Politics and morals do not go together; political morality is dead. Or if Machiavelli is to be believed, “politics has no relation to morals” in the first place. It seems that governments feel that there is not much wrong in lying to the general public and twisting facts that reflect their performance. Often, unfortunately, these economic and social facts directly impact the people who brought these morally corrupt governments into power.
When Kittirat Na-Ranong, the Thai Finance Minister and deputy prime minister, publicly admitted that he intentionally lied about projecting the country’s annual export growth rate at 15 percent, there was huge uproar in Thailand. In his own words, “the finance minister needs to lie sometimes to create good feelings. The world knows this as a ‘white lie’. The goal is to create confidence, which in turn benefits the country as a whole.”
Unfortunately, a similar case has surfaced in Pakistan with the government admitting that it had made a “typo” in submitting economic growth data to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In a policy document shared with IMF, the government accepted that it made an “inadvertent oversight” and quoted a growth figure of 3.3 percent against an earlier statement of 4.3 percent for last fiscal year. Further, the government is also reported to have issued a clarification to the IMF for its next year’s growth estimates, which had been mentioned at four percent instead of five percent.
While the government has tried to shield itself from criticism on the back of this so-called human error, it has come under severe attack from political opposition for hiding the true state of economy. The Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf party, a staunch rival of Sharif-led PML-N, has already declared that it will be filing a privilege motion against the government for “concealing facts from Parliament.” The admission from Pakistan’s government is likely to impact its credibility with foreign lenders and global investors as well. As a decision regarding release of loan tranches is based on the provided official economic data, the IMF may show reluctance in swiftly approving future loans for the country. Similarly, foreign investors may shy away from the country and not trust the government to deliver on its future commitments.
While Pakistan’s media has downplayed the incident, it signals a much broader problem with the current political and social scenario in the country. In the absence of a strong accountability system, the political elite can turn their backs on the public anytime and compromise the country’s standing in global arena. This has blurred the lines between what is acceptable and unacceptable in a civilized society. Although morals are not etched in stone and cannot be judged by an absolute value system, what feels wrong to the common sense should be discarded and not encouraged.
Misrepresentation of facts to gain political mileage and deceive the public is an outrageous act that has hurt the political morality of Sharif-led government. Pakistan is at a crossroads and facing significant challenges against militancy, power crisis and economic development. While the government claims to be in control of the situation, the question is now whether it can win back its credibility or be labeled as a “white liar.”
