Elite gangs up against NAB

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan warned that his party would resist every attempt by the ruling PML-N to clip the wings of National Accountability Commission (NAB). “Both Prime Minister and Punjab Chief Minister are issuing threats to the commission. We strongly condemn them. “If NAB is doing good job, it should be praised and commended by the government,” he said. In fact, nobody likes accountability, be it politicians clan or bureaucracy; but unless those who amassed wealth using their position are put in the dock and punished, the laudable objective of eliminating corruption would not be achieved. All political parties in their manifestoes commit to eliminate corruption from the country, but when it comes to members of their parties, they oppose investigation and interrogation by the NAB. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had threatened the NAB of consequences if it does not conduct itself properly.
As a follow up of his statement, some ministers expressed serious concerns that nobody would invest in Pakistan, and even domestic investors would leave the country. When former president Pervez Musharraf in his 7-point agenda including the last point with regard to action against the corrupt and to recover the illegal wealth, his political allies and members of the bureaucracy had raised the concern that investors would flee the country, which will be detrimental to his government as well as Pakistan’s interest. But unfortunately, this is not the only sad reality of our country. In the past, the NAB had been used by the government for registering cases against the opponents, the result was that it was difficult to tell when the National Accountability Bureau is actually pursued corruption investigation and when it pulled pulled the strings for the purpose of settling political scores.
According to website of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), it is Pakistan’s apex anti-corruption organization charged with the responsibility of elimination of corruption through a holistic approach of awareness, prevention and enforcement. But it had drawn flak from all strata of society and institutions for having failed to achieve the avowed objectives. Analysts, commentriat, Supreme Court and even the government at times expressed dissatisfaction over the NAB’s performance. In December 2015, Accountability Court (AC) of Islamabad had released detailed judgment in two corruption references against former president and co-chairperson of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari, noting that NAB could not give any evidence against former president in SGS and Cotecna references. It is a sad reflection on NAB’s accountability courts, as it knocks the bottom out of pretense that it would extricate the nation from abyss of the corruption.
The accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir had remarked in the detailed judgment that the court drew the NAB prosecutor’s attention several times to produce original documents and solid evidence in support of the references, but he failed to comply with the court orders. The court remarked that “in the absence of record, which had been lost as reported by NAB, trial of the accused was not possible. Photostat copies of documents were submitted before the court, which were not even attested.” The question is why NAB did not submit attested copies? Since the apex court had ordered then prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to write a letter to the Swiss authorities about immunity of then president Asif Zardari, it must have been done on the basis of original documents. Did NAB request the apex court for the original or certified documents?
The PPP has been complaining that NAB is investigating and pursuing cases only against its leaders. Media has also been suggesting that there should be across the board accountability. It was perhaps in this backdrop that the NAB had decided to hold an inquiry into allegations of ‘corruption, corrupt practices and misuse of authority’ against PML-N Punjab provincial minister Rana Mashhood and other accused. In fact, the tiny elite comprising jagirdars, industrial robber barons, some members of bureaucracy and politicians have kept the complete control over the state, its resources and all levers of power. They neither had the vision nor the will to build a modern and egalitarian society, though Pakistan had all the resources and ingredients to achieve the objectives set by the founding fathers. The government should not clip the wings of the NAB, should rather strengthen it to rid the country of corruption.