Daily Times

“In the above mentioned sorry and unfortunate state of affairs a conclusion has appeared to me to be unavoidable and inescapable that in the matter of explaining the wealth and assets respondent No. 1 has not been honest to the nation, to the nation’s representatives in the National Assembly and even to this Court.” — Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa.

Though Pakistan’s ruling family have blithely shrugged off corrosive accusations of graft in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent judgment, the ruling party’s celebratory mood highlights the indifference of a gilded elite towards the poverty-stricken masses that it claims to represent.

Justice Khosa’s beautifully rendered dissenting judgment makes clear that the ruling family’s explanations with regard to their finances do not stand up to even the most basic scrutiny. A palpable failure to account for the acquisition of property worth millions and an “attempt to suppress the facts” spotlights the curse of corruption at the highest levels of government. Justice Khosa’s reference to the Godfather novel sums up the political gangsterism which currently holds sway in Pakistan, revealing the myriad ways in which arcane financial structures can be set up to ensure that wealth remains untraceable.

Though the ambiguity of the Supreme Court’s verdict has been the subject of acrid debate, what emerges clearly from the judgment is that the country’s leadership has yet to offer a plausible explanation on how they amassed such seemingly inestimable wealth.

The frenzied rush of Pakistan’s politicians towards self-enrichment at the expense of its fellow citizens has tainted the country’s name. When viewed against the backdrop of the desperate poverty in which much of the country is mired, the self-congratulatory tone of the incumbent leadership seems all the more inappropriate.

A government report published last year concluded that four out of ten Pakistanis live in acute poverty. According to the official Multidimensional Poverty Index, 60.6 percent of Pakistanis do not have access to cooking fuel, 48.5 percent do not graduate from school and over 38 percent of families cannot afford more than one-room accommodation. Over one third of the population does not have access to medical facilities. So the judgment only confirms what was already known about Pakistan’s deeply unequal social order: the intrinsic connection between political appointments and huge material gains while the disenfranchised masses continue to live in the most debasing of circumstances.

Leaders are expected to uphold the highest standards which is why Icelandic prime minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson was compelled to resign when his interest in an offshore company was revealed through the Panama Papers disclosure. However, the vast cache of information published from Panama based law firm Mossack Fonseca has resonated even more profoundly in developing countries like Pakistan where tax avoidance and corruption runs into the millions. According to the IMF, tax avoidance through the use of offshore firms causes developing countries to lose around $200 billion a year. This figure eclipses the amount they are given in aid.

Though the Court found insufficient evidence of corruption, in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment, an investigation into the charges of tax evasion and concealing foreign investment must be concluded within two months. Through sweeping reform and an uncompromising stance on brazen graft and nepotism can Pakistan free itself from the destructive ambitions of those who claim to serve the people of the country?

The writer the founding editor of Blue Chip magazine. She tweets @MashaalGauhar