Pakistan's present predicament is due to apathy of the nation and tolerance of its people for corruption, cronyism and dominance of mediocrity. It is not lack of qualified talent that haunts this country but the evil culture of lack of merit, integrity and moral ethics in the people appointed to various positions of authority. Pakistan is failing because the system and the establishment have failed to modify and rectify the cancer that afflicts this unfortunate country. The credibility of the state and its judiciary is very low. Just review most of appointments made; the vast majority of them are unqualified cronies with a history of scandalous involvement in financial scandals, usually of land grabbing. However recent incidents like the resignation of PML-N's Rawalpindi MNA for involvement in cheating and impersonation, or the suspension of the Punjab minister Ch Ghafoor for abuse of official authority, has suddenly raised hopes of many people that want this country to become the democratic welfare state that the Quaid wanted it to be. The ruling PPP and its coalition partners, though, seem unwilling to follow suit. The scandalous involvement of many of their ministers in financial impropriety and their continuation in service despite published accusations and pending investigations shows they are unwilling to reform. -SYED IJAZ HUSSAIN, Texas, USA, via e-mail, June 2.