After the involvement of the sons of a former Punjab Chief Minister and a state minister in a National Insurance Corporation Limited (NICL) scam, the Supreme Court extended the investigation to the Federal Cabinet; ordering the FIA to investigate Commmerce Minister Makhdum Amin Fahim, for the appointment of Ayaz Niazi, the NICL Chairman at the time of the scam. The three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, also took notice of Makhdoom Amin having signed a summary for the appointment, to the Prime Minister. As Makhdoom Amin Fahim is not only a Senior Minister, but was a frontrunner for the Prime Ministership at the time Mr Yousaf Raza Gilani was selected, the miasma of corruption surrounding the government is now beginning to reach out to its senior members. The Prime Minister is tainted by his own conviction for contempt, his son’s suspected involvement in the ephedrine scandal and the Cabinet itself has seen one minister, Maulana Hamid Saeed Kazmi, resign over the Haj scam.
The government does not want be seen as exercising itself over the primary task of rescuing single individuals from the consequences of their actions. The evidence of Ayaz Niazi having paid the proceeds of corruption to cover the bank debts of Makhdoom Amin Fahim, his wife and son, deserves thorough and impartial investigation, if for nothing else than to clear a senior and distinguished PPP leader. The bill was, presumably, footed because Mr Niazi had further profited from his post, after his illegal appointment. These ill-gotten gains have since been recovered from the concerned bank. It is this that makes the role of Makhdoom Amin Fahim in the whole affair dubious.
However, while that investigation is underway, the government needs to consider how to stem corruption in the highest echelons of power. It’s perception as being the main obstacle in the path of implementing decisions ordered by the Supreme Court, under the Chief Justice, must be rectified. This can start when charged of plundering, as pointed out by the Court, are investigated and if confirmed, plundered wealth returned to the national kitty. Such scandals do not augur well for the PPP’s fortunes in the coming elections. No doubt, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, can afford to be confident, given his prominence. However, the combined effect of charges of corruption against all levels of the democratic government and the continuing inflation, hours of loadshedding and other crushing burdens on the shoulders of the common man, do not bode well for a sympathetic electorate, come election time.