Daily Times

Emotional scenes. Live cut. A yearning father. An anxious son. Staff ready with flower garlands. A hero’s welcome. This is not a welcome back to a martyr who laid his life for his country. This is a welcome back for a citizen who escaped the country four years ago when he was asked by the court how billions of rupees in transactions transpired between Pakistan and the UK through accounts of servants whose own salaries were a few thousand rupees. Instead of facing the cases and producing the evidence, he fled the country. This is the story of the elite of this country, be it political, high-flying public servants, corporate elite or our military elite. They are seen in the country when in power. As soon as a scam breaks on them, they disappear to foreign lands to appear again as they regain their seats or sponsors of power.

Pakistan’s three times ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif who went to the UK for a few weeks and is still there after a few years is also now preparing a legal case deletion program to land back. Pakistan’s present prime minister, a year ago, was also fleeing abroad but was caught at the airport by FIA due to his name being in ECL. Pakistan’s present Finance minister escaped from the country in a dramatic way. He went to attend a conference in Tajikistan but never returned. He did not go on a commercial flight but aboard a special plane of the prime minister to attend the 16th Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation ministerial conference, which he had earlier regretted attending due to court appearances. He then reportedly travelled to Saudi Arabia to meet the ousted prime minister before reaching London and getting admitted to a hospital for medical treatment on November 4, 2017. Meanwhile, he was declared an absconder wanted by the state of Pakistan. After almost five years, he is not only back, but his cases are all dismissed and he has also become the Finance Minister of Pakistan. This return of fugitives has opened up a new low for the country by encouraging:

A CV that glamourizes crime- Imagine the top positions in a country are repeatedly going to people who have been removed on corruption charges. Imagine a CV stating that for any top position, qualifications may include no standards on education and academics. But a huge requirement of experience in hoodwinking the system, buying votes, changing laws on will, and keeping international links to use them for escape with the ability to skirt the law when billions are lying in your accounts without any money trail. The fact that Ishaq Dar, despite being smuggled out of the country, aided and abetted by the then prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, came back and managed to become the finance minister is the benchmark for all aspirants for seats of power. Thus, the qualifications include a criminal record, deft law tinkering, deep power connections, and an established reputation for bending the laws and making them irrelevant. In the appendix of the CV, Ishaq Dar can attach much evidence of how he managed to remain in the Senate in absentia for years and return successfully despite cases on him.

The 13 parties and the sponsors all colluded to create an enabling environment for coming to power and laundering the crimes.

Collude, Cooperate for Mutual Benefit-There is a mutual Crime Club. The objectives of this club are to have members who have “suffered” from the audacity of accountability fight for their cases and assets, legally and politically. That is why the joint venture between all 13 parties of the opposition had their priorities clear. The first thing they did was amendments to the NAB laws and the election laws. Under the new amendments, the offence of corruption and corrupt practices as per the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999, will be tied to the value of Rs500m. That gave relief to almost 50 cases against Yousaf Raza Gillani, Raja Pervez Ashraf and the Sharif family. This was a write-off of about Rs 1100 million. Cases lying in the courts against Maryam Nawaz have already been dismissed as not having enough legal grounds. According to laws, NAB is supposed to appeal to higher courts. However, it has decided to not do it due to the excellent collusion of the opposition parties and their newly appointed NAB head. This collusion of law moulders and implementers assures the safe return of state fugitives.

Build a Narrative of Victimization–This rewriting of laws and this write-off of crimes is justified by building a narrative of political victimization. They are using their narrative-building resources in the establishment and media to paint a picture of being wronged. The very fact that PDM’s strategic communication advisor was the ex-editor of a leading English daily explains the way they have tried to turn crime into a vendetta. The electronic media’s visible indifference to the tanking economy is evidence of the fact that not all but many channels are part of this tilted narrative presenters. The only issue is that electronic media has a few main channels and can be managed. Social media, with its spread, is unmanageable. That is why the fugitive lobby is now trying to create an environment where they extend the holding of elections even beyond the assembly terms. They have only returned to Pakistan when they have been assured no arrests, dismissal of the cases and a run into government. Their roots in the bureaucracy are three decades deep and thus have many sponsors to the crime laundering club.

Reclaiming the Assets and positions- The NRO 2 deal includes not just a clean slate on cases but a de-freezing of assets that have no money trail. Ishaq Dar NAB case was examining a 91% increase in his assets from 2008 to 2017. NAB claims that Dar owns six accounts in various banks throughout Pakistan. He has 13 assets in Pakistan and owns seven properties, including financial companies, abroad. Dar and his wife also possessed high-end vehicles, including Land Cruisers and Mercedes Benzes. They will now go back into Dar’s kitty. Suleman Shahbaz was involved in the infamous 16 billion rupee money laundering case. FIA said “Eleven low-paid employees of the Sharif group who ‘held and possessed’ the laundered proceeds on behalf of the principal accused, are found guilty of facilitating money laundering. The three other co-accused of the Sharif group also actively facilitated the money laundering,”. All these cases are about to be washed, done and dusted.

The fugitives have nine-plus lives. They come, they loot, they rule, they escape, they collude, and they return. This multi-life giving is only possible because in this loot value chain the network of politicians, establishments, real estate moguls, media and judiciary are all stakeholders. The lure of power and the lust for money are heady and irresistible for persons of dishonour. But in the theatre of life, what rides you over also runs you over. The 13 parties and the sponsors all colluded to create this enabling environment for coming to power and laundering the crimes. This blatant coalition of the crooks has created an absolute reaction in public that is unprecedented. The lines are clear and divided. Overcoming PTI may be easier but overcoming an angry, disgusted and aghast public may break this decades-old vicious cycle of loot/escape/return.

The writer is a columnist, consultant, coach, and analyst and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1 @gmail.com. She tweets at @AndleebAbbas.