An end to the uncertainty, please
Strange, to say the least, that the Supreme Court intervention – if it can be called that – in the lockdown drama has caused jubilation in both PML-N and PTI camps. Imran is convinced that the PM is finally going to be investigated; hence the transposition into the thanksgiving. Nawaz’s kitchen cabinet, on the other hand, believes the Court has taken the wind out of PTI’s sails, again, which explains the broad smiles and u-turn slogans. But the matter is, of course, more complicated.
For one thing this is not the first time Panamagate, as it is increasingly called, has gone to the honourable Supreme Court. Nawaz himself wrote to the apex court in May. But the court was, in a nutshell, not exactly up to the task at the time. Then came the unending pendulum swing of the ToR exchange. The opposition wanted, naturally, for the accountability to begin with the PM. The government, on the other hand, wanted Nawaz out of the line of fire since his name was not mentioned in the leaks; and he doesn’t, legally, own the Mayfair flats.
In deciding to end the ToR logjam once and for all, the Court has come down to deciding on this particular point more than anything else. Should it decide to put Nawaz top of the line in the investigation, things might look really grim very quickly for the prime minister. But if it, too, feels no direct link mandates a direct inquiry, don’t be surprised to see Imran back on the dharna bandwagon. In that case things can look pretty grim for pretty much all parties involved, including the people. Either way, the court owes the country a manner of certainty on the matter that the politicians have been unable to provide so far. That, in itself, would be a step forward.
