Dynamics of the new scandal

Money, power, family drama, state institutions: this opus has got it all

Pakistan’s state and society experience political and financial scandals from time to time. The competing political interests use these scandals to serve their partisan agendas. Until recently these scandals and crises targeted the political institutions and leaders. Last year, the memo scandal was picked up by the military, the opposition parties, especially the PML(N), and the superior judiciary in order to build pressure on the federal government.

In June this year, Pakistan is hit by a new scandal. The target is not the political and civilian leadership but the Chief Justice of Pakistan who had annoyed almost all powerful individuals and institutions by his self-ascribed zeal since his restoration in March 2009 to rectify all the ills in Pakistani state and society. The latest scandal pertains to the claims by Malik Riaz Hussain, one of the leading business persons of Pakistan, that the son of the Chief Justice, Arsalan Iftikhar, received grafts worth over Rs 300 million since 2009. The business tycoon maintained that he expected Arsalan to influence his father in the cases relating to his business.

The available information suggests two things. First, Malik Riaz has admitted to one or two private sector TV anchors that his investment on Arsalan did not change the disposition of the Chief Justice towards his cases. Second, no concrete evidence had been given to the Supreme Court or the media by Malik Riaz in support of his contention till yesterday.

Pakistan’s impatient media reported this issue on June 5. The Chief Justice took notice of it on the same day and directed his son Arsalan and Malik Riaz to appear in the court on June 6. As Malik Riaz was out of the country, his lawyer represented him. The media has so far reported that Arsalan and his family made several trips to London and Europe during the last three years whose expenses were covered by Malik Riaz’s business house. The media also maintains that the shopping of Arsalan in London was paid through the credits cards that belonged to Malik Riaz’s business establishment.

It will not be an easy job to prove what is true in the charges against Arsalan and his denials. Malik Riaz will have to provide documentary evidence of the charges that withstands the scrutiny of the court. Arsalan will have to show how he managed his foreign trips and the nature of his business.

If the scandal is viewed in the broader context of money, power and state institutions, three issues are noteworthy. First, we know that in many cases the family members, especially children, of the people in top offices of the state develop a lust for material gains like highly expensive gifts including luxury vehicles, free trips abroad and big amounts of hard cash. Their desire to make quick money makes them vulnerable to the moneyed class. The person occupying the high office is either too busy to fully know what the family members are doing or he ignores their money-making activities. In some cases, the top official may extend quiet approval and benefit from the kickbacks extracted by the members of the family.

Second, this is not for the first time that Arsalan got entangled in a controversy. His career after the completion of his studies has some controversial dimension that surfaced in the news some years back. He is also known in Lahore for hobnobbing with the sons of two retired personalities of the superior judiciary.

Third, big industrial and business magnates and other moneyed people like the feudal class use their financial clout not only in Pakistan but elsewhere to buy political influence and attempt to tilt official decisions and policies to their advantage. In Pakistan, money and connections are known ways to secure policies to one advantage or use state machinery to their advantage and seek favourable judgment from the judiciary or keeping the cases on hold. These attempts may not always succeed but the moneyed people try to buy off the policy makers and others holding key positions in civilian, judicial and military systems. The business and industrial elite see this as an investment or public relations exercise for their business.

We do not know how the latest scandal involving the son of the Chief Justice will end. Perhaps it will be overtaken by another scandal or crisis after a couple of months. However, this scandal will have negative reflection on the Chief Justice who claims that he did not know about his son’s business.

Arsalan has rejected the claims of Malik Riaz, maintaining that he had a flourishing business to undertake foreign trips. It would be pertinent to examine his meteoric rise as a big business after he left the government job in 2009. Surely, the legal documents and tax returns of his business concern can help to understand the nature of his business, his business acumen, partnerships and sources of investment.

The response of the political class to the scandal is shaped by their political interests. As their interests are different, the response is divided. The major opposition parties like the PML(N) and the PTI and a section of the media support the Chief Justice, praising him for taking notice of the scandal and withdrawing from the Supreme Court bench that takes up this scandal for adjudication. Officially, the PPP has decided to stay away from this scandal but the PPP and its allies can derive grudging satisfaction because the Chief Justice had built strong pressure on the federal government on a number of issues after his restoration in March 2009. A number of top officials of the civilian bureaucracy, police and the military must be sharing these sentiments because they often complained about the coarse treatment when they appeared before the Supreme Court on its demand.

The competing political interest and state institutions, including the military and the judiciary, often questioned the credibility of the civilian political institutions and processes as well as leaders. Now the Supreme Court and especially the Chief Justice are being hit indirectly by the Arsalan scandal. Both will take time to come out of its shadow. This is not a good sign. It intensifies internal divisions, accentuates the crisis of legitimacy for all state institutions and builds up the fear of degeneration of the Pakistani state system.

The writer is an independent political and defence analyst.