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Symbols for Accountability

Contrast the Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif, appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to answer charges of corruption in the French Minehunters deal, to Ms Benazir Bhutto, required to answer questions raised by her role in the purchase of five secondhand helicopters by the Cabinet Division and refusing to do so. For someone who has a lot to answer for, she can be quite obdurate most of the time, all cooperation, honey and sugar when it suits her. With great fanfare she appeared on April Fools Day before the Nazir of the Sindh Ehtesab Bench case to take bail on a surety of Rs. 25,000, but she still refuses to appear before the PAC. Answering the PAC summons Mian Shahbaz Sharif confidently answered the queries of Maj Gen (Retd) Naseerullah Khan Babar, former Interior Minister in the PPP Cabinet, and convincingly proved to Gen Babar (and the PAC) with the help of his passport that the information given to Gen Babar based on which the General had levelled the allegations, that he had travelled to France to “influence” the French deal, were wrong. With Gen Babar not able to substantiate the charges, the evidence on record was found to be incorrect and the PAC held the allegations to be false, exonerating the Punjab CM. On this Gen Babar did the honourable thing and immediately retired from politics. Both the events are symbolic of the new season for accountability in Pakistan. Shahbaz Sharif deserves kudos for creating precedence, appearance before various forums is not only being avoided on different pretexts by Ms Bhutto but also by Mian Shahbaz’s Sindhi counterpart, Liaquat Ali Jatoi. Gen Babar did us proud by doing the honourable option available for the upright when proven publicly wrong, such things rarely happen in Pakistan, in Japan they would have committed hara-kiri. Not that senior government functionaries should start appearing in every court on every charge but when the inquisition is desired by one’s colleagues of the elected Assembly, the decorum and dignity of that institution demands the presence of those from whom propriety requires answers from, particularly pertaining to their honesty and integrity. Earlier to Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s appearance before the PAC, the PM’s appearance before the Supreme Court (SC) on a contempt of court charge in Nov 97 had symbolically conveyed to all and sundry that no matter how high the office and the mandate notwithstanding, the authority of the Supreme Court of Pakistan transcended any other authority in the matter of dispensation of justice. For politicians who subject themselves to the court of public opinion on a continuing basis, submitting to the authority of the judiciary in an environment that tends to normally manipulate justice, is an important and giant symbolic step for accountability. However politicians are not the only breed that start filibustering every time a court of law asks them to appear for some reason or the other, bureaucrats very seldom make an appearance and that only on very deep sufferance and with great resentment. Since the judiciary is still not separated from the executive, judges and magistrates below the level of the SC and the High Court remain in apprehension of the long arm of the bureaucracy.

Accountability is failing to register much success despite a wealth of evidence against the persons of Ms. Benazir and Asif Zardari. What fails to amaze is that despite there being available a solid starting point, good enough for any court of law, their lack of declaration of assets in their income and wealth statements neglecting to show their accumulation of wealth, the government has not taken notice as they should (and do in other cases non-political in nature). These Returns have been filed on oath before the revenue authorities as well as the Election Commission. Any concealed income or wealth is subject to outright confiscation other than punishment, if it has not been reported, if outside the country a further charge of illegal flight of capital and/or money laundering is added. This is other than the perjury committed in filing wrong declarations under oath and evasion of taxes. Our failure to charge Ms Benazir and Zardari on at least these basic issues has allowed them room to manoeuvre their billions abroad and muddy the waters outside the country.

Ms Benazir is brazen-faced, first she had the audacity to deny that her (and her husband’s) accounts ever existed and now in a complete turnabout, is fighting tooth and nail in the courts of law abroad that the accounts be not transferred back to Pakistan, a brazen double-faced double-track modus operandi. Unfortunately she is getting support from politicians who should know better. The Pakistan Awami Ittehad (PAI), hardly public or united, held its first real show of strength in Gujranwala, to follow Ms Benazir’s Faisalabad “triumph”. While the crowd was not impressive compared to Ms Benazir pre-1993 standards, the fact that fully 80% of the gathering in both cases were “imported” from other cities and towns to swell the numbers undercut the credibility of her political appeal. However the media faithfully reported otherwise, exposing their own credibility to ridicule. This “road show” is expected to go on at other places in Pakistan. while the other politicians may be desperately seeking a way out of political wilderness, Ms. Benazir is using them as willing tools in getting back her tattered credibility in the court of public opinion. In the past six months she has set somewhat of a record of evasive answers and false denials. Ms Benazir is at her best when she is defiant and the general public is gullible enough to lap it up, as such lies and histrionics have been finessed to a set purpose as a part of a cynical master plan at evasion. What the prosecutors must have is solid evidence to confront her with, and then if she chooses not to appear before any court of inquisition, this negation should be played up to show her guilt.

For Mian Shahbaz Sharif, the appearance before the PAC was an impressive show of character with respect to his credibility, showing himself able to confront challenges in the public sphere with confidence. He is an able administrator. While the PM is having a rough time with respect to his credibility because of some of his aides, Mian Shahbaz’s confidence is reflected in the positive initiatives with respect to law and order (at least on a pro-rata basis), education, health, etc. In many areas, roads in the major cities of Punjab are being re-laid without fear of funds being pilfered by unscrupulous corrupt bureaucrats in association with cheating contractors, ghost primary schools are being eliminated and Basic Health Units monitored. An elite police commando unit has been created to support the inherent law and order forces. If he can bring in real people participation at the grassroots level in the Local Bodies with women holding at least 40% of the seats, Punjab will begin to function as it once did, the power engine for Pakistan. There is a lot to do and a long way to go. Mian Shahbaz’s PAC stint has more than symbolic value, it gives a glimmer of hope to our disappointed masses that our politicians are sensitive to the court of public opinion, which, in its turn, is not ready to spare anybody in its quest for accountability.

Which brings us to the Nov 28 raid on the SC. Normal demonstrations in support and in protest are a regular event. No doubt it was a PML crowd brought mainly from outside Islamabad but certainly one cannot believe that anybody in his right mind would have intended the “raid” as it happened. Even if the Punjab CM sent the crowd to Islamabad, so what? Somehow the crowd got out of hand and became a controlled mob, for that the leaders present on the spot are responsible and they must acknowledge the blame and take responsibility so that the blame does not rub off on the PML as a whole. Some of these leaders who have given statements on oath in front of the SC tribunal are lying through their teeth and it opens up a bigger question, can we trust such people with the affairs of the State? Are these the people to advise those who rule us? The Punjab CM has a moral responsibility that is derived from his extremely symbolic appearance before the PAC, he must make those leaders present in the SC on Nov 28 tell the truth or to get rid of them from the PML.

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