The politicians have proved irrefutably that if left to their own devices, they can indeed destroy any political system, making it impossible to function. Democracy, communism, socialism, martial law, the systems can be made to fail. Even the Nawaz league system of outright corruption was made to fail by five members of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, who gave a landmark decision that Nawaz was disqualified for being ‘neither Sadiq, nor Amin’. The Islamic terms were used to remove him from governance. They stopped short of passing the obvious charges of scandalous corruption making Imelda Marcos’s collection of shoes a minor aberration.
Pakistan was ruled by the Sharif brothers for 35 years during which they grew immensely rich, with properties spread all over the globe. They used a not so subtle technique of public work like roads and bus systems, through a network of specially appointed ‘mechanics’ in key positions (including judges) to validate their decisions so they would not be challenged in a court of law. The two brothers took pride in establishing a hugely expensive network of roads. Bus services were also laid out, at five times the cost of similar projects.
Nawaz Sharif thought of himself as a monarch, and this is the main reason for his refusal to accept his disqualification. His grouse is that a king cannot be disqualified
Starting by being ensconced into power by Gen Zia ulHaq, they displayed tremendous skill at showing an ability for hard work, but more importantly, a penchant for building a solid network of faithful cronies. The main criterion was loyalty to the Sharifs. Nothing else mattered. The attack on the Supreme Court was the most disgraceful behaviour by a segment of society consisting of highly educated, and supposedly law abiding citizens.
Now after twenty years, it was somehow befitting that his disqualification should be at the hands of the Supreme Court that he had so violated. The real pity is that the real prison sentences were not handed down, for the disgraceful behaviour of the Punjab lawyers, who should have been banned for life. Their behaviour was surreal, and it was all being orchestrated by a political party in power at the time. The brown shirts of Hitler was the closest, and that was a long time ago.
The worst part of the Sharif rule was the blatant corruption of the system by the brothers. Nawaz never attended cabinet meetings, running Pakistan through a kitchen cabinet. The textile export and production was in serious decline, and power production never recovered from the circular debt that was a millstone we could not get rid of. Luckily for Pakistan, the farmers did well, and we did not face a food crisis. But our economy stagnated, and industry went downhill, problems multiplied. Ishaq Dar continued to rack up loans, ten billion dollars was added too our deficit in four years. The CPEC should have been the rainbow, but the pot of gold was missed by the shortsighted Sharifs.
Other than his penchant for road building, he was not interested in serious governance. Sharif could not see beyond their road building, which he still believed were paved with gold. Nawaz Sharif had serious delusions of monarchy, and this is the main reason for his refusal to accept his disqualification. His main grouse is that a king cannot be disqualified.
Meanwhile, the populace is wondering why the government is being so gentle on the Sharifs, when the damage they have done to all the institutions is more than what was done by Bhutto Zia and Zardari combined. Our civil Services, which was once the pride of the subcontinent, is now the sad handmaiden of crooked politicians.
For new entrants to the power game, it should be made clear that with the glamour and perks of governance, there can be serious penalties. For misrule that could include hanging, (Bhutto) and of course disqualification followed by long prison sentences. Power does come at a price. The Sharif brothers are about to find out how much they will have to pay.
The writer is a senior analyst
Published in Daily Times, September 22nd 2017.