The real challenge ahead!

The era of the Khan administration has begun. Prime Minister Imran Khan's focus to date has been on selecting names within his party as well as from allied parties for major executive offices in the centre as well as the provinces, including the federal cabinet as well as provincial appointments in two provinces - Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with input into Balochistan government - ranging from speaker, deputy speaker, chief minister and their cabinet.
There is a widespread consensus within Pakistani political parties that selection of the right individual for the right portfolio must be based on merit, a decision which is critical to ensuring a high level of ministry/department/sector performance; sadly this has not been reflected in actual selections by previous administrations. And to further compromise the selection process is the evolution of a civil service that is highly politicized, accounting for 'favourites' associated with different administrations, including those who gladly serve different administrations in return for promotions or key positions while displaying a high degree of sycophancy.
While members of the executive must rely on qualified and experienced bureaucrats to implement their specific instructions and evaluate the possible ramifications of these instructions the bureaucrats, in turn, must (i) make recommendations based on input from sector specialists, (ii) determine the best possible means of financing development projects, (iii) ensure regular internal as well as external audits in the ministries/departments they serve, and last but not least (iv) raise their voice when a member of the executive and/or staff is engaged in irregular activity/corruption/nepotism/embezzlement.
In 1991, three papers were presented by Boeninger, Mills and Serageldin at the World Bank Conference on Development Economics where it was acknowledged that governance was a function of political will and commitment of the leadership. No doubt Imran Khan clearly has the will and the commitment to improve governance however the jury is out whether the majority of PTI parliamentarians have the same will and commitment. The will and commitment is, in turn affected by cultural, historical/institutional settings of a country. External environment notably conditions of aid, pressures of donor agencies and international institutions also influence styles and modes of governance. In short, public policy debate underwent a paradigm shift in which institutional reform i.e. reform of the bureaucracy, judiciary, legislatures became the battle cry of the 1990s.
By 2010 the worldwide governance indicator (WGI) was defined as comprising of six core dimensions based on citizens' perceptions: (i) voice and accountability to the extent to which the people of a country are able to participate in selecting their government; (ii) political stability and absence of violence/terrorism, (iii) government effectiveness or quality of public services or quality of civil service and degree of its independence from political pressure, (iv) regulatory quality, (v) rule of law and (vi) control of corruption. With elections over, the new prime minister having taken the oath the role of the civil service assumes considerable importance. Needless to add Prime Minister Imran Khan would have to amend the regulatory framework (the previous government unwisely brought five regulatory bodies under line ministries), rule of law (which would require massive staff changes in the Punjab police) and control corruption which he pledged in his maiden speech in parliament as the country's prime minister.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused former PML-N and PPP governments, federal and provincial, of systematically destroying institutions by staffing them with unqualified loyalists who served the interests of the rulers rather than of the people. He is on record accusing the Punjab bureaucracy of forming "a nexus with the Sharif family." In reference to an unannounced strike by senior Punjab civil servants demanding changes in accountability laws subsequent to the detention of Ahad Cheema, former chief of Lahore Development Authority (accused of being former Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif's front man), on charges of corruption and embezzlement, by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khan stated that "it is utterly shameful how bureaucracy chose to go on protest against accountability." The strike fizzled out and was not supported by the middle and lower echelons of the Punjab bureaucracy.
Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah on 14 April 1948 while addressing civil servants in Peshawar exhibited an uncanny degree of foresight of how the civil service in the country he birthed may perform, an exhortation and a warning that cannot be improved upon: "The reason why I am meeting you is that I wanted to say a few words to you who are occupying very important positions in the administration of this province. The first thing that I want to tell you is that you should never be influenced by any political pressure, by any political party or any individual politician. If you want to raise the prestige and greatness of Pakistan you must not fall victim to any pressure but do your duty as servants of the people and the state, fearlessly and honestly. The services are the backbone of the state. Governments are formed. Governments are defeated. Prime Ministers come and go, ministers come and go, but you stay on. Therefore, there is a very great responsibility placed on your shoulders. You should have no hand in supporting this political party or that political party, this political leader or that political leader. This is not your business.... your duty is only to serve that government loyally and morally but, at the same time, fearlessly, maintaining your high reputation, your prestige, your honour and the integrity of your service.....While impressing this upon you, I wish also to take the opportunity of impressing upon our leaders and politicians in the same way, that if they ever try to interfere with you and bring political pressure to bear upon you, which leads to nothing but corruption, bribery and nepotism-which is a horrible disease and for which not only your province but others too are suffering-if they try to interfere with you in this way, I say they are doing nothing but disservice to Pakistan......Putting pressure on service people is, I know, a very common fault of politicians and those with influence in political parties.... May be some of you may fall victim for not satisfying the whims of ministers... I tell you that you will not remain on the black list if you discharge your duties honestly, sincerely and loyally to the state. It is you who can give us the opportunity to create a powerful machinery, which will give you complete sense of security."
The task before Imran Khan is truly daunting. He is on record as having stated that changing the head of an institution changes the performance of the entire department/ministry. He constantly refers to the Inspector General Police of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, an honest and competent man, who changed public perception of the police force. However dealing with ministries/departments/autonomous entities where the culture of corruption is pervasive from the senior to the junior most staff it would present a challenge Imran Khan is not likely to meet in the short term. A change in culture within institutions, a change in the incentive structure (promotions, pay rise), a change in the transparency and accountability of public servants is necessary. The good news is that several countries committed to reform have shown an improvement. Imran Khan can draw from lessons learned in KPK but with a strong opposition especially in Punjab it may take some time.