Accountability and movement against corruption can only succeed if the processes are initiated across the board. The actions of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) are contrary to the notions of fairness. With the recent actions undertaken against leaders of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), the impression is that NAB is doing what it does the best: political victimisation. The actions of the anti-graft body against candidates of PML-N imply that the institution has no regard for upholding the ideas of fairness and accountability.
No one in her/his right mind will criticise NAB for the putting a stop to corruption, but the politicised accountability against one political party compels one to think if the body is fair in its proceedings against PML-N. One of the major criticism of the anti-graft body’s functioning is that it gets involved in political victimisation cannot be ignored considering what it is doing against PML-N candidates.
The latest clarification that Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, chairman of the bureau is not the first time to shun the allegations of bias against certain individuals or one political party. The chairman on numerous occasions tried to dispel the impression of partisanship against PML-N. However, the body cannot get away with issuing statements of clarifications. Only unbiased actions of the institutions would help the officials to establish the credibility of NAB. What the officials fail to comprehend is the fact that their moves are giving credence to claims of PML-N that alleges NAB a biased body.
Also, considering the fact that next general elections are at hands, anti-graft body should rely on public accountability. For the anti-graft body fails that the visible targeted accountability will tilt the sympathy factor in favour of PML-N. The comments made so far do not aim at discouraging the anti-graft body from halting its operations; instead, the suggestion is that the department should initiate accountability across the board if it thinks that the time is right for holding public representatives accountable for their actions.