Daily Times

How quickly the judiciary has been reduced from the last bastion of democracy, hope for accountability, etc, to virtual non-relevance — except that the PM had to leave office. Otherwise, there isn’t much to write home about. Strange, first of all, that the honourable Supreme Court judges delivered the axe on a technicality yet didn’t do much about the actual case, despite mounds of compelling evidence, except the NAB references. That many, many were left with dropped jaws within and outside the judiciary is an understatement.

And NAB, true to its reputation, hasn’t disappointed. It’s seemingly taken it upon itself to rule out the JIT evidence, and base the references on previous evidence — which means pretty much forward the old files again, despite the dressing down it got from the SC last time.

But the best has, of course, come from PMLN. Since, once again, the SC remained mum about the corruption, money laundering, offshore money, and all that, Nawaz is now the latest martyr politician in town. N league loudmouths will now cry conspiracy and imply establishment all the way to the election. Add to that not only the social media onslaught against the judges but, far more importantly, outbursts like Asma Jahangir’s, and you know why we have a complete circus on our hands.

Lost in the noise is the fact that Nawaz’s name came up in the Panama mess not because of the military or Imran Khan, but because of his own bloated bank accounts and the need to park his money somewhere very, very secret. Imran clearly pushed for accountability, even though democracies requires state institutions to spring into action in moments like these, but nobody implying the military’s hands behind the courts has been able to present even the flimsiest of evidence despite very loud boasts.

At the end of the day, Nawaz may have lost his chair, Imran’s reputation might have suffered a bit, the opposition is surely at each other’s throats, but losing out most are the people and nation of Pakistan

Now, if the average noon ligiya in the periphery takes Talal Ch and Daniyal Aziz for their word it’s not very surprising. It’s not surprising even if the party support base in Lahore rallies to the cry — not the least because the average ligiya from the periphery set up shop in Lahore a while ago. But when professional journalists put up Facebook posts showing lady justice wearing army boots, they are duty bound to present more than their own thoughts — things like evidence. And, considering the heavy burden of representing the law, such responsibility should also be exercised by the Asmas of our society.

Now, if the court flexes its muscles, as per precedent, and holds some wise guys in contempt, count on the conspiracy theory to snowball on social media and N league processions. But, on the flip side, if the judges just continue to look the other way, there’s the prospect of a laughing-stock judiciary.

Meantime the country must function. Abbasi may be the new prime minister, but Nawaz Sharif continues to chair party meetings and take the most important decisions; again, right in the face of the SC. Curiously, though, the new cabinet comprises a number of iqama holders. And, come to think of it, what about the NAB reference that’ll include Shahbaz Sharif’s name too? What if, considering how the Sharifs were unable to defend their money, there’s another time bomb set to go off just before the election? What if, in the worst case scenario for PMLN, NAB finds against the new PM? And what if, going by precedent, the Supreme Court does not decide to sit back and does something about other iqama holders in the house?

And let’s not even pretend to forget the disqualification case against Imran Khan, not to mention the Ayesha wars. Local media hounds running from press conference to provocative press conference forget how the hounds of international media are painting their sincere reporting and their beloved country. Far from strengthening democratic norms or holding the filthy-rich-and-mighty accountable, the drama run by the Supreme Court over the last year and something has induced a political, constitutional and institutional paralysis in Pakistan. Everybody is at daggers drawn. The government is reeling, but there isn’t even the semblance of unity in the opposition. Imran wants Zardari next, and Fazlur Rahman. Both of them now wish Hanif Abbasi good health and good luck, and so on and so forth.

Since everything political must, inevitably, affect everything economic, the economy’s bound to suffer too. Already Moody’s considering a downgrade. One thing the market hates even more than bad news is uncertainty. And with nobody having any clue which way things are going in Pakistan, it’s no surprise that investors are already pulling back. Even the stock market is tanking.

At the end of the day, Nawaz may have lost his chair, Imran’s reputation might have suffered a bit, the opposition is surely at each other’s throats, but losing out most are the people and nation of Pakistan. Perhaps that will find some mention in this circus sometime soon; maybe around the 70th anniversary.

The writer is the Managing Editor Daily Times, tweets @yourafiq and can be reached at yourafiq@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, August 14^th 2017.