The jury has decided. The verdict is in. The opposition has united once more under the single hashtag of those dreamy dharna days of yesteryear.
#GoNawazGo
Or else face the music. And for everyone who is not part of the ruling PMLN — this means relinquishing the premiership. The most immediate test remains seeing if PM Nawaz Sharif will do the needful, thereby putting his party’s electoral future ahead of his own (thus far) 28-year-grip on power.
The two major opposition parties are doing their best to leave nothing to chance. Both the PPP and PTI are calling for Parliament to take the lead, ensuring that Nawaz does, indeed, go. There is not much time for the PM and his cohorts to manoeuvre. The Supreme Court has set next week as the deadline by which it will announce its next move.
Yet of one thing we can be certain: the legal wrangling over financial disparity between the first family’s known income and their actual wealth is not going to be a drawn out affair. Not if the PPP and PTI have their way. Not, actually, if the PMLN has its way. For all three have their eye on next year’s electoral prize.
Thus with the dust now settling on the JIT probe and all indications pointing to the law of the land taking its course — we would do well to revisit the Panama Papers leaks, published last year, lest we lose sight of the bigger picture. The leaks were an exposé into the offshore wealth of global elites. The list from Pakistan included the names of Nawaz and his children. The SC has firmly kicked off the accountability process, at least for all outward intents and purposes. Now what still needs to happen is this: the ensuring of transparency in terms of business practices and the taking to task of those who misuse public office for private gains. Without exception.
When the Panama Papers scandal first broke — the government’s position was firm. It assured everyone who was willing to listen that it envisaged a commission expansive in purview. Meaning the latter would probe everything from money laundering to tax evasion to loan write-offs. The PPP and PTI had insisted — and rightly so — that the process begin with the first family. Now that this appears firmly under way, we must remind the opposition of their role in keeping due checks and balances on not just those who hold the keys of parliamentary power but also national institutions. And this means holding to account all those identified in Panama Papers.
For this is what democracy is. And it is the best revenge, so we’ve heard.
