The government of Mian Nawaz Sharif has categorically stated that it would in no case amend or review the TORs already framed and sent to the CJP alongwith a request to form an Inquiry Commission to look into the cases of corruption and financial misdoings that have surfaced in Pakistan’s entire history, including off course the Panama Leaks case. This statement by the Federal Law Minister Zahid Hamid on behalf of the government is a clear-cut indication of the Prime Ministerial resolve to block any meaningful investigation into the off-shore companies and the properties, owned by MNS’s family, and the ownership of which has been accepted by each member of the family but in a conflicting manner.
On the other hand there is a visible consensus among the opposition parties that the government-prepared TORs would not be accepted as these are intended to diffuse the Panama Leaks issue and let it fizzle out with the passage of time. This visible consensus may be deceptive considering the general view held by many that Zardari may step in to rescue Mian from a possible meltdown of his government. But there are indications that this time Zardari may not want a disastrous confrontation with the powers-that-be, considering the fact that the revelations of Dr. Asim Hussain, Uzair Baloch and Qadir Patel have put him and his party in a precarious position, and there can be some reprieve for him if he avoids collusion with Mian.
What else is political instability and uncertainty? There are all the known ingredients in the developing national scenario, of government malfunctioning. There are reports that Mian Sahib’s hawks are advising him to take on General Raheel Sharif on the strength of American and Indian support. Whether or not MNS chooses to repeat the mistakes he made in 1993 and 1999 will not be known till the drop scene occurs, but there is no denying the fact that India wants Pakistan to be destabilized, and Mian Nawaz Sharif is the man who can do it for India.
