Essay: Dr. Malik tenure as Chief Minister of Baluchistan

ASSESSMENT OF THE GOOD GOVERNANCE IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR INSTITUTUIONS
THE CASE OF Dr. MALIK AS CM
Abstract
Law and order issues, bad governance, target killing, sectarianism, insurgency, corruption are the core elements which are weakening every pillar and dimension of public sector institutions in the largest province of Pakistan, Baluchistan. Baluchistan has a long history of turbulence on political grounds. During the tenure of Dr, Malik as CM of Baluchistan, the provincial government took certain steps to address all those issues which were considered obstacle in the way of good governance. This paper is an attempt to look into the Dr. Malik tenure as CM and fundamental steps taken by the provincial governance and their impact on the public sector institutions using foremost core elements of good governance accountability, transparency, and participation. The outcome of the paper shows some achievements and failures in handling the core elements of good government and put up some recommendation to pave the road to the good governance.
Keywords
Governance, good governance, Baluchistan, public sector institutions
Introduction
Institutional fragility and scarcity of infrastructure played havoc role in the poor performance of government at provincial level in Baluchistan since the inception of Pakistan despite this province has been given special status in five year plan during the decades of 60,s and 70,s and recently in the form of AGHAZ-E-HUQOOQ-E-BALUCHISTAN but the provincial government capacity and confrontation between tribal chiefs has always hampered such kind of developments. The question remains why? This paper makes the connection between good governance and its implications on the performance of institutions in the capacity of public sector during the tenure of Dr. Malik.
First part of paper deals with conceptual issues like governance, good governance and the core values that work as indicators for the good governance, second part deals with the short history of political and governmental issues of Baluchistan and last section analyzed and makes certain recommendations
Conceptual issues
Governance
Governance is regarded as catch-all and container concept word which can be moulded according to its use and user. First use of word was made by World development Report in 1989, according to which it means financial accountability of governments. The word was redefined by UNDP which put the word in the sphere of authority related to political, economic and administrative affairs of a country.  An important objective of governing institutions, according to UNDP, is to promote constructive interaction between the state, the private sector and civil society. (http://www.usaid.govr.au) Several definitions have been forwarded to grasp the meaning of the world governance. Governance can be seen as the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels (Adetiba and Rahim 2012).  As per this definition there are three dimensions of governance namely political, administrative and economic.  Political governance is the procedure of decision making to articulate policies, it pursues to avoid and lessen intra and interstate clash, device constitutional democracy, which consist of free and fair election, the rule of law and human rights. Administrative governance is the structure of policy implementation encouraging accountability and efficiency of public office holders. Economic governance refers to the decision making process that affects a country’s economic activities and its relationship with other economies. Governance includes not only the government but also the private sector and the civil society   (Bliss, 2002). United Nations Development Programme (1997) defined governance as the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority to manage a nation’s affairs, or the intricate mechanisms, processes and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights and obligations and mediate their differences.
Good Governance
Good governance is, among other things, participatory, transparent and accountable. It is also effective and equitable, and it promotes the rule of law. It ensures that political, social and economic priorities are based on broad consensus in society and that the voices of the poorest and the most vulnerable are heard in decision- making over the allocation of development resources. (http://www.usaid.govr.au)
According to UNDP good governance is whatever but it is participatory, transparent, and accountable. It promotes rule of law. It is effective and efficient.  It promotes the culture where each and every citizen of the state has his or her say in the decision making and allocation of resources. Consensus based political, social and economic policies are formulated. By providing this kind of conducive environment state creates a culture where private sector and civil society and go hand in hand.
Eight core characteristics which include participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, consensus oriented, equity and inclusiveness, effectiveness and efficiency, and accountability have been envisaged by The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which a good governance possess.
 
