The new chorus: democracy in danger

Islamabad diary Ever since the Panama leaks engulfed the Sharifs earnest souls, in various stages of excitement, are bemoaning the threat to democracy. The way they are formulating their anxiety, they seem to equate democracy with the survival of the Sharifs. This concern may be sincere but the question that can be asked is: if the Sharifovs get away with Panamagate will democracy be strengthened or weakened? As it is, there is no shortage of people who can be heard saying that nothing is going to come of this hullabaloo, that the rich in this country get away with murder and so it will be with the Panama leaks. This is cynicism born of the Pakistani experience and if it is vindicated this time too cynicism will break all bounds. Will that be good for democracy? Already we say that in our country there is one law for the privileged and another for the less lucky. Won’t this feeling acquire the semblance of heavenly truth if after all this hue and cry, and the speeches and the rallies, nothing happens and the evasions and misstatements, to which the nation is being treated, come out on top. Granted that this nation is resilient and can endure much. Will it be able to endure the look of triumph then on Pervaiz Rashid’s countenance? The Khadim-e-Aala, breaking the vow of silence he had been observing for some time, has elevated the terms of debate, saying that if Jahangir Tareen’s children could own offshore companies why not the gifted kids of the prime minister? Is this the best he can come up with? Jahangir Tareen must answer for himself. Someone else’s wrong, assuming that it is a wrong, does not become the prime minister’s defence. Shahbaz Sharif has also taken to answering Bilawal Bhutto. If he has risen to that level the Sharifs are in more trouble than their champions care to think. The ‘establishment’ is sharpening its knives, opine the alarmed defenders of democracy. Perhaps, but who is giving the ‘establishment’ this chance? Why is Nawaz Sharif ducking and evading the issue? Why is he prolonging this crisis which the longer it goes on spells the more danger for him and his embattled government? The army intervened in 1977 and the shadows of the martial law that resulted were long and dark. But who provided the army command of the time its opportunity? The agitation against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto broke out immediately after the March election. Instead of understanding the nature of the challenge he faced and taking the necessary steps to defuse it, he first resisted talks with the opposition and then when he was left with no choice, and talks started, he needlessly prolonged them. The generals sensed his growing weakness and in the end showed their hand… and the country paid a heavy price for both Bhutto’s failure and the ambition of the generals. Who is prolonging the present crisis? Has the army or ISI invented Panama leaks? Has Imran Khan something to do with it? The leaks haven’t created something new. They have merely revealed the rows of skeletons in the locked up, hidden cupboards of the PM and his family. The Sharifs are more pious and outwardly devout than most Pakistanis, not just saying their prayers but assaulting their prayer mats – that’s the impression I always got – and going the extra mile in the service of the faith, such as spending the last week of Ramazan in the Holy Land, absorbed in prayer in the Holy Mosques. Both as per their devoutness and the fact that as elected leaders they hold positions of public trust, is it not more incumbent on them to come clean about their Mayfair properties and offshore accounts instead of hiding behind evasions and hurling counter-accusations against their opponents? Democracy has never been a sturdy house in Pakistan. The slightest shifting of the tectonic plates and the structure starts shaking, and rumour mills start working overtime. So it is happening now. But unless we are to live in the clouds, shouldn’t we be examining more closely the causes of the present turbulence? Where is the threat to democracy coming from, from those demanding accountability or those running away from it? The PM and his team are relying on bluster and brazenness, answering not the charges against the PM’s family but heaping scorn and derision on their opponents – principally Imran Khan, who should be flattered by all this attention – and, as stated before, hurling counter-allegations. These tactics are not working. Far from the clouds lifting the impression being conveyed is of a government under siege…a government which has shut the gates and is fighting a defensive battle. This can’t go on. If the PM keeps refusing an honest and transparent investigation, the tension will keep mounting. The opposition parties are not going to sit back and let the government off the hook. Such an opportunity as that presented by the Panama leaks does not come every day. The PPP had lost its sense of direction. In the midst of the Panama scandal Bilawal Bhutto is discovering his stride and his voice. He suddenly sounds like someone who has something to say. And the opposition parties under the pressure of events are struggling to find common ground. They are already closer to each other than they were before. The PML-N response is funny. Pervaiz Rashid, the information minister, used to excite laughter the moment he appeared on the TV screen. Now his desperate expression provokes sympathy. Daniyal Aziz and Talal Chaudry are acquiring a measure of immortality. Long after all this is over they will be remembered for their comic performances on television. In these grim times they at least provide some relief. The opposition parties sense blood. Nothing less than an honest investigation will satisfy them. Can Nawaz Sharif rise above his limitations and give proof of the boldness and openness we have yet to find in him? Theoretically it’s still possible but time is running out and the odds are stacking up against him. There are tough choices to be made. The security situation inside Pakistan has improved but it remains to be consolidated. Afghanistan is on the boil and there are powerful voices in the United States hostile to Pakistan. A weak, embattled government is in no position to meet these challenges. To say that the army will not be watching this situation carefully is to be unrealistic. Nawaz Sharif’s tenure began with promise. It has turned into disillusionment, the situation engendered by the Panama leaks putting the seal of confirmation on this mood. It is easy to fear the worst. Imran Khan’s threat to march on Raiwind should not be taken lightly. As this crisis lingers and it becomes clear that a political solution to it is not forthcoming, the PTI will up the ante and consider seriously the approach to Raiwind. If anyone is under the illusion that the Punjab Police will prove much of a shield in that eventuality the sooner this notion is dismissed the better. Of what worth the Punjab Police is in a crisis we came to know during the dharnas. So where is all this headed? Things are cooking, that’s for sure. But what precisely the outcome of this summer of discontent turns out to be, Allah alone knoweth best. Email: bhagwal63@gmail.com