EDITORIAL: The Nandipur project is such an epic tale of shady deals, political overreach, corruption, even not-so-mysterious burning of official records and deletion of crucial files, that this government's decision to get the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to 'investigation misappropriation of Rs80 billion' in it must have caused more chuckles than surprise among stakeholders and onlookers alike. One can only wonder, at this stage, what one more investigation is going to achieve when so many court cases, inquiries, and audits in the past got nowhere. For everybody from a sitting prime minister and senators to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as well as the Supreme Court have got the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) or local and international auditors to look into this matter so everybody who looted public money and exploited the people could be taken to task. Yet here we stand, preparing to start the process all over again and expecting a different result this time. Surely, this government understands very well the reasons for all the failed investigations since a good number of its ministers held very senior positions in governments that they now blame for all the misappropriation. It will be interesting to see how Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) spokespersons explain this phenomenon when the press probes them about it soon enough.
For a power plant that became controversial even prior to its inauguration and collapsed after just five days of operations, causing a lot of embarrassment to the government of the time, and continues to bleed the national exchequer of hundreds of billions of rupees, it simply beggars belief that no formal investigation has so far been completed properly. It is, in fact, the best illustration of everything that was wrong with Pakistan's energy policy between the years 2008 and 2018. Therefore, both Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are guilty and must take responsibility for all the excesses that have been, and continue to be, committed in regard to this project. And now we are being treated to the spectacle of some of the people that have not just been investigated but also accused of foul play in this project by investigating agencies holding previous governments responsible for this mess. Granted, the PTI government is looking at the energy sector with a different perspective than previous administrations, which is very welcome of course, but that does not automatically give some of its senior players, who have been very senior players in previous governments also, a ready clean chit.
Unless the ruling party pursues this investigation very seriously and makes sure all those found guilty are awarded exemplary punishments it will only feed the opposition's narrative of selective accountability, political victimisation, etc. Various governments have allowed the Nandipur project to become a political embarrassment and a financial black hole for far too long. This trend must change immediately. However, the government must also forgive anybody not willing to take at least this particular promise at face value because of some of the usual faces making some of the tall claims. Hopefully, this investigation, and all that is bound to come out of it, will also put an end to the all-too-familiar practice of politicians manipulating important deals and contracts to enrich themselves even at the cost of crippling the system and robbing the people. Unfortunately, so far there is not much to go on except the government's word, which means it will now have to make its actions speak louder than words. And while it is at it, perhaps it could also answer that one question that keeps coming up: what is it going to do about 'electables' that left other parties to join PTI, especially if it turns out that some of those responsible for the problems also helped it win some very important seats in the election?
There is nothing better than the Nandipur project nightmare to show not just the crying need for accountability, but also the problems and limitations associated with it. The government should realise that by trying to take this bull by the horns it has also put its own credibility at stake. Simply blaming previous administrations is no longer enough. People know that it has the power to investigate, identify and punish all the guilty parties. And they will not settle for anything less.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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