Especially on major policy decisions
This fuss about the Panama Papers has been headline news for a while now. Yet little is clear about the direction it is really going to take. That the opposition parties have not helped their case is clear enough. Finally – just like exogenous factors have helped the government on a number of fronts – it was an outside shock that put Nawaz to the wall.
But just when just about everything was in place the opposition parties could not agree on a way forward. And since the government needs all the time it can get, it is the last to be worried about the opposition’s foot-dragging.
Still, the matter will have to go ahead sooner or later. And about how it’s likely to proceed, and what is keeping it from taking off, DNA talked exclusively to Ch Shujaat Hussain, president of PML-Q.
Q: Has Nawaz weathered the storm, in your opinion, or is there more of the Panama Papers to play out? Do you still think that the PM might have to step down?
Ch Shujat Hussain: No, I don’t think the storm on Panama leaks is over. The political storm is taking a new life now. There is lot going on behind the scenes which is enough to help Panama allegations play out. The panic among the government cadres reflects that the situation is like to change for worse. The prime minister is under immense pressure. But it would be premature to say whether the prime minister would have to go.
Q: What sort of political situation do you see, say, six months down the road? Among other things, do you see the prime minister stronger or weaker than he is today?
Shujat: Six months are too much a time. I can’t even guarantee for six weeks, it’s all a matter of days. The situation is changing fast. The prime minister needs to take immediate and corrective decisions to remain in the saddle. The crisis is aggravating with each passing day. This is why there is so much fright among the government cadres.
But I can’t bet on the prime minister. It all depends on the decision-making in the PM’s House. These decisions would decide whether the prime minister comes out unscathed or this crisis would take him away.
Q: How would you rate the government’s handling of this controversy? Don’t you think that if their hands were really clean they would have ordered a thorough probe themselves?
Shujat: I think that the federal government is committing blunder after blunder since the Panama Papers made headlines. The prime minister himself looks confused and he has failed to frame a policy to deal with the situation. There is a total chaos. All the decisions are being taken on a day-to-day basis.
I believe he is grossly ill-advised on major policy decisions. Perhaps Mian Nawaz Sharif is under immense pressure and this stress is leading him to wrong and panicky decisions. If these blunders at the PM House continued, I fear a 1977-like anti-government drive when the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) had rallied against Mr Bhutto.
As far as the handling of the situation is concerned, I think that the decision to bring his children to television interviews was a major slip-up. Then the prime minister’s successive addresses to the nation were another gaffe. Since then, the government has failed to adjust.
Now let’s see what other heads of the governments did when their names appeared in the Panama Papers?
There were 13 world leaders whose names had been mentioned in the Panama leaks. Only one out of those resigned while some others decided to declare their assets before their parliaments. But none of prime minister out of the 13 alleged rulers formed a judicial commission into the leaks.
As far as my reading of the situation is concerned, I believe the prime minister should have gone to the parliament and he should have put his case in the parliament which is the right forum for this issue. He could have also declared his assets but bringing kids to the TV channels was a blunder.
Q: Do you believe that the opposition stands united on this issue? What in your opinion should the strategy by the opposition parties? Why do you think there is such hue and cry over Terms of Reference (ToRs)? Do you think that opposition parties are being immature by not letting the probe take off?
Shujat: The only good news for the prime minister is that the opposition parties are as much confused as is the case with the government. Moreover, every opposition party wants to take credit of putting the prime minister under pressure. This selfish attitude is leading to more differences.
This disharmony among the opposition’s ranks is helping the cause of the premier and his family.
Let me give you an example. The opposition parties, at the recent meeting held at the residence of Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) leader Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, had discussed the demand to ask the prime minister to resign on moral grounds till the judicial probe into the Panama leaks. Four political parties – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), PPP, Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) and Awami Muslim League (AML) had supported the idea besides Jamat-e-Islami (JI). However, two parties – Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) and Awami National Party (ANP) – refused to agree.
The meeting allowed both the parties to have another round of talks and then inform the meeting. After the break, Sirajul Haq of JI proposed to add only one clause in the ToRs that the prime minister had failed to fulfill his moral obligation to step down as premier once his name had appeared in the Panama leaks. This proposal was backed by all the eight parties. However, surprisingly this clause was not added to the joint declaration and the ToRs. This reflects how much differences were running deep down among the opposition parties too. Since the meeting was hosted by PPP, the onus for this failure lies with them.
Q: Has this particular episode added to civil-mil imbalance that is all the rage, especially in the media?
Where does the Punjab Operation figure in all this noise? Has the PML-N finally realised that its police force cannot clean Punjab? Do you think they are ready to let the boots into their own back yard?
Shujat: I believe that the biggest problem in Punjab is sectarian violence and the government is not serious to tackle this issue. There are other issues too like law & order. Chotu gang and no go areas are some examples of these minor issues.
As far as the matter of the willingness of Punjab government’s consent for military’s involvement in dealing with the violence in Punjab is concerned, I believe that the army will take action wherever necessary whether Punjab government likes it or not. Army would never hesitate to act if any anti-state activity is carried on anywhere in Punjab.
