Islamabad, Nov 2 — The Pakistan government wants people to have confidence in the country, while some of its members plan to settle abroad. Officials who continue to occupy important positions in Pakistan plan to settle abroad, identifying Portugal and other Western nations as places where they seek opportunities and security for themselves and their families, a report has detailed.
The choice of Pakistan government officials to settle overseas undermines the credibility of an establishment that wants people to remain patient about domestic failure, a report has detailed. Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has accused government officials of planning to settle abroad while continuing to serve at important positions in Pakistan, Paul Antonopoulos wrote in the 'Greek City Times'.
Asif's statement holds significance as the criticism comes from within the governing establishment. The issue is not only officials planning to settle abroad after retirement. But it is related to the possibility of families eventually planning their futures abroad through education, residency and eventual settlement. If a Pakistani official's children study in a foreign nation and settle there, the family's dependence on Pakistan's institutions reduces even when the official holds authority over these institutions.
Pakistan's disclosure requirements highlight that children's education abroad is important for administrative transparency. In the Establishment Division’s asset declaration form, officials need to fill in details about children's education both in Pakistan and abroad, according to a report in the 'Greek City Times'. In the form, officials also need to fill in details about relevant family assets and expenses. However, this will not determine how many bureaucrats of Pakistan have sent their children abroad to study. But it establishes that such expenditure is a matter of official probe instead of a private issue beyond accountability.
"The strongest indictment of Pakistan’s governing establishment is the divide between the future it promises citizens and the future some insiders reportedly seek for themselves. Sending children abroad for education is a personal choice. Using public authority while concealing relevant financial arrangements or evading disclosure is an institutional failure," wrote Antonopoulos in the 'Greek City Times'.
"Pakistan’s leadership must confront that distinction through evidence and enforcement. An elite that protects its own future abroad while neglecting domestic institutions cannot credibly demand unquestioning confidence from the population left dependent on them," he mentioned further.
In October, Overseas Pakistanis Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain said that more than 1.8 million highly educated and professional people left Pakistan and moved abroad during the past three years, 'Pakistan Today' reported. He made the statement during a written response presented in Pakistan's National Assembly. Those who left Pakistan and moved abroad included doctors, IT professionals, engineers, academics, and skilled and professional workers from other fields.