Accountability or witch-hunt?

The jury is still out

The father and son duo spewing fire and brimstone on the eleventh death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto does not change ground realities. Judging from the report of the joint investigation team (JIT) formed by the apex court to investigate alleged widespread money laundering operations -by admission of his lawyer – PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari will soon be put in the slammer.

With Zardari’s almost imminent arrest the accountability drive initiated by the powers that be would have taken a full circle. The Sharif brothers already ensconced in Kot Lakhpat jail Lahore and Zardari and a few others to follow the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) government will be able to draw some vicarious satisfaction from the developing situation.

The six-member JIT that included an Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) brigadier is quite damning. It alleges that the money laundering through Zardari’s crony Anwer Majeed was so vast that two banks namely the Sindh Bank and Summit Bank had to be created to handle the gigantic operation.

The JIT report that was deliberately leaked to the media before it was released makes damnatory reading. Even if a small portion of the findings are proved to be true in the courts Zardari and his cohorts goose is cooked.

Of course the strategy of the prosecution and its powerful backers is quite simple: tarnish the defendants through a media trial even before the trial begins. This is what has happened in the case of Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and more so in Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur’s case.

Even if a small portion of the findings are proved to be true in the courts Zardari and his cohorts goose is cooked.

How the noose is surely being tightened around the PPP leadership’s neck is evident from putting 172 persons including Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and Bilawal on the exit control list (ECL). Surprisingly the list also includes the Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah.

It is quite ludicrous for an eminent lawyer like Fargoh Nasim to suggest as law minister that names of people who have been nominated in the (money laundering) case are only placed on the ECL on the suspicion that they will not return to the country if they travel abroad. Clearly he is suggesting that the chief minister of the second largest province of the country is a flight risk.

The handlers of the accountability process have perhaps gone a bit too far in declaring a sitting chief minister a possible absconder from law. Implicitly, this is a deep insult to the people of Sindh and the provincial assembly that elected him in the first place.

Endorsing this further even PM Imran Khan during the launch of ‘the biggest anti-money laundering operation’ said that the program has not even been launched and “screams are coming from Sindh”. A closer look at KP where his party has been in power for over five years might change this blatantly parochial outlook.

Admittedly the PPP leadership has a lot to answer for in the manner that they have ruled Sindh for the past decade. Similarly the Sharifs cannot be entirely absolved of their own acts of omission and commission while in power.

But the sacrosanct principle – justice not only being done but also seen to be done – has been thrown to the winds. For the umpteenth time, in their penchant to try to clean the Augean stables adherence to the rule of law and due process is being deliberately overlooked.

In order to ensure that accountability does not translate into a witch-hunt a lot needs to be done. According to some media reports the government and the opposition have agreed over amendments in the existing national accountability bureau (NAB) law.

According to this report the ministry of law has suggested restrictions on the blanket powers of the NAB. Judging from the penchant of the PTI rank and file starting from Khan himself, at this juncture it sounds too good to be true.

Nonetheless sooner or later it will have to be done in order to make accountability credible. Unfortunately the political engineers do not know any better.

They only believe in witch-hunts. Hence in the long the accused get away with murder. That is why no accountability putsch has ever succeeded to achieve its declared objectives in the checkered history of the country.

In the meanwhile the PTI thinking it is the major beneficiary of the ‘cleansing operation’ against opposition politicians is sitting pretty. Sheikh Rashid – the lone wolf that he is – who after serving Sharif had no qualms joining the Musharraf bandwagon now excels in bad-mouthing both the Sharifs and Zardari.

He and his cohorts brazenly claim that time is ripe for defections from the opposition ranks in the parliament to form forward blocs supporting the government. Always more than hinting that he is very close to the ubiquitous establishment he claims that the party will be over for the PPP and PML-N leadership by March next year.

The maverick one-man road show perhaps is right on the dot. The PML-Q and the so-called Patriots were after all carved out of the PML-N and the PPP by Musharraf through similar shenanigans. There seems to be an all out effort to prop up the PTI government as the only show in town.

It is another matter that on key policy issues especially the economy and governance it has nothing much to show for. Saner elements in the PTI are worried that as a result, the kind of uncertainty that it has engendered is hurting the already tattered economy. The stock market, investor and consumer confidence are on the wane thanks to the quixotic policies of Khan.

Bilawal Bhutto in his fiery speech at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh wondered aloud whether the prime minister is aware, “how weak the federation’s foundations are right now?” He ominously warned, “A single spark can turn everything into a heap of ash.”

These might prove to be empty threats. But invoking the Sindh card by a cornered PPP can be problematic for the federation already grappling with fissiparous tendencies in the smaller provinces.

But Sharif ominously quiet while serving his freshly handed down seven-year sentence by a NAB court is keeping his cards close to his chest.

All is not well with the Federation and thanks to mishandling by the deep state PTM (Pakhtoon Tahaaffuz Mahaz) have gained traction in KPK and Balochistan. But unfortunately even after losing half the country in 1971 we refuse to learn from our past mistakes. And somehow are condemned to repeat them.

Zardari and Sharif should be made to pay for their perceived sins but not in the manner in which the so-called ehtisab (accountability) is being conducted.

Admittedly both the PML-N and the PPP are presently not in a position to launch a movement against the government. It will be difficult for the PPP restricted to Sindh to gain any traction in Punjab. However things could change in the near future if the government continues to falter in its efforts to fix the economy.

But Sharif ominously quiet while serving his freshly handed down seven-year sentence by a NAB court is keeping his cards close to his chest. His party does not seem to have the gumption or the desire to launch a movement in cahoots with its erstwhile nemesis the PPP.

However the opposition in the parliament is poised to make matters worse for the PTI. That can also change after pressure is put on the opposition legislators to switch loyalties.

In this backdrop there is no gainsaying that the country is inexorably being pushed towards a one party unitary system. Such shortsighted policies are anathema not only to democracy but for a functioning federation as well.