The grand Panama Leaks which, on the one hand, have revealed the corrupt practices of some of the country's top political clans and individual politicians, have, on the other hand, put tough tests for the democratic system of Pakistan.
According to the in-depth examination by 100 top investigative journalists of financial corruption by world political leaders and rulers, hundreds of world rulers have been found involved in monetary misappropriation by abusing governmental powers. The main mode of financial corruption according, to the Panama Leaks, has been formation of off-shore shadowy companies. Among the rulers, Pakistan's sitting Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif and his children have also been said to have established several off-shore companies, allegedly with the ill-gotten money they moved out of Pakistan during the rule of Nawaz Sharif as the country's prime minister. Sharif is serving for the third term as Pakistan's prime minister.
The evidence, according to the Panama Leaks, against world rulers is undeniable. That seems to be very true because Prime Minister Sharif took it so seriously that he felt the need to take the nation into “confidence” regarding his “innocence” by making a public address on Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan. The Panama Leaks regarding Mian Nawaz Sharif has created uproar in the political circles of Pakistan, with the main opposition parties, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP), demanding resignation of the prime minister and thorough investigation into the issue by independent judicial and inquiry commissions. How the issue would unfold is anybody's guess, but whichever path is taken would have far-reaching consequences for the country's political system and democracy.
The Panama Leaks regarding financial misappropriation by our prime minister and his children as well some other politicians, including some from the PPP, which also ruled thrice after the restoration of democracy in 1988, have raised stiff tests to our version of democratic rule.
Strong democracies have an in-built system of governmental accountability. We also have certain specially designed institutions for the purpose of carrying out accountability of the rulers and also test transparency of their governance, like the Public Accounts Committee of the parliament and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). However, these institutions have so far largely failed to carry out satisfactory accountability of the rulers, as the country has had billions of dollars and rupees of financial scams by federal and provincial governments. The case of Dr. Asim Hussain of the PPP is a case in point. If these institutions could not carry out proper accountability of second-tier rulers where can they carry out an investigation into the financial corruption of a sitting prime minister? It seems to be well-nigh impossible. This is despite the fact that the NAB head, Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, has been vowing to carry out ruthless accountability come what may. The very reason for the failure of the parliament's PAC to carry out accountability of the rulers has been because such committees in successive governments have been manned by members of two main ruling parties, the PML-N of Mian Nawaz Sharif and the PPP, who together have ruled Pakistan for most of the time since 1988, along with their small coalition ethno-nationalist and clerical parties, who remained part of the tenures of the PML-N and the PPP. In fact, it was the failure of the PAC of the various parliaments to carry out accountability of the rulers that General Musharraf during his stint in power formed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a bid to make large-scale reforms in the political and administrative system. NAB was given constitutional protection by him and therefore the following PPP and the PML-N governments could not dismiss it. However, the bureau could not take to a logical conclusion many cases of corruption by ruling politicians.
It may be mentioned here that in the 1990s, the PML-N and the PPP lost two governments each on the charges of large-scale financial corruption and abuse of power by the then presidents backed by the powerful military. During the four stints the ruling party made hundreds of cases against leading figures of the outgoing governments of the PML-N and the PPP. Most of these cases were made to politically victimize the opponents instead of ridding the country of corruption and abuse of power. Therefore, they could not make any difference. As both Sharif and Bhutto-Zardari clans suffered significantly from the cases registered against each other they ultimately joined hands to sign a agreement known as Charter of Democracy vowing not to indulge in mudslinging against each other and they also entered into an agreement with General Musharraf to let them return to the political fray in Pakistan. Both PPP head Benazir Bhutto remained outside Pakistan (self-exile) and Nawaz Sharif (forced-exile) during the rule of General Musharraf. The PML-N also briefly became a coalition partner of the PPP government in 2008, after the killing of Benazir Bhutto.
