Whither accountability?

By Qamar Jabbar

It seems the government has finally decided to take stern action against looters of the national exchequer.

During the provincial assembly session on Friday, Law Minister Raja Basharat alleged that large-scale irregularities had been committed in the Olympian Cooperative Housing Society owned by opposition leader Qasim Zia. He said Zia had been served a notice on June 6, 2005.

The law minister proposed that a committee of members of the opposition be formed to investigate the matter, adding that the government was prepared to provide all relevant records. He said Zia should stand firm on his earlier pledge that he would resign if found guilty of malpractice.

Responding to the charges, Zia dismissed claims of corruption and denied receiving any notice. He said the sale of land at high prices was no misdemeanour, especially when one had sole control of all administrative affairs.

As expected, treasury members vociferously supported the law minister for his disclosure of Zia’s alleged corruption. However, no one asked if the government had taken action against other defaulters of public money comfortably seated in the national and provincial assemblies. According to official records, at least 589 former parliamentarians were defaulters of Rs 9.64 billion of loans from the Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP) in 1999. Of these, as many as 263 were either members of the suspended assemblies of 1999 or their relatives, while 326 were members of previous assemblies or their relatives. However, the question of whether the government had taken these defaulters to task and recovered the people’s money was not raised.

Further, Raja Basharrat knows quite well that his ex-party chief and former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif is still a defaulter of Rs 290 million, but is enjoying a life of luxurious exile by virtue of having made a deal with the government. Would Qasim Zia be able to cut a similarly convenient deal if found guilty?

The National Accountability Bureau in November 1999 arrested top loan defaulters and corrupt bureaucrats. These presented a blend of politicians, feudal lords, businessmen and former bureaucrats including leaders of PML-N, PPP, MQM and ANP. Politicians belonging to traditional political families such as the Legharis, Saigols, Dreshaks, Sandhus, Khokhars, Kakars, Magsis, Mians, Rehmans and Farooquis were among the defaulters. The fact that many among them are back in parliament exhibits the sort of justice meted out to them.

Traditionally, the government in power holds the previous rulers accountable while turning a blind eye to the corrupt within its folds. Nawaz Sharif during his two tenures pursued corruption cases against Benazir Bhutto, while the latter’s government in 1993 had established references against Nawaz Sharif. In 1999, the military regime eagerly investigated corruption charges against both Bhutto and Sharif.

In the unlikely circumstance that the opposition comes into power in the 2007 general elections, the law minister might find himself in the uncomfortable position of being the hunted instead of the hunter.

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