Opposition terms of reference: Anti-Nawaz bias is apparent

Opposition ToRs person-specific while govt’s are comprehensive

ISLAMABAD: The Terms of Reference (ToRs) unveiled by the opposition parties to probe the offshore companies are largely Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif-specific and made no mention of an inquiry into written-off loans.

The government ToRs announced earlier called for across-the-board accountability of all for different kinds of corruption irrespective of the fact whether or not their names appeared in the PanamaLeaks.

Their wording leaves no doubt that the authors intend to create a deadlock because the government is unlikely to accept most of their clauses.However, an encouraging aspect is that both sides do not apparently consider their respective ToRs final and conclusive as they are willing for negotiations to prepare consensus terms.

A quick reading of these ToRs makes it crystal clear that their writers have particularly the prime minister in mind whom they were determined to target.A hurried comparison of the ToRs of the government and opposition gives the impression that the ones produced by the opposition are made too lengthy simply to ‘get’ the prime minister while the official terms are concise and brief.

The bias of the writers of the opposition’s ToRs against the prime minister and his family floats on the surface. They contain a number of quotable instances to prove this point.

One, the opposition parties are in a hurry to get the probe against the premier completed first, within three months, extendable by one month, but feel no problem in giving even full one year to the judicial commission to look into the offshore companies of others.

Two, not only these ToRs specify two timeframes for conclusion of two inquires but also provide for public release of the report of the commission pertaining to the prime minister first, within one week of its submission to the forum. All this clearly reflects the motive that they want to achieve.

Three, the ToRs cover 31 years ending in 2016 and starting from 1985 when Nawaz Sharif became the Punjab chief minister for the first time. The goal is abundantly clear.Four, the long ToRs mainly relate to Nawaz Sharif and his family. They confine the investigation into those offshore shells named in the Panama Paper leaks and rule out probe into such firms that did not figure in these revelations. The objective behind this is no secret – to save some leading political stalwarts from the investigation by the commission.

Five, the countless questions, which the opposition’s ToRs want the commission to ask, solely and squarely take aim at the prime minister and his family. These queries leave no doubt about the venom and anger that the authors of these terms nurse against Nawaz Sharif and his family.

As far as the demand to appoint a committee of experts in international forensic audit to carry out an exhaustive investigation and audit into the offshore companies is concerned, the government incorporated it in its ToRs saying that the commission shall have powers under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 for summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person, including a tax expert or accountant, and examining him on oath.

However, after unfolding their ToRs, the opposition parties are now in a position of give and take during the impending talks with the government.

This is the first serious effort by the opposition parties since the Panama Papers leaks emerged. Before that, they have been just kicking up dust without demonstrating anything concrete and credible that they actually want. On the other hand, the prime minister had laid out his plan on the table immediately after the surfacing of the offshore shells and accepted the opposition’s demand to constitute a commission of serving Supreme Court judges and present himself for accountability, first before others.

It will be frivolous to believe by any side that all of its ToRs will be accepted, as they are, by the other. Both will be required to show flexibility and accommodation to come out with a consensus document. Only then, they will be able to hammer out an accord for ruthless, indiscriminate accountability of all and sundry.

The dropping of the demand of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s resignation saved the loose and fragile unity among the opposition parties. Even in the major force, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), there was no consensus on giving such a call while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was too vigorous about such demand.

Precisely one month after the appearance of the Panama Papers leaks that named offshore companies of Pakistani politicians and businessmen, including the premier’s children, the opposition parties have formulated and released their ToRs. In the process, they encountered turbulence, which is bound to hit when such a large number of political forces of different hue and colour gather together.

In the crisis created by these leaks, the PPP desperately worked hard to revive its lost glory and push itself out of its marginalised position, which it faced in the 2013 general elections. Whether or not it is successful in getting some worthwhile political dividends in this brawl is an open question. But what it has been able to achieve so far is that it has forced the PTI to immediately halt its bombardment to which the PPP chief Asif Ali Zardari had been subjected to by Imran Khan for umpteen times. Such change of mind is the obvious loss of face for the PTI.

In a sense, there has been a competition between the PPP and PTI to take the maximum advantage of the situation. To accomplish this goal, Bilawal also used the harshest language against the prime minister, which no other PPP leader has done yet. His severest attack came in his address to an election rally in Kotli (Azad Kashmir), but whether his tirade will produce better results will be seen when the polls are held in the State.