Mushys regime: the most corrupt of them all? (merged)

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Hot from the presses, Benazir was most criticized when transparency international ..it was even cited as grounds for her government and Nawazs dismissal. Ah well..every wheel turns:

EDITORIAL: Story of the pot and kettle
**A survey by the Pakistan chapter of Transparency International says the current government is more corrupt than the two earlier governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. TI’s 2006 report is based on a sample of 4,000 urban and semi-urban citizens in all four provinces. **Since the details of the report and the statistics have already been covered by this newspaper’s lead story yesterday, we shall not go into them. More to the point are certain other questions.

The primary reason for the absence from Pakistan of Ms Bhutto and also, to some extent Mr Sharif, is that both were allegedly corrupt. When General Pervez Musharraf ousted Mr Sharif in a coup, he promised clean government; he also said that he would not allow corrupt politicians to return to Pakistan. However, when he began putting together his own team of loyalists, the people found among the new rulers many who should equally have been banished from this land for being corrupt.

But that didn’t happen for good reasons, including the ubiquitous reason of political expediency. General Musharraf admitted his failure in so many words when after the 2002 elections he was reported as saying that he couldn’t do anything if there were no Mr Cleans around. That should have been reason enough for him to allow the two former premiers to return but of course that could not happen because that would have been political suicide for the present government painfully stitched together by General Musharraf.

Now we have statistical assessments and surveys informing us that Pakistanis see the current dispensation not just as corrupt, but more so than those that preceded it. It is interesting that while 33 percent of those surveyed thought that this government was corrupt during the period 1999-2002, more than 67 percent thought it was corrupt in the period 2002-06. This could well have to do with a number of scandals that have come to the fore recently: the sugar scam, privatisation scandals concerning PTCL and PSM, the stock exchange crash and so on. There is also growing awareness among the people of the military’s dubious involvement in business and real estate and some reports have even sought to give statistics on that.

One thing should be clear. Whatever reasons the government might give to justify keeping Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif out of the political loop, corruption cannot be one of them. Neither should it surprise anyone that in the charged political atmosphere today, both the leaders and their parties will latch onto the report and propagate its findings to their advantage. This would be politically ‘fair’ not only because it is equally expedient for them to do so but also because the report has scrubbed Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif and readied them for presentation again.

We want to make another point clear. In a country where the only organisations that are equipped to investigate corruption — both in terms of resources and the power to do so — are intelligence agencies controlled by the military, the military can highlight the corruption of civilian governments by presenting truths, half-truths and even manufactured truths while successfully hiding facts about its own corruption or that of its political minions. Consequently, the charge of corruption has become a joke because the pot hardly has the moral authority to call the kettle black. This is not to say that corruption should be condoned or ignored; merely, that until we have an institutional framework to address it in a non-partisan manner and until we have removed the laws specifically put in place to legalise rent-seeking by one or the other group, corruption cannot be thrown in the face of the electorate as the deciding issue at elections. *

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Re: Mushys regime: the most corrupt of them all?

Ek Ek talibani terrorist millions mein bech raha hai Mushi. Itna sahi business chal raha hai and there is no dearth of talibanis' (product).
Saara paisa swiss bank account mein dalta hai kya?

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'Musharraf regime more corrupt than Govts of Sharif, Bhutto'

Islamabad, Sept. 19 (PTI): President Pervez Musharraf's regime in Pakistan is more corrupt than the previous governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, according to a survey by a corruption watchdog.

In the survey conducted by Transparency International's Pakistan chapter, a whopping 67 per cent respondents said the government formed by Musharraf after the 2002 elections was corrupt. The figure was 33 per cent for the military government headed by Musharraf between 1999-2002.

Only 10 per cent of those questioned said that the first term headed by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif government between 1990-93 was corrupt, but 34 per cent thought his second term between 1996-99 was corrupt, the results of the survey published in the Daily Times here today said.

Similarly only eight per cent of the people thought that first term of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto government between 1988-90 was corrupt but 48 per cent said her second term in office between 1993-96 was corrupt.

Questioned about corruption in government departments, the respondents were of the opinion that in per capital terms, citizens had to pay higher bribes to customs, followed by the land department, judiciary, taxation, banking, power, education, health, police and railways.

The watchdog's 2006 report was based on a sample of 4000 urban and semi-urban citizens in all four provinces of the country.

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Re: Mushys regime: the most corrupt of them all? (merged)

same old story, people tend to accuse every present government and look for another option and forget the past easily. getting people comments doesnt measure corruption, but actual statistics.

personaly i dont beleive corruption is on that scale as it was before, it exists still though. media is more open and free, may be that is one factor too. media also need to remind people about previous ventures from BB and NS.

