recently set-up to lend help in the Rangers-led operation against corruption, will finally decide as to who among the three would finally deal with Asim’s case keeping in view the mandate given by the law to each of these government entities.
The Rangers are likely to face criticism particularly from the PPP for apprehending the former minister and a close aide of ex-president Asif Ali Zardari under the law framed by the legislature for terrorists. Though the excuses of the PPP to defend its corruption have little sympathy among the general public, arresting an allegedly corrupt person on terrorism charges would make the case weak for the Rangers.
It was primarily the job of NAB, the FIA or the anti-corruption department to arrest Dr Asim on charges of alleged corruption. None of them did it.
The Rangers are seen as overstepping their mandate but it is argued how could the military remain a spectator while the loot and plunder of the national wealth go unchecked.
It is generally believed that the PPP did not learn any lesson from its past mistakes. Despite losing the 2013 elections because of misrule and corruption, the present Sindh government is still seen as the most corrupt amongst all the governments. To save the corrupt, the PPP and even the Sindh government are criticising the NAB and FIA for the recent actions against corruption. There is a feeling that the PPP government in Sindh does not want anyone to focus on corruption.
Adding insult to the injury, the PML-N government practically backtracked from its pre-May 2013 election resolve to catch the corrupt and getting the looted money back. It was the PML-N that had agreed with the PPP in the Charter of Democracy to set up an independent accountability commission to ensure across-the-board accountability.
During the PPP’s rule, the two parties simply never agreed to any draft law for the creation of such a commission. During the 26 months of the Nawaz Sharif government, not a single meeting has been called to take action to curb corruption.
Legally and ideally, the government, parliament and the political parties are required to establish a reliable, neutral and independent anti-corruption commission for across-the-board accountability. If they fail, the public pressure would greet the military to do the accountability of the corrupt, including politicians, no matter what the law says.