This post will help you to understand “Challenges in accountability in Pakistan”. “Issues in accountability in Pakistan”. “How to improve accountability in Pakistan?” “Hurdles in accountability in Pakistan”.

Challenges In Accountability in Pakistan

Corruption is one of Pakistan’s most serious challenges, hindering development and weakening key institutions.

In the 2017 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, Pakistan ranked 117th out of 180 countries. A central cause of this widespread corruption is the absence of an effective and impartial accountability system. Other related issues include money laundering, tax evasion, and cash hoarding.

Since independence over seventy years ago, political leaders have often appointed individuals lacking real authority to oversee revenue collection and anti-corruption agencies, undermining efforts to address these problems.

Hurdles in accountability in Pakistan

Since taking office, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government has granted these institutions greater autonomy and prioritized strengthening accountability. Nonetheless, they continue to face significant challenges, some of which are outlined below.

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(1) Targeted Accountability

Accountability measures have sometimes been applied selectively to single out particular individuals, families or factions. This practice undermines oversight, fosters internal factionalism and weakens governance over time.

Some political groups continue to allege that accountability bodies act with bias and pursue only chosen targets. If these claims are valid, the government should investigate and resolve them promptly to ensure a fair and credible system.

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(2) Inadequate Recovery of Stolen Assets

Accountability bodies routinely struggle to reclaim embezzled funds due to weak investigative and recovery frameworks. Decades of political interference have prevented these institutions from building an effective system for tracing and retrieving illicit assets.

(3) Lack of Political Will

The lack of political will among national leaders presents a significant challenge to the country’s accountability system.

Political figures undermine these institutions by accusing their heads of bias and politicization, opposing any expansion of their powers, and blocking laws that would strengthen their structure and effectiveness.

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(4) Weak Accountability Institutions

Some major institutions that are responsible for the accountability of the people in the country and collecting tax are National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Anti-Corruption Departments and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The weak administrative structures of these institutions represent a major barrier to effective accountability in the country.

(5) Legislative Barriers

Corrupt members of the National Assembly and Senate often block laws designed to strengthen these institutions and expand their investigative authority. This resistance undermines accountability across the country.

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(6) Concentration of Power

Similarly the concentration of power in few hands is another major challenge in this regard. Power in Pakistan is held by a few institutions instead of being shared equally. This imbalance allows dominant bodies to influence and weaken the work of accountability agencies.

(7) Ineffective Opposition

An opposition should scrutinize government actions and prevent abuses of power. In Pakistan, however, the opposition has often been passive and disengaged.

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 (8) Corrupt Bureaucracy

Some scholars and political analysts blame the bureaucracy for the country’s weak accountability system. They argue that civil servants often advance political party agendas instead of serving the broader interests of the state.

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