Our Panama problem

The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor.

As the jarring tremors from the leak of thousands of documents, broadly labelled the Panama Papers, continue to shake the world, this dramatic incident has exposed much about our own society and politics. It goes well beyond the issue of off-shore accounts or even the more pertinent questions about legalities and illegalities that we should be attempting to find definite answers to.

The affair has essentially highlighted once more the degree to which we are fixated on the issues of individuals and the battle of egos, personalised politics and, of course, the quest for power that exists between them. This is essentially detrimental for a number of reasons: it prevents us from looking more analytically and critically at an entire system that appears to have failed to act against the many different forms of corruption and wrong doing over the years, which have effectively become entrenched in our society.

The outcome of these trends, which damage us in many different ways and contribute to persistently poor governance at all tiers, is shown in the various reports that rank Pakistan as one of the most dishonest nations in the world. At the same time, the manner in which the affair has played out also adds to the widening schism between political forces and deepens their sense of unwillingness to work together. This, in turn, weakens both the peoples’ belief in democracy and the democratic system itself.

Right now, the fallout from the massive Panama Leaks scandal has essentially been in one place, with the culprit identified as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his immediate family. With our political parties so tightly tied to particular individuals or particular clans, the PML-N too has been feeling the heat, as jokes, some of them undeniably hilarious, make the rounds on social media and elsewhere. Conjecture as to whether the present government will complete its term has also begun. Suddenly, there is talk of leadership change, mid-term polls and other possible happenings.

None of this talk is very comforting when seen in the context of the recent history of our country and all that has taken place over the past decades. Without a doubt, the long periods of military rule that we have lived through have contributed to a situation in which there is no systemic check on wrongdoing and no distinct accountability mechanisms that could help us now, instead of the wrangling we see over commissions, judicial enquiries and parliamentary committees.

This is not to say that the Sharifs should not explain how they acquired the enormous amounts of wealth invested in shadowy, offshore accounts, or how they, as well as others named on the massive list, decided to invest the money that they had obtained. This rule should apply to everyone in the country. Instead, what we are seeing is the start of a very personal war.

The campaign against Mian Nawaz Sharif is being spearheaded, of course, by the valiant Imran Khan, who has planned a sit-in at Raiwind and protests in other places. What Imran says about corruption is not incorrect. Certainly, it should not be tolerated and we have definitely seen in the latest revelations the extent to which it exists in our country. But perhaps the real campaign, the real war, should be to change the system and put in place strong accountability rather than to solely pressurise an individual to stand down or to paint a party in the darkest shades of black.

The truth is that many of our political players, of almost all the parties, a large number of businessmen, landholders and others with wealth and means have a great deal of explaining to do, if they are to account for the properties and assets that they have today. To do this, we need a proper setup in place.

It is also true that, despite the many accountability drives and the sometimes draconian measures introduced in the past, there has been little real impact on corrupt practices, partially because it has not been possible to draw the net wide enough. The military and the judiciary have consistently stood outside the net, beyond its reach, and have never been touched by any anti-corruption measure and there have been very few real efforts made to achieve this because of factors that we are all familiar with. The argument is that when some are excluded, there can be no possibility of holding others fully to account for their deeds.

This is a problem that we need to look carefully at. There can be no doubt that corruption exists in the US, as well as in other developed countries. Scandals and scams have come up at regular intervals in the past. But it is also a fact that the fear of the legal measures to prevent tax evasion in the US ensure that dues are paid far more frequently and by far more individuals and companies than is the case in our own country. We must examine where we have gone wrong, beginning with the procedures to collect revenues and then add accountability mechanisms to punish those who fail to follow them. We may notice that we have failed on both counts.

Right now, it is imperative that some action be taken to let people know what may have been taken away from them by placing it in accounts far, far away. This is true not only for the Sharifs but for many others on the list. However, the issue should not be confused with what is being represented as an overwhelming need for a change of leadership. The talk of umpires coming into the game, or of other actors holding opinions, is dangerous.

We must work towards politics that does not involve protests and disruptive sit-ins, but which can work from within the quieter realms of parliament. For this to happen, we need organisations and bodies in place to track how money moves, where it is made and how much of it goes back to the state. There are laws in place for this; the true problem is these are too often evaded or ignored, and those in office are far more powerful than the state organisations put in place to check the misuse of money.

As a result, people suffer. They are deprived of the revenue that should be used for their welfare and development. This is the biggest crime of all. It is a crime that involves a large number of people and also a system that has, perhaps deliberately, never been allowed to become strong enough to take wrongdoers to task and tackle them with the severity that they deserve. This problem is a massive one. It cannot be solved overnight and there are also doubts as to whether potentially violent protests can help.

The ultimate aim must be to force influential people to account for the wealth that they acquire, to pay specified amounts to the state coffers as taxes and to ensure that no one, regardless of their status, politics or standing, is able to escape the checks and balances of this machinery in order to take money away from the country and out of the reach of its poverty stricken people.

Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com