Daily Times

While announcing his nomination for the Chief Minister of Punjab, Imran Khan described Sardar Buzdar Usman as “the only MPA without electricity in his house”. What he failed to mention, is the list of ten properties that CM Buzdar owns and disclosed in papers submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan. Moreover Mr Khan also neglected to mention that our new provincial chief was found guilty, along with others, for the murder of six people by the Anti-Terrorism Court in Dera Ghazi Khan on January 1, 2000.

Reports state that Buzdar and his father paid diyat (blood money) to the families of the deceased, an amount of Rs 750,000 in turn for their forgiveness, which subsequently excused them from prison. Moreover it was not any other criminal court that found him guilty, rather the Anti-Terrorism Court; which makes the situation all the more worrisome.

Ironically, Buzdar’s case reminds us of the judicial reform that PTI has been rallying for. This also involves amending the use of laws such as diyat; which undermine the justice system, and provide loopholes for the rich to get away with convictions.

However, Imran Khan has decided to stand by his decision, stating that he has done his “due diligence” which finds Buzdar to be an “honest man”. Fawad Chaudhry the PTI spokesperson and now the Information Minister also brushed aside the issue, stating that it was a “political case”. In doing so, both are dismissing not random allegations rather the official verdict by a court in the land.

Many political analysts have claimed that an appointment such as Buzdar’s is either an interim measure or merely a means to run the Punjab through the centre and close associates of PM Imran Khan. But even if this is just a political ploy, this is not good news for the largest province of the country. In fact it might be seen by many as a mockery of the democratic and judicial system and above all the Naya Pakistan that was promised to us.

Alongside the chai-wala millionaire scam, the corruption charges against the new CM of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a federal cabinet comprising old faces and turncoats; the PTI regime, like the ones earlier, is dealing with the harsh realities of power and politics in Pakistan.

We hope that the months to come will be different from the initial days of PTI government. *

Published in Daily Times, August 20^th 2018.