high calibre
leaders on merit is the first step. Then, we need to give them the
autonomy, authority, resources, skills and security against political
interference they need to be able to rid their institutions of
corruption by ensuring sound internal controls. We need to reward
them adequately for this. The civil service needs to attract and
retain individuals with skill and integrity. This requires meritocracy
in the recruitment process and adequate remuneration.
Monetisation, an option which has been considered in the past,
needs to be re-examined, this time with a specific view to its role
in minimising incentives and opportunities for corruption. Clearly,
recommending this is easier than doing it in practice. However, we
must be cognizant that without improvements in pay, any anti-
corruption initiatives may only have a limited impact. Reducing
corruption, for example in revenue collection, can help finance
improved remuneration. Lean government, strengthened
prioritisation mechanisms and financial management should also
release funds. Massive present wastage throughout the public
service can be eliminated.
Political interference, and other forms of nepotism,
in the tenure of officials, transfers and postings, and
promotion must be eliminated. The OSD culture must be
eliminated. Fixed tenures, decision making by participative
committees, performance evaluation systems and examinations
determining promotion decisions are useful tools. Increasing civil
service remuneration and meritocracy will promote the value of
being competent. We must enable this by providing opportunities
for functional specialisation and appropriate training, particularly
in IT and management skills.
Training, using case studies and discussion can also be
used to embed strengthened integrity. Other key tools to reform
ethics will be clear codes of conduct, developed in a participative
manner by each institution, within an overall framework which
includes a law banning conflict of interest.
 The organisational culture which sustains corruption can
be transformed by another set of measures: streamlined and
transparent organisational structures, with delegation of
responsibility; strong accountability mechanisms including output
oriented job descriptions and a transparent, objective
performance evaluation system.
Institutions will require training and support to enable them
to undertake focused assessments of the risk of corruption, and
then design and implement controls. Automation will help enable
these controls.
Finally, we must increase risk of detection and punishment.
Vigilance units should prove an essential weapon, if implemented,
in a non-intrusive way, in institutions suffering high levels of
entrenched corruption. Integrity testing of officials in vulnerable
positions will be met with resistance but provides an extremely
effective deterrent, but only if officials are fearful of the threat of
being caught. Measures include strengthening assets disclosure
and monitoring mechanisms and strictly implementing disciplinary
procedures.
Public interface functions
A core set of measures will deliver this strategic objective.
First, to eliminate the need to pay bribes and the
opportunities for extracting them, service delivery must be
configured around public needs rather than the wishes of the
official and the department. There is an urgent need to simplify
and codify key rules and procedures. Discretionary powers must
be curtailed where possible, including by the standardisation of
processes and fees/charges, using automation where possible.
One- window operations, e-government and other initiatives can
reduce face to face official/customer contact. Where face to face
contact cannot be reduced, systems are required to ensure that
officials and customers cannot build collusive relationships,
randomise official/customer contacts.
Institutions must provide guidelines on when, how, and by
whom a particular service will be delivered. Simple measures such
as customer facilities and more convenient opening hours can
reduce the customers’ reluctance to stay, or return, and demand
their rights, without being reduced to paying bribe or speed
money. Seeking suggestions for improvements from staff and
from customers, with rewards for cost-saving ideas that are taken
up, is an effective way of undertaking these reforms.
Secondly, the Access to Information Law and revising the
Rules of Business to promote transparency will be necessary, but
not sufficient. Empowerment and public participation must follow.
A cultural shift is required which will require change management
strategies within each institution, including training in areas such
as customer service. Enquiries and transactions must be
conducted in full public view, with formal mechanisms for dealing
with customers. Empowerment will partly result from
transparency, but also from initiatives such as public participation
in monitoring of an institution’s services. Service standards and
citizens’ charters will help bolster customers’ confidence in
demanding their rights. Public participation in monitoring
mechanisms has proved effective, as in the well known case of the
Citizens’ Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) in Karachi.
Thirdly, effective institutional complaints redressal
mechanisms and access to alternative sources of redressal will
also enable customers to withstand pressure from corrupt officials,
and reduce the sense of helplessness.
 It is essential that government institutions are legally
required to monitor the experience and satisfaction of customers,
through service delivery surveys and report cards. These will
provide an impetus for anti-corruption initiatives.
