Leaky politics

Unsurprisingly, the announcement by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that he will form a judicial commission, headed by a former Supreme Court justice, to look into the financial dealings of his family and over 200 Pakistanis named in the Panama Papers, has not pacified the opposition. They are calling it an eyewash, and while there are many reasons to be sceptical about the commission, many of the critics are coming across as less than pure in their outrage. There is no doubt that there are serious questions raised by the fact that Nawaz’s children set up offshore companies. Any competent investigation will have to track down the source of that money and determine if there was any tax evasion. But the opposition parties should look inward since leaders from the PPP have also been named in the Panama Papers and we still cannot be sure if there are other names yet to be leaked. It should be kept in mind that there have been credible allegations of corruption against major figures in every political party and that this one Panama firm represented only a fraction of the public figures who made use of shell companies. Their outrage against the ruling family may be justified but yet their protests reek of selectiveness.

The commission itself will need to earn its credibility. For one, the ‘commission’ is more of an enquiry than a judicial commission, considering its composition. Moreover, we do not even know the terms of reference for the commission. If it is merely to be an enquiry without subpoena power then it will be effectively toothless. To investigate more than 200 people will require a substantial staff and resources and it is unclear if it will be granted that power. And, then, the government, NAB and judiciary will all have to follow through on its recommendations, which is far from guaranteed. The history of past such commissions, be it the Hamoodur Rehman commission or the ones instituted to look into the Saleem Shahzad and Osama bin Laden cases have rightly been dismissed as born of a desire to cover up official culpability. That Nawaz has chosen to appoint an ex judge rather than ask the current Supreme Court to look into the cases is not a promising start. Neither is the identity of the figures believed to be on the short-list for the commission. Justice Ajmal Mian is controversial for having taking over from the deposed Justice Sajjad Ali Shah during Nawaz Sharif’s second term while Justices Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and Nasir-ul-Mulk served as chief justice during the current PML-N term. This alone would give ammunition to the opposition parties to continue their protests. What we need right now is neither a partisan witch hunt nor a cover up. Those named in the Panama Papers include a wide cross-section of the political, judicial and financial elite. If there is to be a long overdue reckoning it needs to be directed against our rigged system and not a few scapegoats sacrificed to ensure the rotten corrupt edifice remains standing.