Bureaucrats are the real rulers; their corruption and incompetence have never been held accountable: Khawaja Asif

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif has criticised the bureaucracy, saying that bureaucrats are the real and permanent rulers of Pakistan, while the alleged corruption and incompetence of the bureaucracy have never been properly held accountable.

In a statement posted on social media platform X, Khawaja Asif said Pakistan’s 78-year history offered numerous examples of politicians being subjected to accountability, but there were hardly any examples of the bureaucracy being held accountable.

He said bureaucrats had been appointed as prime ministers, governors-general and presidents of Pakistan, while numerous members of the bureaucracy had also served as federal ministers and advisers.

Referring to nationalisation in the 1970s, Khawaja Asif said the bureaucracy took control of businesses across the country following the policy and subsequently ruined the nationalised assets. He questioned whether any government had ever held those responsible accountable.

He claimed that if the losses caused by nationalisation were fully calculated, the episode could prove to be an even greater national tragedy than the fall of East Pakistan.

The defence minister said the incumbent government was implementing its privatisation programme and making progress, adding that he hoped it would succeed.

He said Nawaz Sharif was the first ruler to make a successful attempt to reverse the process of economic decline, while Benazir Bhutto also continued the effort. However, he said, the process subsequently lost momentum as the permanent bureaucracy created obstacles.

Khawaja Asif said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s focus remained on getting work done and expressed the hope that he would succeed.

He said the purpose of highlighting the issue was to point out that politicians and their weaknesses were responsible for the situation, while wealthy bureaucrats living in Pakistan and abroad had become direct beneficiaries of those weaknesses.