An ABC of Pakistani Politics

It takes many forms and manifestations but at the root it stems from one basic source, which is, the corruption of purpose. Anything that you are supposed to do has a purpose, a raison d’etre, which once adulterated with becomes corrupt and through extension corrupts you. To fight this evil all civilisations, religions and societies around the world have within them the notion of accountability, both private and public.

‘A’ is Accountability. Until recently public accountability in Pakistan never achieved anything much as it has seldom been allowed to progress beyond the rhetoric. When in action it has been arbitrarily selective and unilateral with the one in power calling all the shots. This gave the affected parties an excuse to cry foul and dub it as a tool for settling personal scores and engaging in political victimisation.

A paradigm shift in this regard appears to have taken place in the period following the restoration of the judiciary. The Supreme Court has actively taken the lead in the issue of above board public accountability and it has been left to the parliament to play catch up.

Both the PPP and the PML-N, co-signatories of the Charter of Democracy 2006, had committed to ‘replace politically motivated NAB with an independent accountability commission’ in the document. How both these parties continued to operate under what they had called ‘a Draconian law in the name of accountability’ and why they didn’t manage to throw it out till now is anybody’s guess. Whatever be the case it’s skeptical enough to merit questions on their motives this time around.

‘B’ is Bill. The PPP, nearing the fag-end of its tenure, has finally managed to produce a new draft of their proposed bill called the National Accountability Commission Act, 2010. This bill had initially been presented to the National Assembly in 2009 by then PPP law minister under the title of ‘the Holder of Public Office Accountability Act, 2009” from where it was forwarded to NA standing committee for Justice and law. The bill stayed with the committee for a whole year before it was endorsed; even so the PPP delayed the final presentation of the bill before the parliament for another two and a half years. This delay, when taken in perspective of other mutual exercises the two have successfully completed, has been damning.

Fresh attempts are being made yet again to ‘generate consensus’ on the bill but differences have arisen between the erstwhile COD partners. The PML-N  has taken exception to certain provisions in the bill and reportedly dismissed the draft given to them as weak and not tough enough in its current form. They have demanded several amendments in the draft before they agree to support it.