FOCUS
Many people had hoped that the Panamagate case would become a test case for Pakistan to check corruption among the ruling elite of the country, which would ultimately serve as a major deterrent to graft in other sections of the society.
The Supreme Court last week handed down a historic judgment, as it is unprecedented in the history of Pakistan that an inquiry has been ordered against sitting prime minister and his family for alleged corruption.
But if one looks at positions taken by the political parties after the decision, it seems that the issue of corruption has remained as politicised as ever even after this landmark decision.
Though the court gave a split decision that ultimately saved the prime minister from unceremonious departure from office, yet there was not a single sentence in the 549-page document that favoured his case.
While two senior judges of the panel, and of course of the apex court, outrightly called for the disqualification of the prime minister for losing his trustworthiness and truthfulness, the three other judges concluded that further investigations are needed to arrive at this conclusion.
However, none of the judges found any piece of evidence to conclude that there was no wrongdoing on the part of the first family with regard to allegations levelled against them.
Now a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) made up of representatives from the main investigating and intelligence agencies as well as the State Bank of Pakistan and the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan would be set up, most likely this week, to answer questions which remained unanswered in the court hearing so that judges could reach a final decision. The JIT is to complete its findings within two months.
Irrespective of whether JIT could complete its probe and dig out the truth for or against Sharif family, it is feared that the high hopes that a credible accountability process would be put in place in the country have largely faded.
Like any other third world country, corruption indeed is one of the main causes of Pakistan’s economic predicaments.
Tax evasion, money laundering, kickbacks, commission in awarding lucrative projects etc, are some of the major problems afflicting Pakistan; and the country’s elite and ruling class, whether political or non-political, has been grossly involved in these malpractices.
Unless an all encompassing accountability process, devoid of any victimisation and vendetta, is put in place, which covers all shades of the elite class, this scourge is unlikely to be tackled effectively.
And in the near future, at least, there are no signs that Pakistan is likely to have any credible system of accountability.
With elections just a year away, both the government and opposition would have no interest to give a serious thought to such an important issue. Rather, they would be more interested to extract maximum political mileage from it to maximise their gains in the next vote.
The prime minister has once again proven himself to be lucky enough to avoid the ignominy of being thrown out of the office, but he has come out badly bruised.
Though the prime minister has resisted the opposition’s calls to step down and is comfortably seated in the saddle since he does not face any imminent dangers inside the parliament, the Supreme Court judgment would continue to haunt him as a nightmare until he removes this spot in a credible way.
Many commentators believe that after getting a split decision from the top court, the government has succeeded in buying time which could be dragged until the next election to save the prime minister from any prosecution, but still it could not neutralise the adverse political impact of the court judgment.
Such a situation does not only augur bad for the political stability of the country, but it also entails grave dangers for the economy of Pakistan.
Economically, Pakistan currently stands where it was in 2007, when the then government leaders were claiming economic turnaround while winning plaudits from the international financial institutions, and everything was lost in the ensuing political turmoil that lasted for just for a year or so.
If the recent warning of the International Monitory Fund (IMF) at the end of the Article IV talks with the Pakistani economic managers is seen in this context, then one can conclude that Pakistan once again is facing the risk of losing those “hard won” economic gains if it slides into another bout of political uncertainty.
The responsibility to avoid such an eventuality rests on all, but the first and main responsibility lies on the shoulders of the ruling party, particularly the prime minister.
It is bizarre that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who had expressed confidence in the five-member bench of the Supreme Court and accepted its verdict, going so far as to distribute sweets while hailing the decision as its victory, were now again preparing for another round of protests to press for its demand for the PM’s resignation.
The Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), on the other hand, has never been part of the court case but has all of a sudden jumped into foray to make political gains after the court gave an unfavourable decision for the prime minister. However, the PPP leadership still believes that the court dealt leniently with the ruling family.
Interestingly, the ruling party gained nothing substantial from the judgment but still hailed the apex court’s decision as its victory, most probably for the short breathing space it managed to get from the verdict and the less damning censure it got from the three judges.
If the past record is any guide, then one cannot expect any bold initiative from either side to defuse polarisation, but one can still hope that better sense prevails on all sides to stop matters from getting worse.
It is better for the PTI to rely solely on the legal course to get its objectives, while the government should consider some concessions that could enhance its moral standing.
In 2008, The PML-N swept Punjab hands-down, but Shahbaz Sharif could not become chief minister because of a legal challenge he faced in the court. The party then appointed Dost Muhammad Khosa as a stopgap chief minister so that junior Sharif could get his name cleared from the court and take over the reign of power in the province.
Can PML-N try the same strategy at this time which would not only defuse political tension but also boost the credibility of the ruling party?
If political leaders failed to show sanity and wisdom then they would solely be responsible for any negative results, be it in the shape of political turmoil or worse.
The writer is a senior journalist based in Islamabad
