Updated: Stamp out corruption the Chinese way?

A government official slaps a spa worker with a fat wad of cash and threatens to bury her under a mountain of banknotes, if she does not submit to his sexual advances. This government official, based in Hubei province China was stabbed to death by the women who later became a national hero, seen by many as standing up to a corrupt government official.

A side effect of the Pakistan-China, deeper than the depths of the ocean, higher than the highest mountain friendship, has been the evolution of a romanticised perception of China, of its leaders and its system of governance. Popularly, it’s assumed that corruption is non-existent in China. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Speaking on the occasion of the 90th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China, President Hu Jintao identified rampant corruption within the Party as a threat to its continued survival. He declared that fighting corruption will be a "protracted, complicated and arduous battle”.

Economists fear that China is heading for a “hard landing” in 2012. Recent statistics show that electricity production, investment, quarterly growth, retail sales and trade figures have all declined. Given the economic problems of the European Union, uncertainty regarding government spending cuts in the US; it come as no surprise that quarterly GDP growth fell to 8.1%. Now 8.1% growth may sound very good, however it is largely assumed that China needs to grow at at least 8% a year to keep a vast population satisfied and quell any signs of popular dissent.

With corruption having become a national issue and the prospects of a period of declining growth, the last thing the Chinese leadership needed was an internal power struggle. That is exactly what it got!

The purge of the populist Communist Party leader of Chongqing and politburo member Bo Xilai, was also tipped for a senior leadership post later this year, marking the once in a decade change of Chinese leaders. Bo Xilai, a “princeling”, as descendants of senior Communist Party members are known, had been ideologically challenging the current leadership, headed by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. Xilai’s case has become more complicated as his wife has been arrested as a suspect in the murder of a British businessman, Neil Haywood.

The purge however has not ended with Bo Xilai exit. Others including his three brothers accused of corruption, state officials, and politburo members who actively supported him, such as the former domesticsecurity chief Zhou Yongkang and senior “princeling” generals have also had to leave their posts.

In Pakistan, many believe that the Chinese model should be imported and implemented, ignoring the fact that the very same system has created conditions of stark inequality and rampant corruption. Much like their Pakistani peers, Chinese leaders have been found carrying fake degrees, sanctioned illegal land grabs, involved in siphoning off billions of dollars offshore and perhaps most famously, have managed to sidestep a 2004 ban on newgolf courses, ushering in the construction of 600 of them since the ban came into effect.

Unlike the Chinese leadership that has admitted the shortcomings of its system and is pushing through reforms, we in Pakistan continue to believe in a “Chinese model” which is completely detached from reality. The CPC recognizes the unique challenges it faces given Chinas current international status and her domestic pressures.

So whether its Iran, China or Turkey, longing for importing a system which is perceived to be effective and corruption free but based on a fantasy does no one, especially us any good. 

China isn't corruption free. All those who romanticise an authoritarian regime that will take a hard-line, top down approach to corruption and "stamp" it out and falling prey to cheap rhetoric. It sounds good, it means well, but such talk is cheap and betrays neither an understanding of corruption, nor its incentives and how to mediate them.

It’s high time we in Pakistan did the same and appreciate that the experiences of other countries while informing our policies, are never flexible enough to be implemented wholesale. Especially, when our opinion of a country and her policies are based on a fiction, unrepresentative of reality. 

UPDATE

Talking about good governance, how is this for an attempt at displaying all the good work Chinese officials are upto. A rather poor effort don't you think? Could have got someone better to Photoshop!

Balochistan: See no evil

Polarized at our own peril

As if Pakistan was not polarized enough, the last few months have seen Balochistan and the problems that the people there face, finally receive some much deserved attention. Then again, they are many who argue that yet not enough attention is being given, with reporting selective.

As an example, this polarization was evident as the following clip illustrates, as a political organization, the JI which claims to have the interests of the Baloch people at heart, struggles to share solidarity with the family of victims.

One-liners, easily shared

Many narratives are perpetuated, shared and unquestionably regurgitated. 

1) The Baloch sardars have been exploiting the Baloch masses for decades and now the "liberal" types in Pakistan are hailing them as heroes.

2) There is a foreign hand involved in Balochistan which is hell bent on breaking Pakistan up.

3) Balochistan, nay Pakistan, has been blessed by god with bountiful supplies of natural wealth, which, if not for the foreign hand, exploitative sardars and corrupt politicians, Pakistan could have mined and exploited billions of dollars of mineral wealth.

4) The Army chief has said so: there is no military operation in Balochistan.

5) China has noted that Balochistan is a strategic corridor for it, and therefore, is investing billions to develop mines, ports, airports and roads. We must do whatever to support our brothers from the north.

6) Why are liberals silent about the murder of Punjabi settlers? 

Hear no evil

Now they are some valid claims amongst the above points; they are repeated, shared and justified. However, for the vast majority of people in Pakistan, the claims, grievances or demands of the people of Balochistan are not as well known. We are told what the Baloch think and we assume what is best for them, however the fact is that until very recently, views and opinions of Baloch leaders and activists has been missing from the daily news cycle. In short, we all seem to know why Balochistan is important and why there is violence there, but know little or nothing of the people that we are outraged against. 

