The Broadsheet saga

The question of accountability and stolen money has lingered long in Pakistan. And now has been given a new lease of life by the sensational claims made by the CEO of Broadsheet LLC, Kaveh Moussavi, who has said that during the investigations against Mian Nawaz Sharif ordered in 2003 by the Musharraf government, his company had looked into various aspects of the working of the Pakistani accountability system. In what has turned out to be one long and sordid case – with all the twists and turns of a good thriller – Moussavi has not stopped here. He has also spoken of a bribe, apparently offered to him by a relative of Mian Sharif as well as of the court case that Broadsheet won when the agreement with the Musharraf regime was suddenly suspended. As a result of this suspension, and the damages claimed by Broadsheet, Pakistan has lost $28 million in fine/penalty. Beyond this, Moussavi has said that at the time of Musharraf's hiring of his company, Moussavi had suggested all political corruption should be examined, rather than a focus on just the Sharifs. He has also suggested that the $1 billion that apparently showed up in a foreign and transferred from a Pakistani national had been disclosed to the Pakistani government in 2017.

In the face of all this, and more revelations that are said to include even more players – some of whose names have not been officially disclosed, the whole Broadsheet saga sounds like it has the potential to blow up in the face of literally everyone involved. Whether it does or whether it goes quietly into the good night is still unclear – and could depend much on who all is roped into this situation. What is perhaps most pertinent about this whole incident is the question of how accountability is carried out in Pakistan. Moussavi has spoken of NAB requesting that certain names be removed off lists of people who had earlier been named for investigation. He has spoken of similar goings-on well after the era of Musharraf and Sharif and he has spoken of being approached by a person, who claimed to be a powerful official, who sought a cut against the money that Broadsheet would gain.

All this is disturbing in that it shows how convoluted accountability is in Pakistan. As we have discussed before, it is not transparent, it is not open and it appears to be subject to bias. In such circumstances, accountability cannot succeed. Accountability has to be without any bias, without any political motivation and without any interference from political sources, if it is to hold weight and have any impact. We need to take this opportunity to look at our accountability mechanism and determine how it can be improved and made strong enough to end corruption in our country.