Prime Minister’s public warning to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has brought the issue of accountability to the fore again. This needs to be looked into from three different angles.

To start with, there is the ‘here and now’ story, where the bureau seems to have extended its arms to a province that belongs to the ruling party, so to speak. It is acting against some big businesses that are considered too close to a pro-business PML-N. The provincial minister Rana Sanaullah has mentioned one particular tycoon and how unfortunate it would be for the country’s economy to target him. Then there are reports about inquiries against the ministers and lawmakers and bureaucrats; in at least one case, the Orange Line contractor is said to have been arrested on charges of embezzlement of funds, though in a previous case.

The second part of the discussion is about the institution of NAB itself -- how it came into existence, which institution preceded it, and what historical impacts it has left on the country’s politics in the last fifteen or so years. Having been crafted during the rule of a military dictator, the law that led to its formation obviously does not carry the validity that it should.

And then there is the key word "selective" that characterises this mechanism as well as all earlier ones. It is supposed to make victims of the civilian political class leaving out some key institutions from the ambit of accountability.

That brings us to the larger issue of accountability and how has it panned out through our entire history. I.A. Rehman gives us a thorough tour of this history, exposing the sham efforts of the past and making some pertinent suggestions on how an ideal accountability mechanism can be brought about and what it should look like.

We hope that his suggestions are heeded to so that the country gets on to the more serious business of equitable development for its people.