Daily Times

Speaking at a gathering of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) general council members, Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Mohammed Nawaz Sharif lambasted the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan saying that while the PML-N government was working for the betterment of the people of Pakistan, those running the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government are “wasting time dancing on containers.” Prime Minister Sharif highlighted his party’s work in improving the infrastructure of Pakistan, and blamed Khan for being an impediment to development. While Khan’s tactics and his preference for street rallies in lieu of substantive work is indeed questionable, the conflation of the issue of development with that of accountability, which Khan is pressing for, by Prime Minister Sharif suggests that government is trying to circumvent it altogether.

There is no doubt that the performance of the PML-N government has been impressive in certain respects. While certain underlying structural issues are being ignored, nevertheless, government has made great strides in nudging the economy towards growth. Infrastructure development has provided the economy the base on which to grow and the investment climate is improving. Amidst all of this, the doomsday scenario that Khan wants the public to believe might be inaccurate, but, if all of the vitriol is stripped from his speeches, he does make an important point: accountability at the top is imperative for Pakistan to be a democracy in substance.

Unfortunately, this is the area where the PML-N government is particularly unresponsive. The revelations of the Panama Papers left the first family some difficult questions, which have not been adequately answered till now. The issue of the Terms of Reference of the proposed judicial commission remains unresolved, and it appears that government wants the entire controversy to just be relegated to the fringes of the national discourse, through which it could remain in a perpetual state of inactivity.

PML-N would have to realise that it is in its own interest to take substantive steps over the issue of accountability, starting from the top. Unless it does so, it can hardly be in a position to fix the system below. Even on the electoral level by showing the electorate that it is responsive to issues of corruption and transparency, the party can reclaim the space that the PTI has appropriated for itself by capitalising on the Panama Papers controversy. Mature political parties do not depend on the cult of a few individuals, rather, they develop within themselves the institutional capacity to be much more than the sum of their leadership. However, the dependence of the PML-N on the Sharif family has led to it completely shielding the first family from proper investigation into the allegations that have been raised against it following Panama Papers. And hence, it is the duty of the opposition, and the people of Pakistan, to pressurise the PML-N into being more accountable. This is how democracy works, and it would do well for PML-N to pay heed to this, and not just pay lip service to democratic principles whenever it suits it. *