Accountability was the key word in 1996. The press demanded it incessantly. Imran Khan thundered about it; Qazi Hussain Ahmad led militant rallies in support of it; Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif hastily assembled laws to deal with it; and the caretaker government was condemned because of a lack of it. Yet there is not one convincing word about it in 1997. What has happened to accountability?
The caretaker government began conscientiously enough. It drafted the Ehtesaab Ordinance, appointed a competent and non-controversial retired judge as Ehtesaab Commissioner, set up Accountability Cells in all federal and provincial ministries to investigate corruption, and quickly sent about a dozen cases to the Ehtesaab Commissioner for prosecution. Then the accountability exercise ran into trouble.
In some cases, the accused were granted pre-arrest bail. Others were arrested but bailed out within 24 hours. A few were allowed by the courts to rest in VIP rooms in hospitals and one notorious character was actually permitted to leave the country for “medical treatment” abroad. A couple of people went “underground” or pulled powerful strings to evade arrest. When accountability didn’t seem like achieving the desired results or impact, the investigating officers read the writing on the wall and began to drag their feet. In the final analysis, the policy of accountability of politicians was sacrificed at the alter of the general elections. The caretakers feared that if the leaders of the PML and PPP were targeted, both parties might boycott the polls. And since that was thought undesirable, accountability was put into cold-storage. What is the current position?
The files show sufficient evidence of corruption or willful abuse of authority to convict almost everyone who’s anyone in government and opposition today. Some of the evidence is with the Ehtesaab Commissioner. The rest can easily be made available if the new government demonstrates the will to pursue this agenda seriously. But will it?
Shortly after assuming office, the new government quashed certain proceedings in the High Court against Mr Nawaz Sharif. Soon thereafter, a number of senior CBR officials were suspended for carrying out investigations into the Ittefaq Group’s financial dealings on the orders of the Bhutto government. It also natural to presume that the new Interior Minister, who was in the eye of the Co-op storm in 1991, is not likely to show much enthusiasm for accountability.
Nonetheless, we understand that the new government has opened an “Ehtesaab cell” in the prime minister’s secretariat. This is headed by a trusted friend-Senator of the prime minister. He is assisted by a retired army General. If newspaper reports are to be believed, the “cell” is working overtime to compile “a hit-list of 1000 bureaucrats” (phew!) who are alleged to be corrupt or who have abetted previous governments in various acts of corruption. Coupled with the prime minister’s directives to set up “local ehtesaab committees” and the law advisor’s intention to amend the constitution in order to remove obstacles in the path of the prosecutors, this looks like a stern agenda for accountability.
Of course, there can be no quarrel with those who wish to strike against corruption wherever it is to be found. But a word of caution may be in order. When accountability is whimsical or fails to strike across the political board, it tends to degenerate into a witch-hunt. Indeed, if the proponents of accountability appear to be interested only in targeting the bureaucracy or in arresting politicians from the opposition parties while allowing a wide berth to corrupt politicians from their own ruling party, the whole process can become highly questionable.
Unfortunately, the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister appear victims of misplaced concreteness. Both do-gooders are spending a great deal of time dishing out “instant accountability” to petty officials. This is worrying because it is patently unlawful. The PTV cameras in tow also suggest that cheap publicity, rather than any serious attempt to come to grips with the problem, seems uppermost in their minds. The judiciary has, understandably enough, reacted to this fanciful policy by bailing out the unfortunate recipients of such high-handedness.
No, this is no way for any government to carry out accountability. For obvious reasons, no one seems to be particularly concerned with targeting members and supporters of the PML. And if the sights are only to be focussed on the PPP, the prime minister should get ready to face charges of victimisation. How, then, are we to pursue the imperative of accountability?
The Supreme Court must step in suo moto and clear the decks. The courts in Italy, India and elsewhere are doing it courageously and efficiently. And there is no reason why the same approach cannot be taken here.
This is the moment for Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, the chief justice of Pakistan, to re-establish the peoples’ faith and trust in the judiciary and make it truly independent. For too long, the judges have been witting hand-maidens to a corrupt executive. Now is the time for them to stand up and look truly heroic.