Attacking Pakistan’s Corruption

The old joke said the only way Pakistan managed to duck the No. 1 ranking among the world’s most corrupt countries was by bribing Nigeria to take its place. But for most Pakistanis, corruption still is no joke.

By the time Pakistan pays the interest on its loans and gives much of its treasure to the armed forces, little is left for educating the people or diminishing their poverty.

Last week the leader of Pakistan’s Oct. 12 army coup stepped up a commendable crackdown on the high-level thievery that has cost the nation billions of dollars. His challenge will be to press the campaign, a task previous Pakistani regimes failed to complete.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf jailed the democratically elected prime minister, Nawaz Sharif. Then his regime warned that those who had defaulted on billions in direct government loans and government-backed loans would have to pay them back. Few have, either because the money has long since been sent out of the country or because it has been used to buy land. One partial repayment came from the family of Sharif, which handed back $5 million for a loan it took out on behalf of a family sugar mill. Sharif now faces separate charges of treason.

The notorious corruption of the governments of Sharif and his predecessor and political foe, Benazir Bhutto, soured Pakistanis on democratic regimes. Bhutto’s family also was on the list of loan defaulters. She was convicted of corruption earlier and is living in exile in Britain. Unfortunately, previous military juntas in Pakistan have not been known for clean hands either.

Musharraf still needs to set a timetable to restore democracy to the nation. He also has to reach out to India, the neighbor with which Pakistan has fought three wars in the past 52 years.

Last week’s arrests of dozens of loan defaulters and others on various corruption charges rightly have proved popular with Pakistanis. They also should be popular with the nations that have provided Pakistan with enormous amounts of aid over the years.