THE announcement by Federal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Babar Awan on Thursday that a bill for the dissolution of NAB would be presented to Parliament, is in line with the Charter of Democracy, that states that the politically-motivated bureau would be abolished. He also said that the corruption cases against government officials from now on would be pursued by their relevant departments and that there would be no harassment of any kind. The commitment of the party as expressed by Mr Awan ought to be lauded, for it provides hope of a new chapter of political culture in Pakistan. There is no mistaking Senator Babar Awan's claim that the PPP had itself been a victim of the policies framed by the previous regime. The NAB ordinance that was enacted almost a decade ago, in the name of reducing corruption in Pakistan, was in fact a tool to harass and intimidate political opponents. Not only that, the department was also used to cobble political alliances to strengthen the rule of former President Musharraf. The claims that corruption had been significantly reduced were shattered time and again by the world organizations like Transparency International, rating Pakistan amongst the most corrupt countries in the world. Little wonder the government wants to do away with the department, but the disbandment of NAB alone would not be sufficient. It would have to be followed by other steps as well. Concurrently, the politically-motivated cases against politicians, particularly the Sharif brothers, registered by the previous regime, would also have to be quashed. A failure to do this would render the revocation of the notorious law meaningless and the government would thus not be able to rebut the charge of partisanship and political victimization. That the Musharraf era is now history demands that the political dispensation also make a departure from its policies. One would have wished that political bickering coupled with the tradition of discrediting the opposition had ended with the formation of the present set-up, but the ongoing case against the eligibility of PML-N leaders shows a lot remains to be done. It is time to let bygones be bygones and begin a new journey of political reconciliation, otherwise betterment in our polity cannot be guaranteed. Moreover such a bleak scenario would also provide grist to the mill of those who argue that politicians are not mature enough to govern the country. One hopes that the bill to abolish NAB will soon be presented to Parliament for approval. The legacy of the previous regime ought to be done away with at the earliest.