As with the ‘role of the state’ and ‘public sector
management’, the need for, and shape of reforms in Public
interface functions are intuitively clear to all observers. But,
implementation will be bitterly resisted at the grass roots
implementation level, as the current extractive system is too
important to the economic survival of petty bureaucrats
throughout the country. These reforms can not be undertaken in
isolation therefore, but within the context of the public sector
management reforms outlined. These will provide the basic
“carrot and stick”: incentives for integrity and fear of detection
and punishment. Reforms in public interface will reinforce these
reforms by reducing opportunities for abuse. A risk threatening the
achievement of this strategic obj ective is capacity: officials
generally lack the skills, IT skills in particular, to use the tools of
reform; there are already problems in mobilising public
participation in local government.
Local Government
Delivering this objective involves measures mentioned for
the public sector as a whole, tailored and prioritised in the local
government context. They do not represent a change of strategic
direction for local government, as its design is based on
essentially anti-corruption principles. The challenge is one of
implementation and thus inevitably of resourcing and capacity
building.
First, there is a widespread need to get the basic
structures of government up and running: finalise the Rules
provided in Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule of Local Government
Ordinance 2001, educate and train new holders of public office
and officials. Secondly, more effort is required to launch the
critical accountability and participation mechanisms. Thirdly, an
exercise is required to re-engineer processes to ensure their
transparency and empower the local population to demand public
services without the need to bribe officials. This will also require
the rapid establishment of complaint redressal cells and Zila
Mohtisib
Development projects, procurement and
contracting
We must create an effective governmental mechanism to
ensure the sound use of development aid. The Planning
Commission and provincial Planning and Development
Departments need to be rejuvenated. Aid agencies and IFIs should
be required by law to publicise their assistance and the terms of
loans. This increases public scrutiny, the focus on outputs and
reduces the waste of development loan funds.
Increasing transparency and public participation in the
development, procurement and contracting process is the primary
means by which this objective can be achieved. Performance
evaluation of social sector projects is necessary to prevent misuse
of funds. In view of the mistrust created as a result of SAP audit, it
is imperative that a detailed performance evaluation of the project
is undertaken.
The government must design and implement a standard,
coherent, and modern procurement system of laws, codes and
procedures incorporating the principles of fair competition,
transparency and public participation. Individual institutions
should be free to develop their own specific procurement
procedures as long as they are based on these principles.
The government must take the first steps in building an
effective willingness, capacity and confidence of the foreign
governments, multinationals, donor agencies and national
companies to fight corruption.
There is also an urgent need to build the capacity of
procurement staff, promote procurement as a specialist discipline
within government. Clearly, organisations with significant
procurement should also be early candidates for the public sector
reforms mentioned elsewhere, with regard to pay, accountability
mechanisms etc.
The government will need to strengthen its own
procurement expertise to enable these reforms, and we
recommend significant institutional strengthening of the Public
Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to allow it to lead the
way in the reform of procurement and contracting. To this end
also, the recommendations set out in the World Bank Country
Procurement Assessment Report, 2000, need to be revisited and
implemented.
Financial management
The overarching strategic objective can be delivered by
reforms in the following areas.
There is a need to make the budgetary process
transparent and participative, ensuring the public has a role in
influencing the allocation of public resources. Budgets should be
based on outputs, via programme and performance budgeting,
and be constructed around medium term plans and resources in
order to ensure sustainability and continuity of development
process.
Accounting and financial reporting practices must be
brought in line with international best practice
Devising a system of internal financial controls has always
been a neglected area in Pakistan financial management. It is
heartening to note that now the government is giving high priority
to this area and under Controller General of Accounts Ordinance
2001, it is the responsibility of CGA to devise internal controls for
government departments.
Monitoring of budgets has to be strengthened. The
government has created fiscal monitoring committees at the
federal and provincial levels to ensure timely reconciliation of
expenditure and revenue. There is a need to streamline
reconciliation at district and tehsil level, as much of the financial
activity will be at those levels in the future. To strengthen
legislative oversight over budgets, our strategy is that
supplementary grants and budget cuts should be allowed only in
public interest and presented before the respective cabinets
quarterly.
A complete review of financial rules has to be undertaken
by the Ministry of Finance and provincial finance departments in
order to bring these in line with modern financial management.
Public accountability bodies
As a medium term aim, the Auditor General’s Department
must increase its relevance and effectiveness. It should transform
its role from one of undertaking retrospective
transaction/compliance audit to validating management
assertions about internal controls and the financial governance
environment, (by undertaking system audits), and about the
efficiency and effectiveness of resource utilisation (by undertaking
performance audits). It is already preparing for this role by its
design of Corruption Rating Index (CRI), Financial Governance
Rating (FGR), Accountability Index and Internal Quality Rating for
departments. The Department must continue to take measures to
ensure that its work has the widest possible audience.