Today the political scene of Pakistan is somewhat different from that of the 1990s. Now another important political party ― the PTI ― with its anti-corruption and pro-justice programme is in the parliament and has a huge public following with its government in one province the Khyber Pakhunkhwa. Above all it is led by a financially clean and a national celebrity, Imran Khan. In the context of above-mentioned brief history of democratic rule, the PPP may not be expected to put a stiff resistance against the corruption of PM Sharif as divulged by the Panama Leaks. In particular, when a close confidante and business partner of PPP patron and former president, Asif Ali Zardari, Dr. Asim Hussain, is in the federal government agencies’ custody, which are probing him for his mega corruption of more than four billion US dollars. But, on the other hand, the PTI, which for long has been protesting against rigging by the PML-N in the last general elections, stealing the PTI's public mandate, and also accusing Nawaz Sharif of large-scale corruption, has got a golden opportunity to lead the anti-government movement on the issue of the Panama Leaks. The PTI head, Imran Khan, has already announced to march on the family residential farms of Mian Nawaz Sharif in Raiwind, Lahore, if the prime minister fails to form an independent judicial commission to probe the issue against him. If Imran Khan is able to launch a strong anti-government movement, Nawaz Sharif's government would be under a lot of pressure to call it a day, especially when its overall performance in the last nearly three years of rule leaves a lot to be desired. In this case the constitutional solution would be another round of elections. However, one does not think that another election, in which the PTI may come in power, would be a solution for the mammoth problems of our political and governance system. This would need a totally new constitution and a political system with a directly elected, presidential system of governance.
It is interesting to note that while in many other countries the Panama Leaks have led to uproar within the public and has forced the prime minister of Iceland to resign, in Pakistan people have so far desisted from coming on to the street against the government. This is basically because of the people’s lack of trust and an apathy to let matters continue under the existing political system. The people may be ready to join a movement for the replacement of the existing political system, but not only for a change of faces in the government. This, the PTI must understand. As all the political parties, large and small, have proportionately, and sometimes even disproportionately benefitted from the existed parliamentary political system, they would not like the system to be dissolved or replaced, which otherwise is the root-cause of all our governance problems.
On its part, the judiciary has also not taken suo moto notice of the mega financial corruption of PM Sharif as revealed by the Panama Leaks. In this situation, another very strong pillar of the state ― the military―may also not remain on the fence for long, particularly when the system is crumbling. Thus, the post-Panama Leaks situation is a very tough test for Pakistani democracy.
According to the in-depth examination by 100 top investigative journalists of financial corruption by world political leaders and rulers, hundreds of world rulers have been found involved in monetary misappropriation by abusing governmental powers. The main mode of financial corruption according, to the Panama Leaks, has been formation of off-shore shadowy companies. Among the rulers, Pakistan's sitting Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif and his children have also been said to have established several off-shore companies, allegedly with the ill-gotten money they moved out of Pakistan during the rule of Nawaz Sharif as the country's prime minister. Sharif is serving for the third term as Pakistan's prime minister.
The evidence, according to the Panama Leaks, against world rulers is undeniable. That seems to be very true because Prime Minister Sharif took it so seriously that he felt the need to take the nation into “confidence” regarding his “innocence” by making a public address on Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan. The Panama Leaks regarding Mian Nawaz Sharif has created uproar in the political circles of Pakistan, with the main opposition parties, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP), demanding resignation of the prime minister and thorough investigation into the issue by independent judicial and inquiry commissions. How the issue would unfold is anybody's guess, but whichever path is taken would have far-reaching consequences for the country's political system and democracy.
The Panama Leaks regarding financial misappropriation by our prime minister and his children as well some other politicians, including some from the PPP, which also ruled thrice after the restoration of democracy in 1988, have raised stiff tests to our version of democratic rule.
