July 20, 2002	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 9, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, July 19: President Pervez Musharraf urged the international community on Friday to wage a war against corruption with the same resolve with which the menace of terrorism and narcotics were being addressed

Speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day “National Anti-Corruption Strategy Workshop” organised by the National Accountability Bureau, the president observed that billions of dollars stashed away by corrupt rulers of developing countries in Swiss banks, if returned, could be used by these countries to repay their debts.

Gen Pervez Musharraf said the money deposited by looters and plunderers in the foreign banks was enough to repay Pakistan’s debts.

“Pay our money and we will pay back our debts,” the president said, urging the international community to evolve some mechanism so that the money earned through corrupt practices could not find its way to the Swiss banks.

He wondered why some institutional checks could not be put in place on laundering of money made through illegal means.

“Why there could not be some legislation at the international level and why the banks are allowed to accept such deposits?” he asked.

The president recalled that when he took over power in October 1999, corruption was rampant among the top echelons of power.

There had been a collusion between the political and bureaucratic elite and financial institutions, which, he said, was the source of macro-corruption in Pakistan.

Through this collusion, development funds to the tune of billions of rupees had been siphoned off, he added.

The president pointed out that over the last ten years around Rs1.1 trillion had been allocated for development but there were no projects on the ground. “This huge amount has gone down the drain,” he said.

Except for M-2 Motorway for which the country had been paying Rs6 billion a year, two international airports and few buildings in Islamabad, he said he found nothing else on which over Rs1 trillion allocated in the Public Sector Development Programme had been spent over the past ten years.

The president claimed his government was corruption-free, saying he was proud of it. In 1988, Pakistan ranked seventh among the most corrupt countries of the world, now we stood at 11th, he said.

He highly appreciated the NAB role and said it had recovered Rs140 billion in the last one year.

Gen Musharraf said the NAB must get a constitutional cover and autonomy so that it would not get politicised in future. The government, he said, was restructuring the FIA and linking it to the NAB for tracking white-collar crimes.

As regards the law and order situation, the president said the law enforcement agencies had improved their performance a lot.

He said restructuring of police was also being done and its three basic functions — watch and ward, investigation and prosecution — would be separated.

The investigation wing would have a different uniform from the force responsible for watch and ward, he added.

The president hoped that the organizational restructuring would reduce mega corruption in the country. He said privatization of banks, devolution of powers and other reforms undertaken by the government would go a long way in eradicating corruption from the society.

Enumerating his government’s success in implementation of the seven-point agenda, Gen Musharraf said confidence-building and morale boosting was the first point on his agenda. “It is still important” as the nations without self-confidence could not rise and develop.

He said the second point was to strengthen the federation and remove inter-provincial disharmony and forge national cohesion. The constitutional amendments were being carried out to achieve this goal.

The third point was the revival of economy, he said, adding the regime had been successful in pulling out the economy from the red. However, he admitted that still a lot had to be done. The economic recovery was not possible without getting rid of the debt trap, which was difficult but achievable, the president added.

The fourth point, he said, was to ensure law and order and dispense speedy justice. He said the government had not been able to ensure speedy justice but the law and order was certainly improving.

The fifth point was to depoliticise the state institutions, which, he said, had been done and there was no favouritism and intervention in the state institutions. “This needs to be continued after October elections,” he said.

The sixth point was about devolution of powers to the grass-roots level. “We have done it, and brought about a silent revolution in the country,” he said. He said lack of resources were impeding the functions of district governments.

Lastly, Gen Musharraf said, he had promised to ensure swift and across-the-board accountability. “It has been across the board,” he remarked, apparently dismissing the criticism that it had remained focused on politicians.

The president recounted the number of politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen and others so far tried on corruption charges.

Gen Musharraf lamented that there had been a degeneration in the society to the extent that it had developed an acceptability for corrupt people.