Receding moral authority in Pakistan

For the common people, it’s just too hard to trust the ruling class as ordinary folks battle increasingly tough challenges in their daily lives

hen Pakistan’s Supreme Court recently dismissed a plea against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his children on a case involving large scale offshore wealth, the latter were visibly relieved.

The matter has now been referred to a high-powered joint investigation team (JIT) for a further probe, though the outcome of the upcoming exercise is completely unknown.

In sharp contrast to still unresolved questions over exactly where the wealth came from, members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have joyfully received the news as a significant victory.

But notwithstanding the reaction from Pakistan’s ruling elite, questions over the source of Sharif’s family wealth have indeed further eroded the prime minister’s moral authority. It is a case that has raised compelling questions not only over Pakistan’s past, but indeed also its future direction. In a country where the volume of black economy appears to have increased at a faster pace than the legitimate counterpart, a continuing failure to reform will only deepen a host of crises surrounding the South Asian country.

Unlike some other countries, where the top leaders chose to step down following revelations surrounding their offshore wealth exposed in the so-called ‘Panama leaks’, Pakistan’s ruling elite remains visibly well-entrenched, indifferent and immune to criticism. Its a difference in attitude that says much about the quality of Pakistan’s democracy and the gaps surrounding the country’s civilian order.

Though now in its ninth year since former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf stepped down in 2008, Pakistan’s journey towards full democratisation has nevertheless left behind some deeply compelling and very troubling questions.

For ordinary Pakistanis, life has hardly changed irrespective of who gets to run the country and the duration of their tenure. However, for Sharif, an added complication has emerged in the wake of the widespread publicity surrounding the Supreme Court’s proceedings. The frequent reports on the details of Sharif’s children’s offshore properties have stunned many Pakistanis, irrespective of the authenticity of such claims.

Details of the properties purchased by Sharif’s children in central London, which must qualify among the world’s most expensive real estates, has triggered a fundamentally significant question related to the way Pakistan has evolved.

In public service, such opulence even earned through legitimate means, must leave behind a major gap. For ordinary Pakistanis, the recurring question is just one — exactly who will come to their rescue as the country’s common folks remain surrounded by an unending crisis. While Sharif and his coterie of politicians in Islamabad fight for the prime minister’s political survival, there is ample evidence across Pakistan of a country that is clearly sinking. Recently, news about a high school physics examination paper getting leaked before the exam said much about the state of affairs surrounding one of the country’s most neglected areas — education.

In disarray

For years, there has been a widening gap between education provided by the state versus the state that caters to the country’s elite. There is a similar case across health care too, with government-run hospitals remaining in disarray as opposed to the much more expensive privately owned ones.

With almost one third of Pakistan’s population living below the poverty line, there is no dearth of human misery across the country. And while the focus remains on Sharif, given his position as prime minister, other frontline Pakistani politicians also deserve to be taken to task. Among the country’s mainstream political leaders, a palpable disconnect from the societal mainstream leaves little hope for the future at a time when the country has long passed its due date to be begin a series of compelling reforms.

While the case for reforming Pakistan is unending, the country’s present-day ruling class has taken it upon itself to repeatedly bandy about loads of coming successes. Thanks to the planned China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Pakistan’s leaders have ample fodder to back up their claims. And yet, the promise of world-class infrastructure projects in itself is not enough to meet the prevailing and fast-mounting challenges.

As the ruling elite celebrates its success in Islamabad, recent reports of increasingly acute water shortages across Karachi and growing electricity cuts all over Pakistan should serve as timely eye-openers. They provide powerful evidence of the disconnect between Pakistan’s rulers and the mainstream at a time when the country faces a host of challenges.

Going forward, its difficult to predict the unfolding political events, given the uncertainty surrounding the future of the JIT investigation. And yet, the element of certainty relates to the yawning gap between the rulers and the ruled. The disconnect, ironically, is set to grow as Sharif and his political coterie prepare for the next parliamentary elections, due next year. Its clear that many a promise is set to be made on the campaign trail without evidence of the same ever being either fully or partially delivered. It is also clear that barring a completely unexpected turn of events, Pakistan’s well-entrenched mainstream politicians will likely retain a good part of their clout for the foreseeable future.

But what is also abundantly clear is a matter that seldom receives much acknowledgement. Further erosion of the ruling structure’s moral authority, in the wake of the past years’ revelations linked to the ‘Panama leaks’, has indeed thrown up a powerful fact of life. For Pakistanis in the mainstream, its just too hard to trust their rulers as ordinary folks battle increasingly tough challenges in their daily lives.

Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters.