The defensive side of the ruling government over the Panama revelations, and an immediate press conference in response by Imran Khan, coupled with the demand of the opposition to legally probe into the money gotten by the Sharif family to set up their huge business empire abroad are good and progressive signs, signalling towards democratic growth in Pakistan. The accountability of our elected representatives — who we vote into power — is the basic right of every citizen of Pakistan. We have a lot of hopes pinned on the incumbent government. All politicians outwardly love the public, as they need their votes. They want to stand on populist grounds and score their ratings, while competing with others over who is the real saviour of the public. However, the constitution doesn’t hold anyone accountable for establishing businesses abroad, with zero or little remittances to the national treasury.
The honourable prime minister feels inclined to address the nation on state television to explain his family’s personal financial affairs, and to announce the establishment of a judicial commission to be headed by a former Supreme Court judge to investigate into the matter. Until the constitution of this commission and its independence is guaranteed, this looks more like an eyewash, and little is expected to come out of it. It is difficult to determine whether the allegations are legally prosecutable, no matter how wrong it is on moral and ethical grounds. The Panama leaks have mentioned over 200 Pakistanis who have offshore companies. The investigation, if it is to take place at all, should be, unsparingly, done against all the people named in the documents. The question, however, arises as to why the so-called judicial commission is undertaking the defence of only Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s family. Constitutionally, along with no law governing matters of offshore companies by the ruling elite, even the army is not bound to be held accountable in parliament. There is a denial of people’s right to know the affairs of the state. The shadow economy within the country, to date, has never been sufficiently looked into.
If things are to be taken on merit, the former general, COAS and president, Pervez Musharraf, has been accused of having offshore companies worth billions of rupees. And this is not just about tax evasion that is behind huge economic losses; it is also about the lack of concern where education and health, and security and lapses in the rule of law have become just minor distractions from the bigger national issue of the Panama leaks. The prioritisation of issues has been a dismal show of the state. In fact, it is disgusting.
Last week, northern Pakistan was hit by a disastrous downpour that resulted in thousands of people becoming homeless and scores of people dead. The devastating floods have also caused serious blow to the infrastructure, and people got trapped as the region became inaccessible to rescue operations. Thousands of people stuck in landslides are fast running out of food and water. According to reported figures, over 200 people have perished in the floods, and more than 3,000 have lost their homes. The ground realities related by the locals are far more shocking. The actual devastation is, in fact, a lot more than what has been reported to the media. Unfortunately, there has been almost nil coverage of this major disaster. People would have appreciated it more if the elected leader, Imran Khan, instead of giving out press conferences about the flood situation, had gauged the scale of the damage and the steps being undertaken by the government to address them. It would have been reassuring if the prime minister had said something about his government’s resolve to cater to the needs of the people in distress and appealed to the public to come out and provide material and financial assistance to the victims, instead of speaking about his personal issues in his formal address to the nation.
Another issue that needs immediate redress is that of countering terrorism. The Punjab operation against terrorists and their organisations has been completely sidelined in the wake of the Panama leaks. There are issues to be resolved between the civilian government and the military, as apparently both are not on the same page. There are political interests influencing local authorities to shield and protect certain militant groups, and there are also interests of the army when it comes to India-centric extremist groups like the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The public has a right to know where the fault-lines lie, and the public has a right to question the sincerity of our state in tackling the serious issue of terrorism across the country.
Among other major issues is that of ensuring the rule of law in society. Recently, the clergy threatened to hold protests for the imposition of the shariah across the nation. Government seems to be least concerned, and is likely to repeat the mistake of letting more than 20,000 protestors march towards the parliament house, resulting in the army to be called in to control the situation. The preemptive measures were not given due process, showing the failure of the federal and provincial governments to foresee trouble. Where is the accountability for that?
Where Imran Khan is supposed to act a as a people’s leader, he should be more concerned about emergency preparedness, an under-utilised development budget and grievances over the lack of resources to provide for security in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. But instead, he is more concerned about the politicisation of the police in Punjab, and the alleged corruption of the Sharifs, and is considering holding another march to the D-Chowk.
Accountability of all institutions and individuals, especially those elected by the people, is imperative in a democracy, but it should not be limited to just financial matters. Rather, it should also be done to measure the administration skills of government, and how government lives up to expectations of the people.
The writer is a freelance columnist and can be contacted at [email protected] or on twitter @zeeahashmi”