An ungoverned void

Further, the issue is muddled as blatant assassinations of the Hazaras has added a sectarian flair to the violence. We cant clearly demarcate between two groups with competing interests.  Extremists terrorist organizations in the mix, justify the killing of these peoples due to their sectarian affiliation. As long as they are people championing such acts and celebrating the perpetrators as heroes, regardless of geography such acts will continue. With no accepted state authority to exercise its sovereignty such acts will continue with impunity. 

Surely, not everyone is a CIA/RAW/Mossad agent. Even if there is foreign interference they are at best exploiting grievances? 

And the list continues. Denial and half truths are a potent mix, yet somewhere in between the denial and emotive nationalism lies the truth.

Who is killing them is what is debated, often vehemently! What riles up people is not that people are dying, but the accusation that the Pakistani security establishment is somehow involved, leads to a proliferation of outrage. How dare someone accuse them of torture and murder?

But then, as if subconsciously and unaware, the narrative tilts to, "so what if they were killed? they were terrorists who got what they deserved".

All caught up

When it comes to Balochistan, we seem to have spun ourselves into a web.

After demanding for decades a plebiscite and the right for self determination for Kashmir, rightly or wrongly, we deny that same rights to the Baloch people. This is explained as clear hypocrisy by the states critics. Islamabad however claims that Balochistan status in the federation is not disputed so this point is not relevant. However, that too has come under alot of debate recently. The worst of this debate, is in the following video, which adds a religious angle to the position of Balochistan in Pakistan. Such propaganda pieces are hardly helpful (warning, graphic content). 

After criticising US/NATO policies in Afghanistan, drone strikes that help create more militants, the night raids that turn communities towards the Taliban, the Pakistani military seems to be doing the same in Balochistan. Now some argue that its not the Pakistani military/intelligence behind these abductions, but if not them, then who? And why is no one looking for who is actually behind these cases? 

Rehman Malik, has repeatedly claimed that there are foreign and/or third hands involved in the militancy in Balochistan. If so, why is this evidence not made public or issue raised internationally? If the government has evidence to corroborate this claim then they should make this public to pile international pressure on such foreign states who are brutalizing Balochistan. If he, the government and security establishment have such evidence, and continue to remain silent, are they not enabling the perpetuation of violence?

Balochistan seems to be in a perfect storm of sorts. They are ruling sardars, and deprived peasantry, geographic importance, mineral wealth, a brutal security state, inept politicians, a sanitized media and jingoistic rhetoric. 

Beyond the point of no return? 

What I fear the most is a wave of emotive nationalism which would actually champion at worst, or remain silent, at best, as violence is justified to keep Balochistan a part of the federation.

A people are judged by how they treat the most vulnerable in their society. What no one can deny is that people are being abducted and they are being killed. There is something very wrong with a people that accepts such violence as part and parcel of maintaining the federation. This in itself should lead to much soul searching. 

If so, that is in clear violation of the law and the constitution and if we stand idly by, then we accept that the state, the law and the courts are not sovereign over its largest province, and all is already lost.

No civil military balance, without divesting military commercial interests

A poor attempt at a balancing act

Asma Jahangir has spoken on the issue of military-civil imbalance today. Quite rightly, any deference to the words of General Kayani and Pasha that compromises individual rights doesn't say much for either the supremacy of the law, or a “free judiciary”.

Back in May, right after the Abbottabad raid, a lot of people quite excitedly, heralded this as a unfortunate, but at the same time fortunate opportunity to put the military in its place. Get it back into the confines of its constitutional mandate. Then came the in camera briefing in the National Assembly, but after a few weeks it was obvious that the military was running the show.

The PPP government started off by emphasising its determination to guide Pakistan's security and foreign policy. Zardari spoke of a grand free trade area and our then foreign minister SMQ smiled sheepishly with Hillary Clinton as Kayani looked on from the margins. Alot of choreographing, but Zardari's ideas didn't come to much and SMQ is well, batting for the other team now. Even then, few believed that the Army had relinquished influence over foreign and security affairs. Effectively, it could exercise its veto over civilian decisions if and when it wanted.

In the recent past, one has to be quite naive to still believe that its Zardari who shapes Pakistan's foreign policy. Unlike most PTI supporters and reactionary critics, its not as if Zardari allowed drone strikes or handed over Pakistani airbases to US control. Neither was it Zardari who extra-judicially handed over foreign and Pakistani citizens to the US without due process who later ended up in Bagram, Guantanamo etc. And before I forget, the most hated of documents, the infamous NRO was facilitated and negotiated by our very own COAS General Kayani, however, being in khaki he's above criticism or responsibility.

That said, whenever the issue of civil-military relations come up and people talk about balancing it, a lot of emphasis is placed on politicians doing the “right” thing and exercising their mandate and forcing the military to relent before there constitutional superiority. That's why the mere mention of the possibility of the PM sacking Kayani and Pasha unleashed a storm. Mind you that storm was much louder in regards to a possible decision that a sitting PM might which is his prerogative and constitutional, while a coup, orchestrated by the military unleashes jubilation and a fiscal stimulus for mathai shops.