The third major strategic area for the Auditor General’s
Department is independence. The Department must cease to be
an attached department of the Ministry of Finance and have
administrative and financial autonomy.
The Federal and provincial PACs must be strengthened to
mirror the improvements in the audit function bringing issues
before it. The PACs’ impartiality and effectiveness should be
enhanced through appointment of its chairman from the
opposition and specifying a time frame for appointment of PACs
after a new government takes over. Mechanisms to ensure
speedy disposal of audit paras include sub-committees, an
advance annual timetable and a prioritisation mechanism. It is
critical that the PAC never again falls behind in reviewing the audit
paras, as this undermines the entire public accountability process.
An implementation mechanism is critical: the PAC ought to have
strengthened legal powers of enforcement. A panel of experts will
increase the PAC’s technical expertise, and highlight issues of
corruption for the PAC. Transparency, via open to the media and
live coverage, should be a requirement for all PACs.
The third public accountability body is the Ombudsman, for
whom the strategy is straightforward: institutional strengthening,
with the focus on a centralised database or networking between
ombudsman’s offices, continuous training for its officers and staff,
and a defined time frame for disposal of representations against
ombudsman’s findings.
Actions in this area are, largely, either underway with
adequate funding, or have minimal cost implications. Measures
are unlikely to be contentious, are low risk and are easily
implementable by the bodies themselves.
The Legal System and Judiciary
Significant reforms are required if the justice system is to
fulfil its essential function in society. The strategy for reform of the
legal system and judiciary is too large and complex to be regarded
solely as part of the NACS.
It is important that the process for higher judicial
appointments be made more transparent through involvement of
a strengthened law and justice commission to enhance credibility
of not only the process but also of the judges themselves. In the
lower judiciary, in addition to increased salaries and improved
facilities, as envisaged in AJP, career structures must be improved
to attract improved quality and continued motivation. The
selection processes must be uniform in all provinces with no
lateral and prolonged ad hoc appointments.
Judges need to be made responsible for the effective
delivery of justice - criminal and civil - for which they are
accountable to society and its other guardians. Wherever judicial
corruption is detected, it is essential that the judiciary applies the
highest standards in trying any judge charged. In a functioning
society, no one is above the law, least of all its judges.
Reform of the legal profession is linked to improving the
delivery of justice. One important measure will be stricter
regulation of the legal profession by the Bar Councils. Failing this,
the government will need to fall back on the less acceptable
remedy of appointing an external regulator of the legal profession.
Entrance examinations must be compulsory and of a high
standard. Improvements in code of conduct to prevent
politicisation of Bar councils and enhance accountability of lawyers
are also recommended. Involvement of High Courts and District
and Session Judges in the process is essential. Improvements in
code of conduct to prevent politicisation of Bar Councils and
enhance accountability of lawyers are also recommended.
Consolidation to reduce the number of legal enactments
and regulations must be done. This would concomitantly take care
of obsolete and obsolescent laws. Both of these actions are within
the purview of the Pakistan Law Commission but it has not taken
on this task. It is important that judges and lawyers with adequate
experience be included in the Commission to make its work more
meaningful.
Benami transactions should be declared illegal and void. If
this is done, a large source of hiding corrupt money would
disappear. In India, all Benami transactions have been declared
illegal, null and void, through a law passed in 1988. The only
exception allowed is where a Benami transaction is carried out in
the name of a wife or an unwed daughter.
Role of Media
Implementation of the media strategy relies on two
principles: the government must provide an enabling environment
for the media, by ensuring fair competition, independence, and
access to information; the media must respond by becoming more
responsible, increasing the quality of their coverage and creating
accountability mechanisms. These measures will provide a sound
basis for the media to be brought in wholesale to the broad based
coalition now assembled to fight corruption.
The Government can give its commitment to not
interfering with the press. Competition and liberalisation of the
media should be encouraged, through privatisation of, or at least
competition for, the state owned electronic media. Legislation is
required to avoid monopoly control of media sources. Local TV and
radio stations are a priority, as they have a valuable role to play in
social empowerment, and local accountability and public
participation.
Considerable steps can be taken by the media to enhance
their integrity and professionalism. A code of ethics developed
with the wide participation of journalists is an important first step.
Increased pay for journalists is imperative, but this issue should be
outside the purview of government. The media must take urgent
steps to improve the quality and accuracy of its coverage, and
increase its capacity to root out corruption. Training in
investigative reporting is critical, as are source protection
provisions for journalists to ensure that they are free to undertake
such reporting.
