Panama Papers are known to be an issue of grave concern for the Pakistan Muslim League-N (Nawaz) as it consolidated the opposition members to twist the arm of the government to form an independent and impartial inquiry against the nominees of the Panama leaks because the revelations jolted the politics of Pakistan as it was found out that the family members of the premier own offshore companies. This became the key talking point in the media and the Panama papers gave a much- needed opportunity to the opposition to attack the government.
However, the controversy in the end illuminated the merits of a democratic system that allowed debate.
A progress can be seen in the recent overtures by the government in which the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are working together on a legislation that would regularize undeclared assets in offshore companies.
Along with this, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) apportioned Rs 465.021 million among 166 fraud victims at a ceremony which was conducted in Rawalpindi. Another hopeful progress can be seen by the Additional Collector of Customs to get to the culprits behind the smuggling of heroin in the PIA aircraft.
Such concrete and stern progresses point to the fact that we can find the government on the right track as it is making advances into making the system more effective. This indeed is a positive sign as real work is being done by government departments and certainly the Panama Papers worked like a catalyst to bring the government departments into action and if the government needs to win the upcoming elections it truly needs to play its role of reforming the system even if it goes against some of its members’ interests.
Zeeshan Nasir
Turbat, Kolahoo
