Panama Leaks: refusing to blow over?

This one refuses to blow over. Used to having one crisis deflected by another, diverting attentions of both media and the common man- Panama Leaks has become the Sharifs’ nightmare that has defied a conventional pattern. It has refused to go away.

“These findings show how deeply ingrained harmful practices and criminality are in the offshore world,” said Gabriel Zucman, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley and author of “The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens.”(ICIJ The Panama Papers)

Amid the furor that resulted in the wake of the leaks-, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif rushed into announcing formation of a judicial commission, seen as a desperate attempt to save his premiership. Two Supreme Court judges have turned down offer to head the bench. What will the bench do? What can it do? This is not a case of  a judicial nature strictly speaking but one of a financial nature. The question is the origin of the point where the monies came from. “So far no explanation has been found plausible enough for the defence of Sharif family’s offshore accounts and where those mega amounts emanated from. While British Prime Minister David Cameron has come up with his tax records but the Sharif family members don’t have anything that much to show as paid tax in the national exchequer.” (Wajid Shasul Hasan, former High Commissioner of Pakistan to UK, April 12, 2016: local newspaper)

As the mayhem increased, spiraling out of control Sharif flew to UK, for treatment for a cardiac condition. The timing has raised questions, writes The New York Times, “The timing of the visit immediately prompted rumors that Mr. Sharif might not return to Pakistan until investigations were completed.” (April 14, 2016)

In his absence, Ishaq Dar and Maryam Sharif were designated to take decisions. A decision that has raised a great deal of criticism in the media, particularly the social media. “Nescoll Limited, Nielson Holdings Limited, Coomber Group Inc., and Hangon Property Holdings Limited are four companies owned by Maryam, Hussain and Hassan. As many as six properties were purchased in London during 2007 and 2008 through these offshore companies. Shahbaz Sharif’s relative Ilyas Mehraj, has been mentioned as a major shareholder of a company though he firmly denies it. Another relative of the Punjab CM Samina Durrani owns three companies; the latest was opened in 2010.” (April 4, 2016 local newspaper)

Disgust, anger, frustration of the common man is palpable in every discussion, real or virtual. A friend writes, “Constitution’s prime responsibility is to protect the county and its people. Is the Constitution effectively doing so?”

Times Of Oman, writes on the interesting ‘co-incidence’ of many directly or indirectly having a part or influence in the matter converging to London, “But just when a rising tide can be sensed from miles in Islamabad, three key figures, who, all hold major roles in how what will pan out in the days ahead — Prime Minister Sharif, PTI chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan People’s Party(PPP)’s head honcho Asif Zardari — have converged on London for different reasons. In the case of the first two, it is merely a timeout; Sharif is undergoing medical checkup for a heart condition and Khan to raise funds for his Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital back home. So what’s in store? Most likely, the key to survival for the beleaguered Sharif may again lie with the canny Zardari, who, while extracting his pound of flesh, is widely tipped to just cushion Sharif enough not to let him fall.” (Kamran Rehmat April 16, 2016)

Rehmat seems to have hit the bull’s eye if Daily Times report is to be believed, “The embattled ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is all set to sign an ‘NRO’ with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in London. According to the new ‘agreement’ between the two parties, former president Asif Ali Zardari and his colleagues will help government pull out the prime minister from the current crises. Both PPP and PML-N will also work jointly to curtail the powers of Rangers and NAB in Punjab and Sindh. A strong response is visible within the ranks of PPP over Zardari’s decision to ‘help out’ Nawaz Sharif. Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani and Aitzaz Ahsan are strongly opposing the likely reconciliation agreement. They are of the view that PPP’s vote bank in Sindh may drop in consequence of the likely agreement. However, Asif Zardari, Rehman Malik and Farhatullah Babar are in favour of the reconciliation pact, as they think if Nawaz Sharif resigns, the next prime minister, whether he is Ch Nisar or Shahbaz Sharif, can create problems for the PPP.” (April 18, 2016)

The question I raise here is, is Panama Leaks about political parties’ gains and settlement between themselves or does people aspirations and Pakistan’s welfare count at some point? Member of a forum wrote in context with Panama Leaks that resonates with the thinking of the common man, an excerpt of which I share here, “’We have all being hearing about our political leaders on Panama leaks. They all are talking about their own interests and trying to achieve the maximum out of this critical position for their own interests and parties. PPP wants that all their cases of corruption should be finished by NAB and safe exit to be given to Zardari to come back to Pakistan. Cases against Dr Asim should be dropped. Rangers should be called back from Sindh.FIA should no more interfere in the Sindh affairs.MQM wants that the money laundering and connection with RAW with them should not be pursued. Altaf Hussain should be allowed to come on media. Fazal ur Rehman wants that the Women Protection Bill should be abolished and they should have some more say in the government. PTI wants that Nawaz Sharif should resign and parliament be dissolved so they have a better chance to come into power again. Judiciary wants that they should regain their lost prestige by not participating with anyone party and leave these parties to decide on their own. Establishment is trying to keep away from this mess and hold on to their well deserved reputation on not dislodging the government even in this critical position. NAB and FIA are busy trying to save their positions by just ignoring the complete matter and not taking action against anyone on their own. Media is trying to gain the extra mileage from their customers by breaking news before any other media house. It is really painful to see people from all parties coming on media and defending their parties by blaming other parties that they have done more corruption than them. No party defends their corruption but instead in answer blame the other party for more corruption within their party. Nobody has still come up with a comprehensive answer to defend themselves whether it is the ruling party or the opposition. My only question is where is the voice of the general public of Pakistan. Why everyone is trying to use them for their own objectives. Nobody has even bothered to think about their miseries and wishes. They are just thought to be a toilet paper to be used and thrown away. I strongly feel that the general public of Pakistan will not get anything from their leaders as their goals are totally different to their respective leaders.” Right or not, such are now the perceptions of the general public.

Panama Leaks is not blowing over. The geographical barriers are down. News flashes around the world within seconds of its happening. This one will have to be dealt with. Whether honorably or dishonorably is to be seen.

The writer is a lawyer, academic and political analyst. She has authored a book, ‘A Comparative Analysis of Media and Media Laws in Pakistan.’ Her mail ID is [email protected]tweets at @yasmeen_9