Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s frontal attack on the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has set off a heated debate in the country on the prevalence of corruption in the country and the role and efficiency of the machinery to fight it. Speaking at a public function in Bahawalpur last week he said that his government will take pre-emptive action if NAB did not stop “harassing” government officers. He said that the fear of NAB was preventing bureaucrats from taking decisions, signing on project files. Nawaz Sharif also threatened to “clip the wings” of the National Accountability Bureau if it did not stay within limits.
The prime minister’s outburst has taken the whole nation by surprise. For, it is Nawaz Sharif who in his numerous public statements previously had criticized NAB for not doing enough to fight the spreading cancer of corruption in the country. In this connection he had specifically mentioned Asif Zardari and other PPP leaders and said that after coming to power he would set the accountability process in action to bring back the country’s looted money stashed in foreign banks.
But now he has turned around and accused the accountability watchdog of exceeding its mandate.
The prime minister’s outburst has been described by opposition parties as politically motivated and self-serving. Senator Farhatullah Babar has pointed out that that the prime minister did not pay any heed when the PPP accused NAB of transgressing its authority in Sindh. But now that NAB has made a move to take action against corrupt elements in Punjab, he is crying foul. PTI leader Arif Alvi has said that the prime minister's remarks against NAB are “inappropriate” and have come following action against his party members.
NAB has been very active for some time and brought to light mega corruption cases in Sindh involving Dr. Asim Hussain and other PPP stalwarts. To avoid being prosecuted, Asif Zardari and many PPP leaders like Sharjeel Memon have shifted abroad. Word has been out for some time that NAB has now turned its attention to Punjab and is looking into PML-N’s pet projects — the LNG deal, Metro Bus, Orange Train, LDA City and Raiwind Road constructions.
Obviously, NAB’s attempt to reopen cases against the Punjab government’s projects seems to have ruffled the PM’s feathers. According to a report, Nawaz Sharif is especially disturbed over the extension of NAB’s investigations into certain mega projects being carried out by the federal and Punjab governments. It may be recalled here that the accountability agency recently made it compulsory for details of all development projects worth over Rs500 million to be provided to it prior to approval.
The PML-N high-ups have also resented the arrest of Amir Lateef of Kalson Private Limited, the contractor of the Orange Line Metro Train Project. Lateef has allegedly been arrested on charges of fake payments in another project. NAB has also arrested five other influential people allegedly involved in the embezzlement of Rs850 million. In addition, there are reports of ongoing investigations into kickbacks involving Nawaz Sharif’s blue-eyed bureaucrats in some high-profile projects.
Ironically, the current chairman NAB, Ch. Qamar Zaman, was appointed through a bipartisan agreement between PML-N and PPP on October 10, 2013, and is due to retire on October 10, 2017. The NAB chairmanship is a tenure-based constitutional position of four years and the holder of the office can be removed only by the Supreme Judicial Council. The National Accountability Bureau operates under the National Accountability Ordinance 1999, and its sole purpose is to eliminate corruption using what is described as a holistic approach that encompasses “awareness, prevention and enforcement”. Apparently, it is the enforcement part of its mandate that is giving sleepless nights to the rulers.
It is clear that the prime minister does not have the executive authority to sack the NAB chairman. So the move now is to curtail his powers through legislation. The parliamentary oversight is likely to be tightened under the fresh amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 being finalized by the government. There is also a proposal to completely scrap the Ordinance, a relic of the martial law government, and replace it with a new law to be passed by Parliament. It will not be difficult for the government to muster the required majority for the new law as, besides its allies, the PPP which is not happy with NAB will also support it.
No doubt, there are flaws in the current accountability law. But, instead of removing its shortcomings, an attempt is being made to emasculate the accountability process. This is against the basic spirit of democracy which is inseparable from transparency and accountability. In an environment which is corrupt to the core, providing good governance is the need of the hour. So, instead of joining hands against accountability to save the sacred cows, the politicians need to act in the larger public interest.
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