There is a serious possibility that if the current impasse between the government and opposition parties over the terms of reference for the formation of a commission in the context of the revelations about the offshore wealth of our politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats goes on much longer, the battle may be taken to the streets. The two sides have met eight times now and are no closer to an agreement than before they even started. The PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi is consulting his party leadership on the future course of action and we all know that Imran Khan’s favourite tactic is to launch massive protests. PPP Chairperson Bilawal Zardari has apparently been breathing fire and brimstone – threatening to go to the masses if the parliamentary meetings do not yield results. Add to this the return of the notorious Tahirul Qadri and the expected launch of his annual summer protest and many will predict a fuse being lit. Now that the news cycle has moved on from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s open-heart surgery and the budget, the opposition parties will try to hog the limelight, which carries with it the possibility that they will refuse to negotiate or cooperate.
Both the government and the opposition parties have refused to budge from their opening negotiating stands. The opposition insists that any commission or enquiry must focus on the Sharif family, while the government wants a more open-ended enquiry. In addition, it wants the relevant legislation proposed to not be Panama-specific. The government has the more reasonable position here since legislation cannot be directed only against the individuals (and that too only some of them) named in the leaks and must have universal applicability. We all know that the problems the leaks have revealed are not limited to one political party or family. The Panama Papers tell us only about the offshore companies set up by a single firm and provide only a snapshot of international corruption. There has been a flurry of reports and revelations even after the Panama leaks. The opposition, though, is only after the Sharif family. They are not hiding their true desire to bring down the government – and the Panama Papers are just a convenient excuse. Indeed, it is amusing to listen to Bilawal rail about the corruption of the prime minister not named in the Panama leaks, when not only his own party members but also his family has been implicated in the Panama Papers. The government’s motives for including others in an enquiry may not be pure but, in the long run, it may provide the country a much-needed chance to tackle the corruption that has soiled it. The opposition parties, especially the PPP which has always said it puts the survival of democracy above its parochial interests, need to realise that before it is – conveniently – too late.