Failure of professionals and ex-bureaucrats: Which model may be followed to move forward?

PTI government may look towards Singapore's form of bureaucracy as a solution to revamp its current bureaucratic structure

The key position holders, experienced professionals and ex-bureaucrats in the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government, including the latest one – Barrister Shahzad Akbar – have failed to deliver. They were appointed by the incumbent democratic setup to fulfill the agenda of accountability and reform, both in civil as well as police establishments.

Barrister Shahzad Akbar presumably resigned from his office as the premier’s advisor on accountability and interior without completing his mission. The government has appointed a former National Accountability Bureau (NAB) director-general Brig (r) Musaddiq Abbasi as his successor.

Neither outgoing Akbar submitted his three-year performance nor has the incoming Abbasi shared his action plan on accountability with the nation.

The former advisor only tweeted, “I have tendered my resignation today to PM as Advisor. I sincerely hope the process of accountability continues under the leadership of PM IK as per PTI’s manifesto. I will remain associated with the party n [sic] keep contributing as a member of the legal fraternity.”

He, however, couldn’t claim any of his achievements regarding his anti-graft drive, though he made high claims to bring back Nawaz Sharif, get back billions from his brother Shahbaz Sharif and much more. Perhaps, his continued failure to bring the fraudulent behind the bars forced the PM to demand his resignation. Billions of rupees besides precious time were spent on the system to run accountability, investigations, prosecutions but nothing fruitful was gained.

Another retired bureaucrat whom Imran Khan appointed to bring reforms in civil services was Dr. Ishrat Hussain. Hussain also resigned from his post assigned to him back in 2018, without bringing any change in the administration and service delivery. He was charged with changing the colonial bureaucratic system and restructuring the service delivery model. He traveled across the country, held some 80 sessions with over 2,200 officers of all services to bring reforms, but to no avail.

Another bureaucrat, former IGP KP, Nasir Durrani was also appointed as an advisor to change the ‘thana’ and police culture in Punjab. He was to steer the Punjab police out of political interference but, he himself was politicized and was forced to resign. He expressed reservations on the politically triggered transfer of the then IGP, Tahir Khan. He resigned from his office noting that he could not succeed as there was more interference than the freedom to deliver.

Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, an economist and PM’s advisor, also quit his office as the economy had nearly collapsed.

Why one after the other advisors quit without completing the task assigned to them is not only a matter of question but also of deep concern, advocate Nasir Ahmad Chaudhary has questioned. Akbar, he asked, should tell the nation how many corrupt were punished by his accountability move, and how much amount he recovered from these corrupt people including Sharifs. He should also furnish details of perks and privileges he enjoyed during all these three long years.

An officer of the National Accountability Bureau requesting anonymity said that the country was dominated by mafias. He added that the system was crooked to spare them, and no move of the government on accountability seemed apparently successful. He said that the PTI government should completely revamp the system by following the Singaporean model of bureaucracy and China’s form of controlled structure.

Moreover, IT and forensic experts should be hired in investigating agencies rather than trusting on traditional policemen as investigators to penalize the corrupt, the officer suggested.

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