A NAB too far

If the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is causing such discomfort to a range of politicians across the country, then it stands to reason that it must be doing something right. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is so exercised that he is seemingly mulling a revision in the way in which matters relating to accountability are pursued and managed. Few politicians anywhere in the world welcome their affairs being scrutinised, even fewer in a country where corruption and political skulduggery are the norm rather than the exception. Corruption is rife across the entire political spectrum, from the lowest ward level to the highest offices in the land.



Of late, NAB has been knocking on any number of doors and finds itself accused of overreach, going beyond its mandate. The prime minister delivered a thinly veiled warning that action would be taken if this continued unabated — and he now appears willing to be as good as his word.

If ever a country needed a body that was able to investigate abuses of power and privilege, it is Pakistan. To be scrupulously fair, we would not support the harassment of individuals who are free of taint or suspicion, all too easily done, but we would also not support any development that served to insulate those in power from scrutiny, no matter how exalted they might be. Investigative bodies do need to have their terms of reference and mandates clearly delimited, but we wonder if the creation of the supra-commission currently under consideration is the right way to go. The government might argue that it is merely ‘guarding the guards’ but it looks uncommonly like a knee-jerk reaction to some uncomfortable, if opportunist, digging by NAB. Nothing is about to happen overnight but revision of accountability processes is on the agenda and likely to be pursued with some diligence. That some form of revision was in the mind of government in the historical past may be true, but it should not be allowed to inhibit investigations into some senior members of the ruling party in Punjab by NAB. We will follow closely and with interest.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th,  2016.

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