PPP co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari has delivered a second tirade in about as many months, this time switching the target from the military establishment to the PML-N government, telling it to stop the "politics of revenge" otherwise there could be "disastrous consequences." The cause of his fury is the same as before.
First former Punjab PPP President Qasim Zia was arrested, he said in statement fired from London, and now Dr Asim Hussain has been arrested. Immediately after came arrest warrants for former PM Gilani and commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim. Also, he went on, bureaucrats in Sindh are being harassed by FIA and NAB, the chief security of Sindh is on pre-arrest bail. All this, according to the PPP leader, "unmistakably presents a clear pattern of political harassment and revenge." The fact of the matter is that the cases against the Punjab-based PPP leaders are not new though it is only now that NAB and FIA, both civilian agencies, have suddenly jumped into action. What is new, and hurts the most, is the arrest of a personal friend, former federal minister and current chief of HEC Sindh Dr Asim Hussain.
As it is, the ruling party in Islamabad has no revenge motive, in fact, its self-interest demands keeping the PPP on side. What then is going on? The good doctor has been in the custody of Rangers for questioning into allegations of corruption linked to terror financing. A while ago, the DG of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) Major General Bilal Akbar came up with a report saying that certain influential individuals and parties were involved in collecting some Rs 230 billion annually through criminal activities, such as land grabbing and extortion; and that there is a nexus between dirty money and terrorism. Soon afterwards, his men raided the Sindh Building Control Authority, the fisheries department and some other places confiscating records and arresting officials. The Rangers do not take their orders from the federal government.
Surely, the former president is aware of that fact. His purpose hence cannot be to hold the Sharif government responsible for what is happening but to seek its support. The thinking seems to be that if the two big political parties, along with the usual allies such as the JUI-F, the ANP and the MQM, take a united stand against the ongoing anti-corruption campaign - in tandem with the war against terrorism - perhaps, together they can stay the hand of powers that be. From the perspective of the government, it is like being caught between a rock and a hard place. It has already made substantial compromises to stay in the saddle, and wouldn't want to do anything that might rock its own boat. Hence the good cop bad cop policy to try and placate both sides. Federal minister retired Lieutenant General Abdul Qadir Baloch became the bad cop on Tuesday declaring "if anyone has a doubt that there would be any compromise on recent action against terrorism and corruption... there is no question of turning back." He justified Dr Asim's arrest saying "the security agencies have enough evidence against him, and if they [the PPP] want those charges to be made public it can also be done." The soft-spoken Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid adopted a sympathetic tone saying it is the duty of the government to act upon criticism from the Opposition, and that the PPP leader's statement was based on "misinformation and misunderstanding". He added, "Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif buried the politics of revenge through charter of democracy."
An ensuing public debate in the meantime revolves around three key arguments: 1) the anti-corruption campaign is unfairly focused only on the PPP. It should include the PML-N as well which is not so clean either. A better argument for all sides would be to insist on proving innocence through due process.
2) Those involved in loot and plunder of the national resources are not politicians alone, but there are unscrupulous elements in bureaucracy and military as well. Why pick on politicians? First of all, we must not lose sight of the fact that financial corruption, especially in high places, is a grave crime against society. It is unacceptable. Period. Indeed, bureaucrats and military men are no angels. But in a democracy politicians are accountable to the people for their acts of omission or commission. People vote them into power so they can fix the bad people and right the wrongs in society and undertake plans and polices for collective good. What we see instead is a bottomless pit of greed with public leaders making personal gains at the expense of a people half of whom live under the poverty line. It is an open secret that prominent political figures have taken billions out of this country through money laundering (a serious crime in itself) to buy properties and invest in other countries. No less a person than the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar disclosed in the National Assembly last year that at least $200 billion of 'Pakistani money' was stashed away in Swiss banks. Considering that Pakistan's total external debt and liabilities are $65.533, one wonders what the money robbed from the hapless people of this country could do for the progress and prosperity of this society.
3) Those behind the Rangers action have no right to hold civilian leaders answerable for financial corruption. It is true that in a functioning democracy catching wrongdoers is the business of civilian institutions. But it is also true that politics, like power, despises vacuum. If the relevant institutions do not do the needful somebody else will do it. Since the restoration of democracy in 2008, neither the PPP nor the PML-N have shown any interest in instituting an impartial and duly empowered accountability system. The one time the previous PPP government tried - fortunately unsuccessfully - passage of an accountability bill was to give protection to its own members from prosecution for past financial misconduct.
It is about time politicians stopped using democracy as a fig leaf to hide financial crimes. The political parties must get their act together and strengthen the accountability law and implementation mechanism. As for the present situation, an honourable course for the suspects to take would be to seek redress through the justice system.
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