Daily Times

Imran Khan is behaving like a man who has already been crowned Prime Minister. Someone confident in the knowledge that all he has to do is pick up the telephone to have his will done. Yet such string-pulling is never without controversy. Not matter who one is. Or however much one promises to fight corruption on behalf of the poor.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) first started proceedings against Zulfi Bukhari back in March of this year; as part of the Supreme Court’s (SC) directives against offshore companies. Mr Bukhari stands accused of owning 15 such enterprises and possessing assets beyond his means. NAB duly placed him on the Exit Control List (ECL). He also faces possible arrest by the Bureau on the grounds of having failed to present himself before it; despite receiving three notices towards this end.

Yet instead of recognising supremacy of the rule of law — the PTI Chairman sought to bend the rules. Thus he did himself no favours by reportedly requesting interim Interior Minister Azam Khan, who also happens to be on the board of the Imran Khan Foundation (IKF), to remove Mr Bukhari’s name from the ECL. This not only granted him a one-time exemption from the imposed travel ban. It also effectively circumvented NAB procedure.

This is simply not good enough. Especially considering that Imran has been the biggest cheerleader of the Pakistani state’s crackdown on corruption in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal. Indeed, he takes credit for sending home a thrice-elected Prime Minister and for the broader message that no one is above the law. Sadly, the entire debacle lends credence to Nawaz Sharif’s claims of selective justice. Especially when it comes to being denied compassionate leave from ongoing cases to visit his ailing wife in London.

Yet the controversy does not end there. Kaptaan decided to include Mr Bukhari in his entourage that accompanied him for Umrah by way of private aircraft. Party aides claim that this had been hired to ferry around the PTI supremo in the run-up to next month’s elections; and is being funded by a private donor. Be that as it may, the price of jetting barefoot into Mecca is not cheap. In fact, it totals an astounding Rs10 million; or Rs7 lacs per hour. Thereby prompting Khawaja Asif to allege that Imran performed Umrah on the public dime.

Naturally, the former Foreign Minister knows better than most the perils of hurling accusations in the absence of proof. But in this case, the PTI chief must admit his own culpability in exposing himself to such charges. After all, the start of the year found him being investigated by NAB over the misuse of authority for having made use of official helicopters belonging to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government. And while the latest aircraft ‘scandal’ ought to be a private matter, it, nevertheless, raises grave concerns over the possible influence that wealthy donors may or may not exert over party policy. For no lunch is ever free.

All of which is quite a fall from grace for a man who campaigned for the 2013 elections on a mandate of ending large-scale corruption in a mere 90 days. This recent recklessness does not bode well either for the party or the country. For all it has done is offer voters a glimpse into what a Khan premiership might look like. And as things stand, he should be worried. Unless, of course, there is some truth in the rumours that this is all but a done deal.  *

Published in Daily Times, June 15^th 2018.