Land of inferiors

The writer is an analyst and
a former ambassador to Yemen, Nigeria and Italy

When it comes to making front page news in our national dailies, incompetence now vies with corruption, and, lest anyone think that spectacular displays of incompetence are the monopoly of any one branch of government, it is pervasive and afflicts all spheres, civil and military.

The other day, a suicide bomber disguised as a school boy penetrated an army recruitment centre belonging to the Punjab Regiment in Mardan, killing 32 people. Two years earlier, another fanatic had accounted for the lives of 35 soldiers in the very same facility. What greater warning was needed, considering that even an idiot knows that soldiers and police are the top two targets of terrorists. If there are limits to wisdom, there are none on stupidity and incompetence. Of course, an inquiry will be held and a hundred explanations forthcoming, but the one reason — incompetence — will remain etched in the minds of the bereaved.

The Raymond Davis affair may still have taken the turn that it has, but the Foreign Office (FO) would have done its duty and its reputation a lot of good by saying on the first day what it finally did belatedly. Instead, it kept mum and, as the controversy swirled, the FO saw its already dismal reputation further shredded in the media. The incident demonstrated how feeble and frail are the bonds that bind the two countries because, short of a US invasion, just about every threat that is diplomatically conceivable has been hurled at Pakistan. Unless Washington regains its balance and abandons its self-righteous fury in favour of a calmer and more mature attitude, the fallout from the incident could presage an irreversible downturn in relations. Of course, all this excess could have been avoided had the Foreign Office made the proverbial single stitch in time that will now require so many more.

The PIA brass apparently agreed to sell off its unprofitable routes to the Turks, not entirely without good reason, but, alas, without bothering to explain to employees how the move would help improve PIA’s miserable finances. No thought was given to the loss of jobs that such a sale would engender or the reactions of those affected. Resultantly, employees fearing for their livelihood, and for the airline’s viability, revolted. Rs2 billion were lost due to the suspension of flights. And to think that all that it would have taken to avoid this was a modicum of common sense and a mite of prior consultation.

In terms of dollars and cents, nothing has been more expensive than the nearly five, instead of two, years that it has taken the government to process and award the tender for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and, separately, the supply of LNG to Pakistan, only to scrap the process and begin anew, owing to a misreading of the law and the directions of the Supreme Court. Each month of delay has cost the exchequer a staggering $80 million for generating power from expensive oil in lieu of cheaper gas. This matter will soon be before the Supreme Court when, once again, the incompetence of the government will be on full display.

Another controversy hovers over the mining contract for the Reko Diq mega project which, too, is now before the Supreme Court. These two big projects, including the fiasco over the rental power plants, are but the high profile tips of an iceberg. Consider what happens on a daily basis with lesser projects be it a school, a clinic or whatever. Indeed, we seem to have lost the capacity to make meaningful use of foreign assistance, which we so desperately seek while our debts mount and our capacity to service it diminishes. As far as this regime is concerned, its history comprises the sum total of things that could have been avoided.

Examples of such crass incompetence are causing despair. People wonder how much longer the country can withstand outrageous and costly decisions when, ironically, there is no dearth of people with oodles of common sense and a surfeit of ability who can manage things better. They can be found in all walks of life and also, provided one looks hard enough, within the ruling party, but somehow what emerges are worthless men; and those who are degradingly submissive, but who have acquired a chokehold on the party and government offices.

It is sad that perhaps the one party in the country whose past leaders distinguished themselves by their learning ability, who worked tirelessly to excel and who even believed that ‘the best is the enemy of the good’, should be led by men and women bearing the infallible signs of the second rate; and who have acquired an insufferable tolerance of the third rate.

The government does itself no favour by ruling out of contention talented individuals who are not in the party or are beyond a certain age. Somehow, as a society, we seem to have psyched ourselves into believing that people above a certain age can be consigned onto the scrap heap. Forgetting that if Jinnah had retired at 60 there would have been no Pakistan; nor would post-war Germany have made its economic recovery without the equally old, or older, Adenauer to guide them. Living in the 21st century, surely we must re-examine this concept of retirement and concede that people are not born with a predetermined expiry date stamped on their forehead. It is sufficient that they possess distinguished minds, can wield a keyboard and can contribute more and better than some of the younger ones.

Pakistan is rich in human resources and sufficiently well endowed with competent and professional people to avoid the kind of mistakes stemming from rank incompetence that are taking place on a daily basis and are proving so costly. Quite apart from anything else, it makes us look and also feel inferior. If this continues, we may actually end up persuading ourselves, and others, that we are an inferior lot.

By Zafar Hilaly
Published: February 15, 2011

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2011.