Daily Times

With the elections of 2013 right around the corner, political parties are turning to their weapon of last resort: allegations and mudslinging. This is evident from the recent press conference held by Rehman Malik on Monday. He was unequivocal in slamming the Sharif brothers — Nawaz and Shahbaz — as money launderers who had swept away billions of rupees from the country and into their international accounts, particularly in Saudi Arabia. According to the former minister — and the documents he was waving about in his hands — the Sharifs chose the aid of a former minister from their cabinet, Ishaq Dar, who opened family accounts for the PML-N leaders to easily transfer the money. To hear such allegations really is nothing new in the land of the pure. The Sharif brothers have been in hot water before especially in cases concerning their ownership of extremely valuable property abroad particularly in Park Lane, London. They were also sued for default by a British bank but the outcome of that case against them was never made public. The nation may still be in limbo concerning its knowledge about the shenanigans of the Sharifs but it is not so easily duped into believing that all is squeaky clean with other politicians in the country.

Rehman Malik should really think about what he is saying. He was the interior minister for five years and all these allegations against Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif existed back when Mr Malik was first sworn in as a member of cabinet. Why did he not malign the reputation of the Sharifs then by digging into this matter and making sure that they paid the price for this alleged laundering? Was the protection of the fragile coalition so important that such apparently corrupt practices were overlooked? Just because it is election time, Mr Malik should not stoop to such a low that he implicates his own competency as well. It must be stated that almost every political participant in Pakistan has had his/her hands dirty at some point or the other whether that has been in the shape of fake degrees, allegations of corruption or kickbacks. The PPP itself, which is the party Mr Malik belongs to, has had quite a few allegations to answer to in the last five years. Even its prime minister — Raja Pervez Ashraf — has had to endure heated allegations of corruption concerning the independent power plants project in the country. For Rehman Malik to rattle the skeletons in the Sharifs’ closet is only asking for trouble. Such allegations will serve as open invitations for other parties to hang out the dirty laundry of the PPP in an attempt to score points before the elections. While the tone of the elections is sinking to new lows, one is perturbed at the increasing public perception that the highest court in the land is playing favourites. The Supreme Court (SC) recently banned an election advertisement showing Shahbaz Sharif conversing with a judge. People are beginning to believe that the judiciary is practicing selective justice especially after the Asghar Khan case established that the PML-N left no stone (and funds) unturned to weaken the PPP. The people are beginning to think that cases involving the PML-N are taken lightly whilst even a speck tarring the repute of the PPP is deserving of all manner of punishment. We know that the judiciary does not see things this way and we hope it will continue to view and determine cases based on impartiality and fairness. *