LAHORE - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s much-awaited address to the National Assembly today and the opposition parties’ reaction will decide whether political temperature goes up or down in the days and weeks ahead.
If he addresses the points raised by the Supreme Court for the formation of a judicial commission to look into the Panama Papers revelations and also answers the seven questions asked by the opposition parties, the situation will certainly witness a very positive change.
But if he tried to brush the issue under the carpet – as he did in his earlier two addresses to the nation and in speeches delivered at three public meetings at different places in the recent past – tensions already very high are bound to go up further and the opposition will try to exploit the situation. It is an open secret that already efforts are being made to bring people on the streets and stage sit-ins to mount pressure on the prime minister to quit.
The country’s interest demands that the prime minister should act like a statesman and come up with a plan that frustrates the designs of the powers that are out to destabilise the political system of the country. If the enemy wants to sabotage the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) by creating disturbances in the country, as the government believes, the third-time premier should foil the bid at any cost.
The situation has changed to a great extent after the confession that PTI Chairman Imran Khan had also set up an offshore company some three decades ago. It is like a ‘saint standing in the dock along with the sinners’. Justice demands that now he should also face the same process he has been demanding the PM should be subjected to. His credentials to challenge the integrity of the prime minister have weakened unless he proves how his offshore company was different from the ones owned by the prime minister’s children.
All guns against him will fall silent if the prime minister today offers to start the accountability process with himself, PTI chairman and other legislators accused of owning offshore companies. All other owners of such companies who are not legislators can be investigated subsequently. Such an approach will cut short the period required to proceed against those named in the Panama papers.
(Referring the Panamagate to a parliamentary committee will be an exercise in futility as no legislator can dare proceed against his own party leader).
President Mamnoon Hussain’s rare advice offered by him yesterday can also serve as a guideline for people on both sides of the political divide. He is reported to have said at a ceremony in Kotri that corrupt people should repent their deeds or they should be thrown out of the system. “You will see, many people will be caught now.”
The president further said: “The Panamagate is a godsend. The bigger the thief, the more luxuriant his life is. Corruption has adversely affected every institution of the country and now there is a need to launch collective efforts to eliminate this menace. ”
The prime minister has to find some solution to this controversy during the current session of the National Assembly as the next session, expected to start on June 3, will be devoted to budget when no other business can be taken up.
If the Panamagate is taken to its logical solution, corruption is various sectors can be checked to some extent.
The situation of corruption is very serious. There are reports that Pakistanis have purchased properties worth more than $400 billion in UAE. Most of the money must have been earned through corrupt practices.
A former NAB chairman had once said that corruption worth Rs 8 billion is committed in Pakistan every day.
A senior official of the State Bank of Pakistan had once said that $25 million are smuggled out of Pakistan every day.
This should amply explain the way the country is being looted and steps that need to be taken urgently.