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Re: Mushys regime: the most corrupt of them all? (merged)

Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Pakis who support dictatorship would never want to understand this because it benefits one province and one ethnic group usurping or stealing what is due to others. More than 60 years ago, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad predicted that when he opposed creation of Pakistan. He was visionary, what he said a long time ago in "India Wins Freedom", it actually happened.

FARID

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Re: Mushys regime: the most corrupt of them all? (merged)

Pakistan is ranked no 13 among the most corrupt nations in the world.During benazir's govt Pakistan was ranked no 2.Benazir's regime and Sharif's were far more corrupt than Musharraf's regime and they were more directly involved in corruption.Zardari was known as a 10% man who was directly involved in many corruption cases and so was Sharif.Atleast Musharraf is not directly involved in it,its the people under him who are doing all this.

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Re: Mushys regime: the most corrupt of them all? (merged)

this govt, loves to stand chest out when economic reports which say pakistan is progressing, but when such reports like this come out they brush them aside, a a defame Pakistan report! This govt is the best of the best since this is former ministers and members of PPP and PML put together, the most crooked people are in this setup!

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Re: Mushys regime: the most corrupt of them all? (merged)

Such reports are not transparent. (at least governents deny them)

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More facts from transparency internationals latest report:

Punjab most corrupt province, says TI

MEHTAB HAIDER
ISLAMABAD-Police, power utilities and judiciary are the most corrupt institutions in Pakistan, states the latest report of Transparency International (TI).
According to the ranking carried out by the TI in 2006, the top ten corrupt institutions in Pakistan are police, power, judiciary, land, taxation, custom, health, education, railways and banks.

In TI ranking of 2002, the top ten corrupt institutions were police, power, taxation, judiciary, custom, heath, land, education, railways and banks.
According to the TI survey report, Punjab is considered as the most corrupt province.
In response to the query, “ In your opinion which province is the most corrupt?” The respondents of each province considered their own province as the most corrupt except NWFP, where Punjab was rated highest as a corrupt province as compared to the other three.
67.31% considered the Musharraf government with Parliament (2002-2006) as corrupt, this ratio stood at 32.69% during 1999-2002, with Musharraf without Parliament.
Answering a query about perception regarding four civilian governments from 1988-1999, 34% considered the government of Nawaz Sharif during 1996-99 as corrupt, 48% considered Benazir government in 93-96, 10% considered Nawaz Sharif government in 90-93 and 8% termed Benazir government in 88-90 as corrupt.
There are 68% respondents who have rated the present district government system as a better system. 70% respondents feel that the present Privatization Policy will minimize corruption.
The three main reasons of corruption in view of the respondents were, ‘lack of accountability’, ‘low salaries of the government employees’ & ‘discretionary powers’.
The three measures suggested for combating corruption were ‘Accountability’, ‘Adequate Salaries’ & ‘Speedy Judicial process’.
Comparing the two investigation agencies FIA & NAB, NAB has been assessed as better one with 58.52% approval & FIA with 41.48%
Bribery or palm greasing has become so much part of the system that in all the ten sectors, the demand is directly made by the officer or person involved, without needing a negotiator or middle man.
Assuming that there are 20 million Households (8 persons per house) in the country, average bribery expenditure being Rs 2,303 per household, almost Rs 45 billion is the cost of petty corruption at the lowest level.
The analysis of TI ranking shows there has been no difference in top two institutions such as Police and power utilities as both were considered the top two out of ten most corrupt departments between 2002 and 2006.
However, judiciary ranks at third position in terms of the corrupt institutions in 2006 as earlier it was on fourth position in 2002 ranking.
The ranking of land revenue department also jumped up to fourth position in 2006 as earlier it was at seventh position in 2002 report.
However, CBR or taxation performance improved positively in terms of corruption during 2006 ranking as it stood at fifth position, it was earlier at third position in 2002. The customs ranking also improved positively as it was on sixth position out of ten most corrupt institutions in 2006 which was earlier at fifth position in 2002.
The health department in terms of corruption stands at seventh position in 2006 ranking while it was at sixth position in 2002 report.
Three institutions education, railways and banks are at the same ranking as eighth, ninth and tenth respectively in both 2002 and 2006, and no change occurred in terms of their improvement or decline.
When this correspondent contacted Chairman CBR, Abdullah Yousaf, he said that there is an indication of improvement in CBR performance.
“This report indicates that there is positive change in our performance,” he said and added there is a need for not being complacent on the corruption issue, as more needs to be done.
Answering another query, he said the CBR is holding a perception survey in order to gauge image of taxpayers about the working of the tax collection machinery.
A survey was done in 1998-99 and now another would be done in this year 2006, which would enable the authorities to compare where does the CBR stand at this moment in terms of curtailing corrupt practices.