The biggest slice of the cake

I would argue that any balance between the civilian side and the military side of the state can only be achieved if the military economic influence is decreased. The military through its various arms has its fingers in every commercial pie. Resources are skewed favourably in the hands of those in khaki and their institutions; for the industrial, capitalist class knows who to deal with if they want to get things done.

Now the military property empire is a ubiquitous part of Pakistani urban life. The nexus between Bahria Town-HRL-DHA for a few is “national progress” but for those forcibly displaced, the state that misses out on tax revenues, the banks that are forced to offer concessional loans and later write them off, the abrogation of the constitution within these areas; the costs are massive and they keep on piling up. The following DAWN Reporter Episodes paint an ugly picture of the cartel that is now the military-commercial interest which is a law unto itself. (Thanks to @shahidsaaed)

You can tick through a list of industries in Pakistan, and one way or the other, either through outright ownership or in partnership the military is a major stakeholder. Nothing comes of cases of corruptions against generals, so there is no surprise that ex-military types pack commercial organisations. Capitalists vote with their feet, and it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that they vote for the team with the bigger stick.

Incentives in action

Now politicians are a fragmented and competitive group. Sure, they make poor decisions and may be corrupt, however, they act in their self interest, where ever that might take them. Given the might of the military, its monopoly over the use of force, coupled with its huge economic clout, a fragmented group of politicians have no chance to exercise their will over the military. Instead, they are co-opted by the military to do their bidding, and why wouldn't they? 

Now the next obvious question is: Do we want these incompetent civilians dictating policy to the military?

The answer to that is yes. The simple reason is this: Given Zardari's 11% approval rating, the dismal approval rating of the PPP, and overall image of politicians as incompetent, we can be assured that every decision they take is the talk of the evening news cycle. Columns are written, opinions are formed, news is shared and retweeted.

However, decisions taken by the military fall under two categories. Either the military makes a decision, and then civilians are made to face the negative fall out of it. Or the military makes decisions and no one is the wiser. When questioned, you are not offered a policy outline. Instead you get a long emotive speech about sacrifices and bravery which somehow qualifies someone to make decisions on a nations foreign policy or other associated matter that is not even that persons job.

Do as the Chinese do

In China the Divestiture Act of 1998 banned all the commercial activities of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Like their Pakistani counterparts, the PLA had invested itself in banks, hotels, factories, property developments, retailing etc. During the Tienanmen uprising in 1989, China came dangerously close to a military coup. As the vanguard of the revolution the PLA, was a central part of the Communist Party and the Party heavily invested in the PLA. The PLA eventually sided with the pulitburo and the Tienanmen protesters, and protesters across the country were crushed. These events helped accelerate the PLA's independence from CCP control and widen its economic activities. By the mid-1990s as China bombed, so did the PLA's financial interests. In an effort to encourage professionalism in the PLA and in a display of its authority, the CPC promulgated the Divestiture Act of 1998 banning its commercial activities. Without it, the PLA would have gained undue influence, both by wielding weapons and cheque books.... Sound familiar?

Without reducing the military's economic dominance and access to resources the dream of civil authority over the military will not come to pass. This is not a matter of budgetary allocations. Its about a parallel economy that sucks away resources without any accountability. It rewards itself for taking the risks, but given that its “too big to fail”, the costs are passed on to the losers. The military and those associated with it, sail through bureaucratic red tape, judicial and legislative oversight, and political interference.

This is also why, I don’t agree with suggestions that the only way to save the Railways or PIA is to privatise it. Pakistan has toothless regulators that are easily co-opted. Recently, a newspaper report claimed that the National Logistics Cell, which has single handedly destroyed the Railways freight transport market is going to take over parts of the organisation to run as a “private” initiative. Then again, NLC, with its association with the military is above any critique. Until the state has a capacity to regulate privatised industries, there is no point in transferring a public monopoly to a private one. Tax payers keeping a state organisation afloat for better or worse is one thing, however, tax payers of inflationary borrowing doing the same to prop up a privatised industry to line the pockets of shareholders is criminal.

If I may digress for a paragraph, this is also another reason why I dont buy Imran Khan's and PTI's rhetoric on jusitice and ending corruption. How can they talk about justice and reducing corruption when they remain silent on the military and its role in the economy? Why the silence? PTI supporters like to talk about Turkey's example and the Erdogen model of gradual civilian dominance, but Erdogen as an activist and campaigner would not shy away from putting the Turkish military in its place.

Given that the military is the “winning horse” in the race to the bottom, its not surprising that those seeking an economic advantage find one way or another to cling to it. Some argue, that this proves that the military is a disciplined institution and people trust it with its money. However, the flip side is that no competitor is allowed a fair chance to compete with the military's might. And those individuals and organisations who are lucky enough to tag along under the khaki umbrella...well not only are they minting money, but they are also called national heroes. And when there great money making enterprises go belly up, it will be the patriotic duty off every Pakistani to bail them out.