Strong democracies have an in-built system of governmental accountability. We also have certain specially designed institutions for the purpose of carrying out accountability of the rulers and also test transparency of their governance, like the Public Accounts Committee of the parliament and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). However, these institutions have so far largely failed to carry out satisfactory accountability of the rulers, as the country has had billions of dollars and rupees of financial scams by federal and provincial governments. The case of Dr. Asim Hussain of the PPP is a case in point. If these institutions could not carry out proper accountability of second-tier rulers where can they carry out an investigation into the financial corruption of a sitting prime minister? It seems to be well-nigh impossible. This is despite the fact that the NAB head, Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, has been vowing to carry out ruthless accountability come what may. The very reason for the failure of the parliament's PAC to carry out accountability of the rulers has been because such committees in successive governments have been manned by members of two main ruling parties, the PML-N of Mian Nawaz Sharif and the PPP, who together have ruled Pakistan for most of the time since 1988, along with their small coalition ethno-nationalist and clerical parties, who remained part of the tenures of the PML-N and the PPP. In fact, it was the failure of the PAC of the various parliaments to carry out accountability of the rulers that General Musharraf during his stint in power formed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a bid to make large-scale reforms in the political and administrative system. NAB was given constitutional protection by him and therefore the following PPP and the PML-N governments could not dismiss it. However, the bureau could not take to a logical conclusion many cases of corruption by ruling politicians.
It may be mentioned here that in the 1990s, the PML-N and the PPP lost two governments each on the charges of large-scale financial corruption and abuse of power by the then presidents backed by the powerful military. During the four stints the ruling party made hundreds of cases against leading figures of the outgoing governments of the PML-N and the PPP. Most of these cases were made to politically victimize the opponents instead of ridding the country of corruption and abuse of power. Therefore, they could not make any difference. As both Sharif and Bhutto-Zardari clans suffered significantly from the cases registered against each other they ultimately joined hands to sign a agreement known as Charter of Democracy vowing not to indulge in mudslinging against each other and they also entered into an agreement with General Musharraf to let them return to the political fray in Pakistan. Both PPP head Benazir Bhutto remained outside Pakistan (self-exile) and Nawaz Sharif (forced-exile) during the rule of General Musharraf. The PML-N also briefly became a coalition partner of the PPP government in 2008, after the killing of Benazir Bhutto.
Today the political scene of Pakistan is somewhat different from that of the 1990s. Now another important political party ― the PTI ― with its anti-corruption and pro-justice programme is in the parliament and has a huge public following with its government in one province the Khyber Pakhunkhwa. Above all it is led by a financially clean and a national celebrity, Imran Khan. In the context of above-mentioned brief history of democratic rule, the PPP may not be expected to put a stiff resistance against the corruption of PM Sharif as divulged by the Panama Leaks. In particular, when a close confidante and business partner of PPP patron and former president, Asif Ali Zardari, Dr. Asim Hussain, is in the federal government agencies’ custody, which are probing him for his mega corruption of more than four billion US dollars. But, on the other hand, the PTI, which for long has been protesting against rigging by the PML-N in the last general elections, stealing the PTI's public mandate, and also accusing Nawaz Sharif of large-scale corruption, has got a golden opportunity to lead the anti-government movement on the issue of the Panama Leaks. The PTI head, Imran Khan, has already announced to march on the family residential farms of Mian Nawaz Sharif in Raiwind, Lahore, if the prime minister fails to form an independent judicial commission to probe the issue against him. If Imran Khan is able to launch a strong anti-government movement, Nawaz Sharif's government would be under a lot of pressure to call it a day, especially when its overall performance in the last nearly three years of rule leaves a lot to be desired. In this case the constitutional solution would be another round of elections. However, one does not think that another election, in which the PTI may come in power, would be a solution for the mammoth problems of our political and governance system. This would need a totally new constitution and a political system with a directly elected, presidential system of governance.
It is interesting to note that while in many other countries the Panama Leaks have led to uproar within the public and has forced the prime minister of Iceland to resign, in Pakistan people have so far desisted from coming on to the street against the government. This is basically because of the people’s lack of trust and an apathy to let matters continue under the existing political system. The people may be ready to join a movement for the replacement of the existing political system, but not only for a change of faces in the government. This, the PTI must understand. As all the political parties, large and small, have proportionately, and sometimes even disproportionately benefitted from the existed parliamentary political system, they would not like the system to be dissolved or replaced, which otherwise is the root-cause of all our governance problems.
On its part, the judiciary has also not taken suo moto notice of the mega financial corruption of PM Sharif as revealed by the Panama Leaks. In this situation, another very strong pillar of the state ― the military―may also not remain on the fence for long, particularly when the system is crumbling. Thus, the post-Panama Leaks situation is a very tough test for Pakistani democracy.
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