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whoa what shortterm memories people have. only 8% think BB’s govt of 88-90 was not corrupt. contrasts significantly with what the public mood was back then.

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Haha

Very transparent survey! :k:

No traffic jams please we are Sharifs!
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Re: Mushys regime: the most corrupt of them all? (merged)

I believe that BB+Zardari and NS were personally involved in corruption in Pakistan, the courts couldn’t find that, because the Judges are very easily bought. But in Mushrafs case, up to now there has been no allegation of corruption "on" him, but the people around him, are the same who were around BB and NS. So this time they are doing it under the auspices of the Army, that’s why the corruption is more than usual and its more than BB and NS. So now its your call, is the President letting it happen because he wants to stay in power. Nobody got caught in the Sugar scandal, rather the NAB dropped the case and stopped the investigation. The SC asked for detail about the Steel Mill, no proof is provided to the courts. The Stock exchange crisis, who are the people who made billions? The one who doesn’t follow the law can not make others follow it as well, but he can surely enforce it....doesn’t it sound like Zia's era with a liberal jay-e-namaz?

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Fraudia is that your picture...in the avtar

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the whirrling drevesh, yep das me
oh yeah the other one too..

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riddle me this batman…

so its perceptions of ppl rather than concrete facts.
if perceptions of ppl are equal to reality, then why is the perception of corruption of benazirs term less now than it was before. I mean unless these geniuses went back in time and erased the corruption it did not change, so why is there a disparity between what these 4000 ppl said now versus what people said then?

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Re: Mushys regime: the most corrupt of them all? (merged)

to make comparison easier:

8% termed Benazir government in 88-90 as corrupt.
10% considered Nawaz Sharif government in 90-93...
48% considered Benazir government in 93-96...
34% considered the government of Nawaz Sharif during 1996-99...
32.69% during 1999-2002, with Musharraf without Parliament.
67.31% considered the Musharraf government with Parliament (2002-2006) as corrupt.

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Re: Mushys regime: the most corrupt of them all? (merged)

Both Shauky and Uncle Mush are farishtaaz compared to politicians like Choti Tind, Waddi-Tind, BB Aunty, Altaf Kala PaanwaalaPahelwaan and the badmash of Gujrat Shujaat.

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Re: Mushys regime: the most corrupt of them all? (merged)

The suppose clarification states that it did not declare Musharrafs the most corrupt it just said people believe it is the most corrupt :halo: ..PML’ers (Pervaiz Musharraf lovers) heartache aside the report is simply leaving the conclusions to be made by those with common sense, I am a little surprised by the Ayub Khan versus ZAB tenure, as common wisdom (probably wrongly) believes Ayubs term was exceptionally clean.

Transparent just got clarified

A survey that has been previously used to reconfirm just ‘how corrupt’ governments in Pakistan were now places the current rulers under the same cloud

By Nadeem Iqbal

In an obvious damage control exercise, the Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) is taking pains to clarify that its National Corruption Perception Survey 2006 does not find the Pervez Musharraf government to be more corrupt than the governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.

The attempt at rectification came after a Transparency International survey said that 32.69 per cent of the respondents cried ‘corrupt’ when they were asked to give their verdict on the Prevez Musharraf government during 1999-2001. The percentage went up to a whooping 67.31 per cent when the same question was put as regard to Musharraf’s 2002-2006 rule.

34 per cent respondents said the Nawaz Sharif government in 1997-1999 was more corrupt than Sharif’s previous rule in 1990-93 that was found corrupt by only 10 per cent. Only 8 per cent labelled Benazir Bhutto’s first government as corrupt as compared to 48 per cent who found her second government as corrupt. But the attempt at damage-control aside, the percentage of the people who found both ‘tenures’ of the Pervez Musharraf government corrupt was higher as compared to Benazir or Nawaz.

The contentious question put to 4,000 respondents in the four provinces of the country was: ‘In Pakistan which government was/is the most corrupt; and what about the present government?’ Syed Adil Gillani, chairman Transparency International Pakistan tells TNS the question was framed to compare the two ‘tenures’ of the same ruler, and not to match stints of one ruler with those of another. In Musharraf’s case, of a total 4,000 respondents 32.69 said his first tenure was corrupt and 67.31 per cent put the same tag on his second.

