This is apropos a Business Recorder news item "Musharraf challenges Nawaz to a debate" carried by the newspaper yesterday. According to it, former President Pervez Musharraf has challenged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to debate with him. Musharraf said in a TV programme that government officials will be in trouble if there is a trial of the Panama Leaks issue. According to him, all the information regarding his assets is on the papers of Election Commission. He has also added that he ruled for 10 years but nobody can prove that he has any off-shore company or any bank account in Geneva.
How ironic it is that the Panama Papers have definitely provided a former military ruler with an opportunity to demean a democratically elected prime minister of Pakistan. Musharraf seems to be cashing in on the opportunity that his presence abroad for medical treatment has thrown up for him. Now he has the audacity to challenge an elected Cabinet to a debate.
The government itself is responsible for this situation. A lack of political will on the part of government to evolve consensus on terms of reference for the proposed commission to investigate the Panama Papers has deprived it of moral legitimacy to perpetuate its rule any further.