Anything Goes!
Two events of far-reaching consequences took place this week, one concerning Pakistan directly and one not so directly. Mian Nawaz Sharif and his entire family (Abbaji included) went off into political exile and Vice President Al-Gore finally conceded the US Presidential elections to the Republican candidate Gov George Bush. Gore was extremely gracious in his concession speech, seeking to unite the country under the new US President-elect. Undercurrents of bitterness notwithstanding, the possible rot within the US democratic polity was brought to a dead halt. To quote Gore, “that which unites us as Americans is far greater than that which divides us” unquote. We were not so lucky, ours is not a win-win situation as the administration media spin-masters would have us believe. The military regime has bought time, it may have been at a price whose instalments the nation may not be able to pay.
Why on earth did the military regime, steeped in an aura of accountability, let the Sharif family out of their hands when they had clear proof of corruption? Why this sudden benevolence for committed opponents? Theories abound starting with the Chief Executive (CE)’s statement that the pardon has been extended at the request of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Other reasons could well be, viz (1) financial pressure from friendly countries in withholding the funds necessary to stave off impending default in Jan 2001 (2) the threat to the military regime by the formation of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) (3) ill-health of Mian Nawaz Sharif and his father, the possible demise of the former in custody could have sparked off an unmanageable crisis (4) by accepting a pardon the Sharifs tacitly accepted their guilt and (5) by having leaders of both major political parties (and one not so minor) in exile, a clearing of the decks by the military regime to bring back politics in a graduated manner, by either restoring the Assemblies and/or making a national government, etc, etc. It could well be simply what the CE said and/or any combination thereof or all of the above. Needless to say, the Godfather i.e. Abbaji, without whose sanction the Sharifs will probably not go to the toilet, “RAIWIND, WE HAVE A PROBLEM”, The NATION October 10, 1998, must have decided to cut his losses and evacuate from Pakistan, very much like the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) evacuating Dunkirk early in World War 2, allowing Britain to keep on fighting. He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day. Late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto must have had similar offers but he stuck to his guns and went to the gallows, very brave and very stupid. Of course it is a moot point whether Ziaul Haq, knowing Bhutto’s vindictive nature, would have ever let him go. Writing about Abbaji ‘THE GODFATHER” The NATION on August 26, 2000, I noted, “The Army would be well advised to make the Godfather an offer he cannot refuse”. Obviously someone in Musharraf’s think tank took this advice seriously and Abbaji on his part must have decided discretion was the better part of valour.
Five Minutes to Midnight
The Punjab CM, Mr Shahbaz Sharif, and the Federal Finance Minister, Senator Sartaj Aziz, air-dashed to Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia this week in a desperate effort to get funds so as to keep the country from defaulting. The Nawaz Sharif regime inherited US $ 300 million only in foreign exchange reserves in early 1997 but had raised them to US$ 1.3 billion in about 18 months, the imposition of emergency on May 28 and the deep freeze of all foreign currency accounts changed all that. In the face of sanctions a temporary measure could have been overlooked by the investing public but when it became apparent that the Government was dead serious in wanting to Rupee-fy the deposited US dollars at the official rate, the public confidence rapidly eroded. Since then a rather erratic course has been followed with disastrous consequences.
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.