Access to information must be increased considerably, not
only through the law, which should be expedited as an absolute
priority, but also by increasing the media’s access to government
spokesmen. This will be part of an overall effort to assist and
engage the media in the fight against corruption by strengthening
the role of the media in the implementation and monitoring of the
NACS. Regular supplements in the newspapers informing the
readers about the progress of the NACS implementation will be a
first step.
This increased responsibility and access to information
should be reinforced by greater accountability. Some form of the
Press Complaints Council, or other accountability mechanism,
would provide a forum for complaints against the media, by the
public, businesses or the government. Such a mechanism would
need to be independent and directed by people respected for their
integrity, for their power would lie in their moral force of censure,
rather than any legal sanction. Transparency of judgements would
be important: the subject of a complaint should be required to
publish, in full, the findings of the Press Council where a complaint
has been upheld. Such a mechanism would reinforce the expected
defamation law and help curb the excesses of the media.
The ease and mechanics of implementation of media
reforms are still unclear. But the seeds of co-operation have
already been sown. A seminar in Karachi in May attracted a wide
audience from across the media, keen to reform the media and
engage in the fight against corruption.
Role of Civil Society
The government must take the initiative towards
encouraging the development of a robust civil society by publicly
welcoming civil society as a partner in the fight against corruption.
Government and civil society must work together to
provide an enabling environment and support for NGOs, to ensure
that confidence in the NGOs is not betrayed by unscrupulous
elements and low competence. Government is already in the
process of creating a legal and regulatory framework for NGOs
through a consultative method. The Orangi Pilot Project provides
an example of what NGOs can achieve.
A public awareness campaign, exploiting the full power of
the media, is a necessary, if not sufficient, step to start to change
social attitudes. There are risks with this strategy – it must be
carefully designed, targeted and sequenced, and undertaken by
marketing professionals. The initial focus will be on building
awareness of the evil of corruption, and educating the public that
the NACS is being undertaken by a broad coalition from across
society, not just the government. Later, the campaign will alert the
public to what they should expect from their leaders and public
servants, and what will be expected of them. A campaign must
specifically target children, including, by changes in the
curriculum. There is likely to be widespread support for a public
campaign to ostracise the corrupt and celebrate the honest, but
this must also be undertaken with care, avoiding the taint of
political victimisation, and ensuring full transparency and public
participation.
The final strand of the civil society strategy is to develop
open and transparent mechanisms for ensuring public
participation to fight corruption at different levels. The full support
of reputable civil society figures must be gained to ensure that
local committees and coalitions against corruption prove effective,
and do not engender cynicism about the fight against corruption.
Concluding Remarks
Many analysts regard corruption as a mere consequence of
political and economic, socio-ethnic, and even moral reasons.
From its genesis viewpoint, corruption undoubtedly owes to all
these reasons. But it is necessary to admit that at a definite stage
in development of a state, corruption itself becomes a
predominant factor that defines both the state politics and
economy, and even social relations in society. In the opinion of
analyst Nurbulat Masanov, corruption serves as “a foundation on
which state and political system are laid. As a result, political
authoritarianism and social demagogy of the authorities becomes
an unavoidable consequence of pervasive corruption in state
system”. The democratic system and freedom of speech are real
mechanisms that allow to effectively struggle against corruption.
Therefore, the only method to survive for a corrupt system is to
eliminate corrupt principles from state operations.
 Clearly, corruption is not something abstract; it’s just a
mechanism that regulates the relationship between people in the
system of state power. Or else, there are definite bearers of the
corruption philosophy in the person of state officials. These people
are personally interested in operation of this system, and their
interest is quite material. Graft and bribe have become a
mandatory element in relationship among people. Bribe is a basis
for those relationships. If one starts a “mutiny” against those
relations, the fate will be unenviable: and one is destined to go
from one official door to another for life. The principle is simple: to
create conditions, where it is easier for the person to give a bribe
than to go through the myriad of bureaucratic tangle. But the
most awful is that graft has turned into a norm, a kind of moral
imperative.
In contemporary times there is a great emphasis on good
governance. One of the pillars of good governance is the existence
of
independent, impartial and honest judiciary.
Further, true democracy is the hallmark of good
governance. Therefore, until and unless a
foundation for true democracy and independent,
impartial and honest judiciary is laid in this
country, the prospects of elimination of
Corruption, Corrupt and Corrupt Practices will be a
tall order.