Grand promises have gone stale in four years, but was anyone expecting anything different?
THE recent Supreme Court decision in a case filed by Mian Shahbaz Sharif, declaring him free to return to the country, and the NAB’s assertion that the PML(N) leader would be arrested immediately on arrival has once again put the spotlight on the entire process.
Accountability was part of the seven-point agenda General Pervez Musharraf had announced shortly after overthrowing in October 1999 the government of Mian Nawaz Sharif.
Late on that fateful October night, the general gave strong indications that the corrupt would not be spared, and devoured public money would be recovered from them.
The general, a commando by profession, was quite assertive. The determination was welcomed by those who felt shocked on seeing how state resources were being pillaged by the influential. A new institution National Accountability Bureau was set up for an across- the-broad accountability.
The Ehtesab Bureau, working for the same objective since the ouster of the Benazir government in November 1996, was consigned to history as the General was not sure it would come up to its expectations. A serving general was appointed as its chairman, who started arresting those who had made money through corrupt practices, defaulted on loans or committed some other irregularity which was an offence under the new law.
As he started filling jails with such people, many coughed up whatever they had misappropriated, others made promises to open the strings of their purses and clear dues as early as possible.
But as the process progressed, the loopholes of the system surfaced and were fully exploited by the accused. Soon it became clear that the system was no different from the one which had been in practice in the past. And since the machinery to enforce the law had been drawn from what is decidedly a corrupt society, the situation remains unchanged even when ‘reformist’ Gen. Musharraf has completed four years in power and the electorate know that he has another four years to stay in the driving seat by virtue of April last year’s controversial referendum and subsequent affirmation of his presidency by parliament and provincial legislatures. The NAB chairman claimed recently that his institution has recovered about Rs118 billion. He may be right in his assertion, but the society remains corrupt as ever. Nothing has changed. Despite official claims to the contrary, all departments are corrupt to the core. Nobody can have his genuine problems solved by any department unless the relevant palms are greazed and the quantity of ‘greaze’ depends upon the gravity of the problem. Those who dismiss the assertion as an accusation are not the common mortals. They get things done by their order and thus they don’t know the ground realities. Such people either are unaware of what is happening under their very nose or they are silent because they are part of the corrupt system.
The accountability process is discriminatory as it is not applied to everybody. For example, no former president or army chief has ever been held accountable as if all of them were infallible or incorruptible. And no former prime minister has been spared as if all of them were corrupt or involved in the misuse of authority. If a prime minister or a minister can be corrupt or can misuse his/her power, so can the president and the army chief.
Two former prime ministers have been out of the country for the past few years because of the cases against them. Benazir Bhutto is not returning for the fear of being arrested, and Mian Nawaz Sharif is in Saudi Arabia under an agreement that saw cases instituted against him either shelved or withdrawn.
The credibility of the process will remain doubtful unless those enjoying exemptions are also brought to the net.
How effectively the accountability law is being enforced can be gauged from the fact that no case has been decided in 30 days, as the courts are required to do. Appellate courts are also under same legal obligation , but they are also unable to meet the deadline. Who should be held responsible for such delays?
The accountability law became a laughing stock when some accused being tried under it, were given important positions in the government. Now the accused come to courts in flag cars and the court staff have to salute them. And when a federal minister comes to a court with full protocol, judges will certainly be influenced, no matter they’ll never admit so.
Minister for Interior is one such case. He is an accused in a case of wilful default. The case is going on while the minister is enjoying the government job. The Interior Minister was once a close associate of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Then he joined the PPP-Patriots launched by Rao Sikandar Iqbal (also a close associate of Ms Bhutto). Rao is now the Defence Minister.
Rana Nazir Ahmed is political secretary to the prime minister. He faces a case of making assets through corrupt practices. The case is pending undecided. Rana was a PML(N) leader and he remained behind the bars for more than two years. Since he faced no problem even when in prison, he was proud that his political worth was going up by the day and the Sharifs would never be able to ignore him in the future elections. But before he could get an opportunity to see how the PML(N) leadership treats him, the PML(Q) established contact with him and enticed him with it.
