The arc of the moral universe is long – but it bends
The government and the opposition parties failed to formulate consensus ToRs for the proposed inquiry commission for more than half a year. The opposition blamed Nawaz Sharif of resorting to delaying tactics to keep the issue unresolved till the public forgot about it. Relying on the Panama Papers Imran Khan petitioned the SC to disqualify the Prime Minister on the grounds of setting up a business empire abroad in the name of his children through money laundering. Khan also launched an agitation on his own which finally took the form of a march on Islamabad with the intent to lockdown the capital. While standing by the agreed ToRs the opposition did not join Imran Khan’s adventure. Instead the Leader of the Opposition maintained that PTI’s move would strengthen Nawaz Sharif.
The Supreme Court’s orders to Nawaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar and three of the Prime Minister’s scions to file their replies in writing must have come to them as an unpleasant surprise. The Court was displeased when told a day earlier by NAB and FIA that they had no jurisdiction to conduct inquiries against the holders of public office. On Thursday the court was told that statements had not been filed by the three children of the Prime Minister for being out of the country. This led the SC to order that the statements must be submitted on Monday. Further that in case of a lack of response, it would be considered that the respondents had accepted the charges. Leaders of both the PTI and the PML-N were already strung up before the proceedings started. This led to unseemly incidents where they were seen shouting at their own allies. On Monday the SC is likely to announce a high powered single man enquiry commission. Politicians from the two sides have failed to reach a consensus among themselves. They should now be ready to abide by whatever verdict is delivered by the court.
Yes Sir. It is a normal practice in Pakistan to hand-over issues to Commissions and Committees who keep hanging for months even years by the time something else (another of a man-made disaster) follows hoping that with time people will forget. This is not going to happen this time and should not. The Apex Court looks serious because this is a matter of prestige for both parties. The people of this country have been fooled by these poli-tics (blood sucking politicians) for long.
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