Some of our politicians seem to feel that all they have to do is sound adequately politically correct to be able to take the people of the country for a ride whenever they need to get out of a sticky situation. And much that has come to be known because of the Broadsheet revelations provides just such an example. The detailed arbitration judgment between asset recovery firm Broadsheet LLC and government of Pakistan/National Accountability Bureau (NAB) carried the formal and legal seal of approval of the London High Court (LHC), which carries an ironclad guarantee of authenticity, so there can no longer be any doubt about the fact that the Sharif family did indeed lander suspect money towards offshore accounts and assets. Yet that hasn’t had the slightest effect on the heiress to the PML-N throne, Vice President Maryam Nawaz, as she continues her crusade to prove her father’s innocence in this and other matters. If that’s not bad enough, the party’s senior leadership, which comprises seasoned politicians, is also blindly and aggressively toeing the same line even though it is now proved beyond doubt that the Sharif family laundered money. The government has now formed an inquiry commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge Azmat Saeed Sheikh, a credible name, to investigate this issue within 45 days. So a lot will become clearer soon enough, especially what is to be done about the Sharifs and others who were named in the report yet continue to evade justice. Something must also be said, and indeed done, about offshore safe havens whose secrecy laws in effect encourage the kind of corruption and money laundering that Broadsheet was hired to track and trace in the first place. Without their support tricks like using forged accounts to buy property in other people’s names would be a lot harder to pull off because there would be no place to hide the proceeds without leaving a trail. Therefore while the government waits for the inquiry committee to submit its findings, it must also give some attention to creating a system that makes politicians answer for their assets before they run for office. For now, though, the main focus should be on making the guilty parties pay for their crimes and, just as importantly, making sure that the looted wealth is brought back to the country. When such trends are set anybody who has stolen from the people will think twice before insulting their intelligence to hide their own deeds. *