Gillani recalls that in a 2002 Transparency survey of 3,000 respondents, the Benazir and Nawaz governments were considered corrupt by 48.70 per cent and 43.03 per cent respectively. Musharraf’s government was considered corrupt by only 3.17 per cent; Ziaul Haq’s by 1.53 per cent and Ayub Khan’s by 2.17 per cent. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto emerged as the least corrupt and cleanest of all Pakistani rulers with 1.4 per cent.

Isn’t Transparency International being soft on the present government, with whose National Accountability Bureau (NAB) it is working? Adil responds by saying that Transparency International’s agenda is to work with the government to bring in reform. “Look at NAB now. It is more reform-oriented under Transparency International’s guidelines,” he says.

He said Transparency International should be given credit for introducing a uniform procurement policy, as previously there existed around 28 different systems of procurement awhich was causing widespread corruption.

As to why didn’t Transparency International Pakistan work with previous Pakistani rulers – say in 1996, when it dubbed the Benazir Bhutto regime as one of the most corrupt in the world – Gillani says back then the TIP did not follow the code of conduct of Transparency International that makes it a mandatory neutral setup which does not take names or take sides. The then TI Pakistan chapter was dismantled and only revived in 2001.

Adil Gillani also explains this survey would not be part of international corruption perception index that rates the countries’ corruption perception levels for the investors. The Berlin-based Transparency International says its index is not an assessment of the corruption level in any country – rather it is an attempt to assess the level at which corruption is perceived by people working for multinational firms and institutions as impacting the commercial and social life. If a country has an issue with its ranking, this lies not with the index but rather with the perception that businessmen polled apparently have of that country. Their perceptions may not always be a fair reflection on the state of affairs, but they are a reality.

Transparency International has certainly taken its time clarifying its position; that its findings should not be interpreted to be against a government. It did not say so during Benazir’s time for instance, although in its 1997 report it recognised: “The impact of the index was perhaps greatest in Pakistan. The anger of people in Pakistan over their government’s participation in rampant corruption was catalysed by Pakistan’s position as second-worst in the world table. Suddenly, this anger became focussed, accompanied by the bitter feeling that Pakistan had ‘deserved better’ from their political elite. The reaction to the index in Pakistan was remarkable: Embassy and opposition party representatives visited TI in Berlin to ask for clarification. Many Pakistanis contacted TI which promoted the creation of a network in Pakistan and made TI a household name.”

And that was not the only time the index had ignited shock waves in the country – not the only time where the perception may have contributed in the ouster of a (political) government.

The Musharraf government also used Corruption Perception Index to pillory the previous regimes or using it as a touchstone to measure his government’s anti-corruption campaigns. National Accountability Bureau’s annual report describes the Nawaz-Benazir era marked by "prevalence of rampant, pervasive, institutionalised and endemic corruption in Pakistan. Moral values, societal norms and religious ethos were set aside and wealth accumulation became the primary objective. Five successive governments were dismissed in this period on charges of corruption without completing their tenure… "

Later NAB again quoted that Transparency International had declared Pakistan as the second most corrupt nations out of 58 surveyed in 1996 and that “As per a general estimate, in past years almost 20% of the GDP has been lost through corruption and corrupt practices annually.”

Not surprisingly, NAB has not commented on the latest Transparency report.

In the opinion of the 4,000 respondents quoted in the Transparency survey the three most corrupt government departments in Pakistan are police (64 per cent) power (11 per cent) and judiciary (9 per cent). In 2002, the police were of course ranked first followed by power and then taxation.

In response to the query ‘In your opinion which Province is the most corrupt?’ The respondents of each Province considered their own province as the most corrupt except NWFP, where Punjab was rated as most corrupt of the four provinces.

The report concludes that in spite of the best efforts of the government the corruption menace appears to be still at large. Bad governance of all the ten departments (covered in the survey), combined with the public ignorance, impatience attitude & seeking shortcut solution of the consumers has aggravated situation.

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Re: Mushys regime: the most corrupt of them all? (merged)

Typically twisted logic

The most corrupt politicians are the ones Busharraf chose to make alliances with, ie.Chaudry Shujaat

Among the pile of corrupt politicians, Busharraf stands alone, on his huge fortune

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Of course, he is squeaky clean, and must know nothing about the corruption the whole country knows about.

Don’t be so naive :rolleyes: