Ministries’ performance

Published November 28, 2015

ADDRESSING the National Assembly, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan appeared to urge his fellow parliamentarians on both sides of the aisle to take a greater interest in monitoring the workings of the federal ministries. Indeed, Mr Khan suggested that ministers themselves take the lead by presenting their records in office in parliament and thereby encouraging parliament to critique them. Given the desultory nature of this parliament and the PML-N senior cadre’s lack of interest in strengthening parliamentary norms and practices, the interior minister’s suggestion could — and that is a very big if — help a mid-term revitalisation of parliament. If the government itself is not interested in reviewing the performance of its cabinet members — already long forgotten are the so-called ministerial performance audits that the prime minister had commissioned and then quietly shelved — perhaps the other parties in parliament could take the lead. There is clearly much that needs improvement on the governance front, and a plethora of reforms could be undertaken. Parliament — the combined National Assembly and Senate — also has a wealth of experience that could and should be put to better use.

The interior minister, however, appears to be fighting an uphill battle with resistance likely to come from his own cabinet colleagues and indifference or narrow self-interest at best to be contended with among the opposition in parliament. With the PML-N, the history of the abortive ministerial performance audits is illustrative. For one, there is a dominant personality in the federal cabinet — Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. There are few ministries in which he does not have a say and many ministers appear helpless when it comes to asserting control over their own ministries. For another, the prime minister himself tends to keep many of his cabinet colleagues at arm’s length, leaving them weak within their own ministries and unable to use prime ministerial clout to get better administrative results. In such an environment, there will be some reluctance on the part of most cabinet members to follow the approach urged by the interior minister. Why expose themselves to harsh public scrutiny when most ministers don’t feel a real sense of ownership over their ministries?

The situation among the opposition — who ostensibly should have a great deal of interest in discovering the shortcomings of the federal cabinet — is sadly even worse. Consider the approach of the three main opposition parties: the PTI, PPP and MQM. The PPP and MQM appear unable to look beyond their troubles in Sindh and seem to consider parliament as nothing more than a platform to air their misgivings about how their members are being treated. The PTI, meanwhile, still favours the politics of agitation to the less glamorous work of parliamentary oversight. Parliament surely needs to be strengthened — but the interior minister’s call to arms may not be enough to stir change.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2015

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