Musharraf, issued the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) on 5 October 2007, fifty-six days after ratification of the UN Convention against Corruption. In many ways this was a setback for anti-corruption measures in Pakistan, as all proceedings under investigation or pending in any court that had been initiated by or involved the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prior to 12 October 1999 were withdrawn and terminated with immediate effect.
The NRO also granted further protection to parliamentarians, as no sitting member of parliament or a provincial assembly can be arrested without taking into consideration the recommendations of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Ethics or the Special Committee of the Provincial Assembly on Ethics. These committees are yet to be formed.
An assessment of Pakistan’s infrastructure implementation capacity was carried out at the request of the government, and the resulting report was published in November 2007 jointly by the World Bank and the planning Commission of Pakistan.
It states that approximately 15 per cent of the cost of corruption lies in procurement, costing the Pakistani development budget (2007/8) over Rs150 billion. Furthermore, the World Bank’s Control of Corruption Indicator in 2007 Ranks Pakistan a mere 21.3 out of 100.
In terms of the business sector, there are a number of measures that indicate that there is a serious issue of
corruption. TI’s Global Corruption Barometer 2006 reported that the impact of corruption on the private
sector was perceived as almost equal to corruption in the public sector; and The Global Competitiveness
Report 2008-2009 ranked Pakistan 101st out of 130 countries and found that respondents pointed to
corruption as the second most problematic factor for doing business in the country, after government
instability.
The instability of the political situation in Pakistan cannot be underestimated as a factor in permitting
corruption in the private sector to flourish. Despite Musharraf’s claim to be committed to fighting
corruption, little headway has been made, and it is still considered to be ‘pervasive and deeply
entrenched’.
Musharraf relinquished military power in late 2007, and his supporters were defeated
in the February 2008 general election by a coalition of the Pakistan People’s Party and Nawaz Sharif’s
Muslim League. Musharraf resigned in August 2008, facing impeachment for alleged crimes including
gross misconduct and violation of the constitution.
The inauguration of the new president, Asif Ali Zardari, on 9 September 2008 ushers in a new era, but not
one without challenges. The new democratically elected government will, therefore, require the immediate
enforcement of good governance and transparency standards to counter the various dire problems facing
Pakistan. There is an increased threat of terrorism, hyperinflation, a reduction in the Karachi Stock
Exchange 100 Index, a sizeable depreciation of the currency, a substantial reduction in foreign currency
reserves and a huge trade deficit inherited from the previous government.
Comments
jewish sponserd revolution coming to pakistan wearing irani 'khoumeni' mask.
1. hanging all the elite class to make average person happy.
2. giving chance to israel to destroy pakistan's atomic weapons
3. will be done under the name of usa before isreal throw usa away like a squashed orange.
4. victory of secret triangle of usa, isreal, iran
isreal control world media and control muslim media under the disguise of being shia muslim.
do u know how many jews live in iran, who visit isreal frequently, n have relatives in isreal