Nawaz offers good rule recipe to Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif has written a letter to President Asif Ali Zardari advising him to address the issues of corruption, inflation, lack of accountability and non-implementation of Supreme Court orders and to take measures to save large state-owned enterprises.

The letter was presented before the National Assembly and handed over to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani by Leader of Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Wednesday.

“Prime Minister Gilani in his speech in the National Assembly on Nov 3 had remarked that he would welcome suggestions and recommendations from those who had misgivings about the government’s commitment to good governance. It is in the spirit of his offer that I want to share some of my thoughts with you, as I have done in the past with all sincerity,” Mr Sharif says in the letter.

The issue of accountability and formation of the proposed National Accountability Commission (NAC) is the first matter addressed in the four-page letter.

“Both PML-N and the ruling Pakistan people’s Party (PPP) had agreed to establish an independent accountability forum. Regrettably, more than two and a half years have elapsed, but the Ehtesab Bill has not been enacted till today. PML-N believes that a consensus Ehtesab Bill is an urgent requirement to ensure fair and transparent accountability in the country and must, therefore, be presented during the current session of parliament.”

Mr Sharif said a recent report of the Transparency International painted a dismal picture of how Pakistan was viewed the world over. “This perception will inevitably have a most damaging impact on all dimensions of our relations with the outside world, particularly our efforts to attract foreign investment.

“In his budget speech, the finance minister had admitted that the country was suffering losses of over Rs250 billion through leakages in SOEs. In the past four months, the situation has worsened. Regrettably, no corrective action has been taken so far. PML-N feels that incompetence, corruption and cronyism in the management of the SOEs are the major factors responsible for the huge losses being incurred by these corporations.

“We demand that senior management of all SOEs, including Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan State Oil, Railways, National Investment Corporation, Trading Corporation of Pakistan and power sector companies, be replaced through a transparent recruitment process with well-reputed and talented Pakistani professionals from home and abroad.”

Referring to the National Reconciliation Ordinance, he said: “Non-compliance of a Supreme Court judgment on the NRO is an attempt to seriously compromise the rule of law and generates tension between the judiciary and the executive. PML-N demands that all judgments of the apex court must be implemented in totality without further delay.”

On inflation and sky rocketing prices of petroleum products and electricity, Mr Sharif
said the need for mobilising more resources was understandable, but “it must be done by preventing losses in the SOEs, leakages in the tax collection process and by better enforcement of the tax regime, rather than by accentuating the suffering of the already distressed citizens.

Moreover, the failure to take any substantive steps to reduce the non-productive expenditures, such as rationalisation of the size of the cabinet, is adding to the common man’s frustration. PML-N demands that the increases in POL prices be withdrawn immediately as they are causing great hardship to people. Further, the coalition government must reduce the size of the cabinet forthwith. We also propose a comprehensive and thorough debate in parliament on measures to encourage savings by cutting wasteful expenditure.”

The former prime minister said that despite repeated written requests by the Punjab government to make timely imports of sugar to avoid escalation in the prices, the federal government had miserably failed to take appropriate steps. “PML-N demands that a parliamentary committee be formed to investigate the matter for taking action against those who failed to ensure timely import of sugar.”