The LHC’s decision to issue notices to over two dozen politicians regarding their assets outside the country has been met by disdain or indifference by those that received the notices. The ownership of any assets or capital outside the country is not illegal, but given the prevalence of corruption in the country, it is only rational to scrutinize the assets of the richest in the country to try and determine whether the money stored outside the country has been gathered illegally, whether it has been declared and shows up on their tax returns. It opens up the possibility of following the paper trail of their investments in an attempt to determine if the assets have been acquired through legitimate means.
The biggest irony in the entire corruption debacle that has spanned over countless decades in Pakistan’s history is that the politicians that are accused of corruption are the ones that hold the key to stopping it. The PML-N has recently taken up the cause of bringing ‘Pakistani money’ back to Pakistan. Ishaq Dar and others in government are looking to renegotiate the Pak-Swiss tax agreement in order to gain access to suspicious Swiss bank accounts. Looking into such allegations promises to open up a Pandora’s Box- hardly in the best interests of a majority of Pakistani politicians. If the government is indeed serious about finally bringing out cases of corruption, then it must start with itself and look to prove themselves innocent before they go pointing fingers towards others. The fact that most politicians including Nawaz Sharif have refused to accept the LHC notices shows that the government is not really ready to back their statements with actions. And until this changes, the vast sums of money that have vanished from the national kitty will remain just as elusive as they ever were.