RECENT developments in Pakistan can be summed up in three words: bizarre, shocking, depressing. We have not seen a more fractured polity, defined by an acrimonious debate for and against vested interests that are jockeying for power. Self-interest trumps the national interest, tainted by a corrosive narrative with certain buzzwords like ‘conspirators’, ‘traitors’ and ‘looters’ entering the political lexicon of the self-righteous ‘us-versus-them’ posturing.

The consequences of recent follies are being reflected in reputational costs to all the major national institutions, including the sacred cows. Pakistan today faces daunting challenges: an economic meltdown, governance collapse, brazen corruption, violent extremism, virulent militancy and organised crime. Who is going to stem the rot and how? That is the question.

I was in public service for about half a century, starting my career in law enforcement in 1973. For about four decades, I was part of the state apparatus that was dealing with challenges such as sectarianism, religious extremism, terrorism, drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering and cybercrime. All these reflect the nefarious nexus between corruption and organised crime, weak rule of law and the involvement or collusion of the state.

Lately, the horizon has darkened generally due to the nexus of organised criminal groups with corrupt and greedy stakeholders who wield influence and power in policy domains due to weakened institutional safeguards. We are living in ‘interesting times’ in a deeply divided society. Unfortunately, plutocratic pettiness prevails in our land of pure hypocrisy. According to a recent — and damning — UNDP report, elite privilege consumes $17.4 billion of Pakistan’s economy wherein mafia-like corporate greed reigns supreme. However, ill-gotten wealth cannot buy admiration, respect and trust. But it can buy political power. We are seeing kleptocrats rising against principled stakeholders and those who espouse the rule of law and want to promote good governance. This is the dilemma we face today as oligarchy has replaced the democratic façade.

People have seen through the Machiavellian methods at play.

The biggest challenges are corruption and the crisis of governance.

The National Accountability Bureau has failed to deliver across-the-board accountability. A controversial chairman, with an extended tenure of four years and eight months, caused irreparable damage to the institution; the resultant loss of public faith has given rise to the demand that NAB be either disbanded or replaced with a truly independent accountability commission.

Read: NAB not involved in political engineering, says chairman Justice Javed Iqbal

Institutions gain and maintain their credibility and public trust on the basis of two factors: a sound legislative framework and a head who leads with utmost integrity, fairness and impartiality. Successive chairmen of NAB have contributed to the erosion of trust in the accountability process.

The institution has been perceived as the veritable arm of our security establishment and has been misused for political engineering. Even strictures passed by the Supreme Court were completely disregarded. Above all, the ruling political elite made legal amendments in NAO 1999 that turned NAB into a defanged and toothless tool of person-specific accountability.

Both the politicians and the establishment are responsible for turning NAB into a coercive weapon of vendetta. This farce cannot be sustained. People have seen through the Machiavellian methods at play. Enough is enough.

The nexus between organised crime and corporate greed needs to be addressed. Most real estate tycoons, big banks and transnational corporations fill the coffers of political parties. State land is doled out to vested interests as a quid pro quo. Cases of funding of major political parties are pending before the Election Commission of Pakistan. Hopefully, some constructive results can be achieved.

The crisis of governance relates to both the governments and the string-pullers who want pliant and weak political leaders to operate in a national security framework dictated by certain unelected but powerful heads of institutions that represent the state. The chief executives are propped up and brought down by powers that are the self-anointed guardians of our national interest.

The irony is that, in our history, no prime minister has ever completed his or her constitutionally stipulated tenure. Civilian supremacy can only be established provided the political parties and their leaders are willing to sit together and carve out a new charter of governance that establishes a genuine social contract between state and society.

Since retirement, now for more than a decade, I have had the opportunity to understand and deal with the challenges faced by civil society and the hapless victims of organised crime — manifest in the festering issue of the missing persons.

The chief justice of the Islamabad High Court has repeatedly highlighted this issue and has held the state responsible for enforced disappearances. The government has constituted a seven-member cabinet committee under the law minister to come up with policy recommendations.

Read: Missing persons bill has gone 'missing', says Shireen Mazari

Unless the missing law on enforced disappearances is placed for approval before parliament and a policy to deal with the issue is devised in consultation with the powers that be, as alluded to by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during his visit to Balochistan last month, the grievances of citizens will keep recurring against the backdrop of the state’s follies.

I firmly believe that both state and society must foster a concerted strategy to combat the complexities posed by threats from within, including governance fault lines. For this, all constitutionally mandated institutions must sit together and hold a national dialogue to forge a new path to true democracy, good governance and the strengthening of civilian institutions.

Holding free and fair elections is important but more urgent is the need to address the decay that has permeated the system. The conspiracy of privilege and power needs to be defeated. We should move beyond the outrage towards real reform. Let us rise above our personal and institutional differences to carve out a future for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous nation as envisioned by our founding father. It is never too late.

The writer is director, Centre for Governance Research, an independent think tank.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2022