PML-N, PPP, PTI team up against Ehtesab organs

ISLAMABAD: Three major political parties, which are in government at the federal or provincial level, are on the same page, without formally pronouncing their consensus, against the accountability (Ehtesab) being conducted by the present anti-corruption agencies.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have repeatedly spoken against the current accountability apparatus at different times. One of them has already practically moved to contain provincial apparatus successfully. Another has planned a law in the province it is ruling.

Now Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has loudly articulated his anguish over the way the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is proceeding and aired a caveat, without mincing words, that if its Chairman Qamar Zaman did not take notice of his reservations, he can use legal means to rectify the situation. He stated that because of the NAB actions officers were reluctant to take decisions, a practice that is hindering development, and that it is not fair to scare them.

It was clear from what he said that his government has already conveyed to NAB chief its serious stipulations over certain actions of the organisation. He once again urged him to stop his establishment from mudslinging and maligning noble people. His straight remarks have not come out of the blue, but there is a specific and long background that impelled him to go public with his resentment. It seems backstage efforts to improve the state of affairs failed to produce the desired results.

A couple of weeks before Nawaz Sharif’s outburst, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, obviously with the approval of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, drastically curbed the powers of the chairman of the provincial accountability commission, Lt-Gen (R) Hamid Khan, forcing him to quit.

The chief minister’s argument is that the accountability process in KP had become a one-man show, meaning its chairman was all-powerful and was doing what he willed. However, Hamid Khan claimed after his resignation that he has collected proofs of alleged corruption of Khattak and other ruling party lawmakers and that was why his authority was chopped to turn him into a dummy. Under the proposed amendments in the KP accountability law, the five-member commission has been empowered to take decisions, with majority, instead of just its chairman.

The rejection of the third party, the PPP, of the actions taken by the NAB and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been vociferously projected by it ad nauseam. It has often urged the prime minister to rein in the NAB. However, Nawaz Sharif’s assertions against the NAB left no doubt that he is helpless and in no position to meet PPP’s demand. This is what the federal ministers have being telling to the Sindh government, which, however, always disbelieved them.

The prime minister’s warning to adopt a legal course to forestall the NAB from harassing people shows that he is emboldened by the decisive action taken by the KP government to make changes in the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO). He apparently feels that it would not now be possible for the PTI to oppose and cry hoarse over his move because it has ‘reformed’ the accountability law in KP.

In July last, Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sahrif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar became exasperated when the NAB filed a list of 150 under investigation mega corruption cases with the Supreme Court in which old inquiries also figured. It included an 15-year-old investigation, launched on April 17, 2000, against the Sharif brothers on charges of misusing authority in construction of a road from Raiwind to their family home at a cost of Rs126 million. Another pending inquiry, initiated against Nawaz Sharif on the complaint of Maj Gen (R) M.H. Ansari on March 22, 1999, related to alleged illegal appointments in the FIA. On February 11, 2000, an inquiry was initiated against Dar on the report of an ‘informer’ to probe the charge of having assets beyond known means of income.

At the time, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid severely took on the NAB and said there should be some mechanism for its accountability as well.

In December last, Nawaz Sharif received complaints from senior officials of the petroleum ministry and instructed to take all concerned federal ministries and organisations on board in devising a coordination mechanism with the NAB and all the accountability institutions to address their queries so that the officers and experts are not demoralised and there is no hindrance in meeting the timelines of LNG related energy projects. He was informed that certain proposed projects could not materialise due to the NAB’s intervention. The petroleum ministry bureaucrats raised before the prime minister the issue of harassment by the NAB the moment they start implementing LNG related decisions and also cited the recent case of LNG terminal as an example of the hindrance in the way of their working.

If the situation did not prove, the changes that the federal government would introduce in the NAO may be akin to the ones approved by the KP cabinet. Khattak was also under pressure from the bureaucrats to amend the provincial law because they said that they are unable to function in its present shape. One amendment says no federal or provincial legislator would be arrested by the commission without prior intimation to the speaker. In case of arrest of a civil servant, prior intimation would be given to the chief secretary. Induction of all persons in the KP commission will be examined by a scrutiny committee. Approval of the five-member commission has been made mandatory for the arrest of a suspect. Similar conditions will apply to filing corruption references in courts. An inquiry launched by the forum will be completed in 90 days followed by investigation to conclude in 30 days. Inquiry will be converted into investigation with the approval of the commission. An accused will be arrested only during investigation and not inquiry. No inquiry would be started on anonymous complaint and that fine imposed on a complainant on frivolous complaint would not be less than Rs500,000 and not more than Rs2 million. It is binding on the commission to return official documents taken by it in custody from a department within 15 days.