If you are the kind to worry yourself sick over the increasing political temperature in the country, you’re in for heady days ahead. The political matadors are taking the fight to a higher pitch as time passes. PTI chief Imran Khan is impatient to be the prime minister, and PM Nawaz Sharif is in no hurry to relinquish his coveted seat. And if you’re the laidback kind and are amused by watching the politicians’ various moves, you’re in for fun.
The opposition parties want to hold the PM accountable for money laundering. Even the PPP’s young chairman, Bilawal Bhutto, wants the PM to step down until he clears his name. The opposition parties are demanding the PM’s accountability – and no more. They don’t want the accountability commission to pull more kleptocrats out from their luxurious havens. We do understand why. Some in the land are so powerful that no commission could withstand their firepower.
So, the politicians want selective accountability. This is what Gen Musharraf had in mind when he created the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). As an aside, the first chairman of NAB, Gen Syed Muhammad Amjad, was a man of impeccable integrity. He hardly lasted a year before he fell out with his boss.
In his book, ‘Pakistan’s drift into extremism’, Hassan Abbas writes about how Amjad resisted Gen Musharraf’s decision to award a multi-million dollar contract to a Canadian cellular company on much higher rates than the Chinese had quoted. Thinking his boss had outdone him, Amjad resigned. Amjad was a maverick of his own kind.
Some people had been egging Imran Khan to march towards Raiwind, thinking that would be the proverbial last nail to seal the fate of the Sharifs. Would Imran Khan have been any closer to achieving his cherished goal of premiership had he done that? Hardly. Those who he may have thought would intervene in the ensuing chaos would prefer more subservient types or puppets, rather than the impetuous Imran. It seems that the more Khan hurries to oust the present occupant of the high office, the more he draws away from it.
However, the opposition parties, under Aitzaz Ahsan’s stewardship, failed to agree on the terms of reference of the accountability commission – which is still in the making. Aitzaz Ahsan is at his best during a crisis. He had a central role in organising rallies to restore CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. But that was a different story. If he employs similar tactics to whip up a frenzy over the Panama leaks scandal, he would most likely invite attention to the corruption scandals of his own party’s leadership: the SGS and Cotecna cases and stashing $60 million in Swiss banks.
Further probe into such a scandal could draw attention to offshore companies like Bomer Finance Inc, Nassam Overseas Inc, and Hospital Middle East Inc etc, which were set up by Swiss attorney Jens Schlegelmilch, who looked after the interests of the companies’ beneficiaries. The last offshore company was named to give the impression that its owners are philanthropic. Those who rob the poor have nothing to do with philanthropy. Chairman Bilawal Bhutto might like to consider the consequences of firing his salvos against others lest they boomerang.
The fresh instalment of offshore companies has surprised many. People already knew about the Sharifs’ and the Bhuttos’ offshore companies and assets abroad, but not many knew that the Saifullahs owned the largest number of offshore companies. The Saifullahs have been part of every government in one way or the other.
For a successful politician, therefore, owning an offshore company or two shouldn’t raise eyebrows. I would even wish that Maulana Fazalur Rehman would own one someday. Hasn’t he been the chairman of the Kashmir Committee under every government, quasi-military or civil? Hasn’t he travelled the world capitals and beaches to promote the cause of Kashmir? What else can be said of a successful politician?
The writer is a freelance columnist based in Lahore.
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