Principle of Good Governance
S/No The Eight Good
Governance Principles The Principles and related text on which they are based
1 Participation All men and women should have a voice in decision making, either directly or through legitimate intermediate institutions that represent their institutions. Such broad participation is built on freedom of association and speech and capacities to participate constructively
2 Rule of Law This involves legal frameworks that are enforced impartially;
protection of human rights, especially those of minorities; impartial enforcement of laws, independent judiciary, impartial and Incorruptible police force.
3 Transparency Decisions taken and their enforcement follows rules and
regulations; information is freely available and directly accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement; information is provided in easily understandable Forms.
4 Responsiveness Entails responding to the needs of all stakeholders and serving them with a reasonable time frame.
5 Consensus oriented Involves mediation of the different interest groups in the society to reach a broad consensus on what is the best of the whole
community and how this can be achieved, broad and long time
perspectives on what is needed for sustainable human development and how to achieve the goal of such development
6 Equity and inclusiveness Here all members of society feel that they have stake in it and do
not feel excluded from the mainstream of society; all groups, but
particularly the most vulnerable, have opportunities to improve or maintain their wellbeing
7 Effectiveness and
Efficiency The process and institutions produce results that meet the needs of the society while making the best use of society resources at their disposal; the concept of efficiency covers the sustainable use of natural resources and protection of the environment
8 Accountability Governmental institutions, private sector and civil organizations must be accountable to the public and to their institutional stakeholders. Accountability cannot be enforced without transparency and the rule of law.
Source: ESCAP 2000 ‘ Human Settlement, a Society’s Wellbeinghttp://www.unescap.org/husel/gg/governance.htm
Implications of Good Governance
Good governance and public sector management promote environmental management, social cohesion and sustainable development. A successful public sector reform agenda can only be implemented with the help of good governance that promotes sustainable development and equality. Poor delivery of services, gap between have and have not, biased policies, plethora of interest groups, development programs that have nothing to do with people of the lesser God, lack of civil and legal rights are the main indicator for bad type governance.
Flashback on the state of governance in Baluchistan
Ethically divided, sparsely populated, Baluchistan is the largest province of Pakistan occupying the 44% of the area of the state. The Baluch, Brauhi, Pushtoons are the major ethnic groups apart from those who migrated from different areas including India and Afghanistan, as migrant ,settler or refugee. Baluchistan, in terms of socio-economics spheres lags behind rest of Pakistan with a strong tribal setup till the present day.
Rich in natural resources, the masses of this province are deprived of basic provisions of daily life ranging from health to education. The main reason behind this dilemma is the willingness and capacity of every provincial government and the role played by the tribal chiefs to maintain the status quo in the implementation of developments plans.
From long period of time Baluchistan has been facing the challenge of law and order situation more than like rest of Pakistan. The situation in the provincial capital and in the Baluch belt area is alarming one on the account of insurgency. After the Nawab Bugti was assassination, in 2006, the law and order situation got momentum.  The government that appeared after the elections of 2008, which were boycotted by major parties of Baluchistan, promoted the culture of corruption and nepotism under Aslam Raisani as CM. virtually during this period the province remained without any government.
Such was the condition of the province when Dr. Malik took oath as the CM. As par Murree accord his tenure for office was just two year. His journey towards good governance and evaluation of his performance will be analyzed in the relevant chapters of this paper.
Dr. Malik efforts at good governance
Rule of Law
The improvement in the law and order situation across Baluchistan, something he made a top priority from day one, as his government’s most significant achievement over the past two years.
The law and order situation was in very shabby condition in the province. Role of law enforcing agencies was restricted to limited areas. Target killing, sectarianism, kidnappings, extremism activities and highways security issues were on rampant. Statistics during his tenure shows a huge decline in sectarian violence and other killings, a reduction in the number of kidnappings for ransom, and the dumping of dead bodies has also decreased. His tenure witnessed improvement in all these areas. Extremism remained as an exemption in this regard. Situation regarding law and order before his arrival in Cm office was worse ever in the political history of the province but news reports indicated positive signals during his tenure. Several arrest and punishments have been made during his tenure.
Effectiveness and Efficiency
The process and institutions produce results that meet the needs of the society while making the best use of society resources at their disposal; the concept of efficiency covers the sustainable use of natural resources and protection of the environment
During an interview Mr. Malik was in the opinion that the government is dedicated to keeping all promises and agreements made with international firms.
During his tenure he tried his best to put all the projects in function which were necessary for the economic development of the province. He invited investors from all over the globe with promise to provide them full legal and security protection. He was in the opinion that Baluchistan could only prosper economically and politically when Pakistan is on the track of democracy
 
Participation
One of the major fronts where Mr. Malik government excelled is the holding of local bodies’ election, the system considered as the cradle for democracy. Local Government election for 32 District Councils, 635 Union Councils, 1 Metropolitan (Quetta city) 4 Municipal corporations (Pishin, Killa Abdullah, Khuzdar and Kech) 53 Municipal Committees in Baluchistan were held on December 7, 2013, it is the only Provincial Government which showed promising commitment towards the local government election.
Transparency
According to PILDAT report conducted on June 1, 2013 ‘ May 31, 2014. Which shows gloomy picture on this front of Mr. Malik is the corruption.
In different departments of Baluchistan, such as education, health, and works and communication bogus appointments are were on the increase. Nepotism prevailed even in the most prestigious institute Provincial Public Service Commission. Paper projects by bureaucracy with the assistant of private sector and politicians remained a big issue.
Consensus Oriented
Several isolated, exiled and dejected ethnic groups were streamlined during his tenure which shows his approach consensus oriented and participatory. All these faction of the society were involved in the insurgency and they were weakening the writ of state, so it was need of the time to bring them back on table and offer them hand of warmth friendship. Some of these factions include Baluch leaders Khan of Kalat, Prince Suleman Dawood, and Brahmdug Bugti
Dr. Malik was in the opinion that after more than a decade of hatred and killings in Baluchistan it will take time to stabilize the situation. ‘There has been huge progress made toward holding talks with the leadership in exile. I can’t give a timeframe but it will happen.
Conclusion
Eight fundamental principles of participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, consensus oriented, equity, effectiveness and efficiency and accountability are the major characteristics for good governance. Given short period of time and being the CM of most difficult province to govern his efforts can be appreciated on several fronts. It was observed that the province does not lack plans and initiatives but whatever it lacks is governance.
Fundamental principles of good governance should be followed in order to deliver to the masses of Baluchistan the benefits and true taste of public service delivery. This goal can only be materialized when following steps and measures will be taken.
In order to improvise a systematic government which fulfills the minimum criteria of good governance national leadership should come on table to decide debate and implement a future line of action.
Baluchistan, being the biggest in area, riche in resources, strategically important province of Pakistan, plays a pivotal role in the progress and prosperity of Pakistan. Strong federation means strong units.in this regard optimum provincial autonomy must be guaranteed.
Fundamental right, rule of law and democratic norms should be ensured to the people of Baluchistan.
Representation of the people of the Baluchistan in federal and provincial governments should be increased to bring it according to its population.
Approach that fit the culture of Baluchistan should be pursued to fade out the shades of past wrongs actions.
The gap between theory and practice should be narrow down to counter insurgency through developments plans and programs.
To change the perception and situation in Baluchistan sustainable human resources should be provided by the federal government.
The problems faced by Baluchistan can be the answer by induction quality Education into the system. The province must be brought out of current economic and political dilemma to provide better education environment,