Now governance and accountability are going together. Two good examples of ennoblement of the accused. Like the Interior Minister, the political secretary to the Prime Minister also comes to court in a flag car, with full protocol, and the police which are supposed to be chasing the accused, are there to protect him.
Water and Power Minister Aftab Sherpao is yet another feather of the same flock, enjoying ministry and facing ‘ruthless’ accountability at the same time.
Interestingly, every now and then the NAB says that cases against them have not been withdrawn. Analysts say such statements are repeated only to keep the accused-ministers under pressure and with the ruling party. In case the PPP-Patriots, to which these leaders belong, withdraws its support, the government would collapse the same day. The ‘hardships’ faced by other accused facing accountability are not less. An important leader, who has now joined hands with the PML-Q, told the accountability court that he was a heart patient. He was admitted to a local hospital where he stayed as a VIP for a long time. He contested the local elections by his cell phone from the hospital room. An accused free to meet anyone, talk to anyone and even give instructions to his party men regarding the elections! Is that accountability? Half a dozen policemen remained present outside his room round the clock — perhaps to see how the law is flouted rather than prevent its violation. He was set free some time back and now his party is going to merge with the ruling PML-Q.
Head of another opposition party was admitted to a hospital. He also kept a cell phone with him, and thus remained in contact with the people the world over. He used to address news conferences, with custodians of the law sitting a few yards away and listening to whatever the accused was saying. (This leader said on many occasions that if his party returns to power, it will try those who subverted the Constitution under Article 6, which provided capital punishment). He was allowed bail by the court. However, months later he was arrested in a sedition case, and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
These are only a few examples of how the law enforcers looked the other way when the accused under their very custody were violating the law. There are as many stories as the number of the accused. And the situation will remain unchanged.
Consequently, the fear of accountability has vanished. Criminals have discovered methods of dodging, even ‘blinding’ the law and its enforcers. The situation in the judiciary is also not enviable. How former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was convicted by an accountability bench of the Lahore High Court is common knowledge. The PPP somehow got tapes of the conversations that went on between the judges, the Law Minister and the Punjab Chief Minister during various stages of the trial. The Supreme Court set aside the conviction as biased and remanded the case.
The judge of the Lahore High Court who sentenced the former prime minister resigned. The Chief Justice who had been elevated to the Supreme Court by them, followed suit. The Supreme Judicial Council did not take any action against them. Perhaps because such a step would have brought a bad name to the honourable institution and its functionaries.
Ironically, some months back the two judges performed Umra and met exiled leader Mian Nawaz Sharif there. Why they met him and why the former ex-prime minister received them at his palace, reestablishes the link between the benefactor and the beneficiary. One can well expect that ‘rule of law’ will flow, rather overflow, when Mr Sharif gets another chance to govern the country. The lack of justice and the farce of accountability have disappointed those who have been working to uphold the Constitution. The NAB is an independent institution, capable of taking all steps needed to uproot corruption. But if the situation still remains unchanged, this institution, too, would and should be held accountable.
Long ago, it stopped arresting political leaders on corruption charges. Many say it was because the government, having a razor thin majority in the National Assembly, cannot afford to annoy politicians.
If the NAB statement is to be believed, former Punjab chief minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif will be the first political leader to be arrested by it after a long time. Encouraged by a recent judgment of the Supreme Court, the former chief minister seems determined to return home at the earliest possible. His party leaders are making necessary preparations for the purpose. As these preparations are being made, the NAB has said that Mian Shahbaz Sharif is a defaulter and will be arrested on arrival in Pakistan.
Haji Saifullah, during a recent conversation, at the residence of Begum Abida Husain, expressed serious concern over the situation in the country and said this was the right time to leave the country (he used the word Hijrat). The leader from Rahim Yar Khan was requested to review his thinking as otherwise he was admitting the failure of all governments to reform the system. One should give the people a ray of hope, not add to their despondency, one of those present said.
But, is there anyone who can eradicate the deep-rooted corruption? Is there anyone who can come to the level of the ordinary mortal to be able to see the real situation first and then give up all interests, political and others, to grapple with the menace?
Grand promises have gone stale in four years, but was anyone expecting anything different? 
