Pointing out shortcomings: Double standards in accountability unacceptable: Rabbani

Senate chairman opposes special courts for politicians, civil, military bureacracies

LAHORE: Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani on Friday underscored the need for across the board accountability and said there was no room for double standards on the issue.

He was speaking at the launch of a book written by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Senator Mushahidullah Khan’s son Afanullah Khan in Lahore on Friday.

Talking to those attending the event, Rabbani said: “Accountability should be across the board and for everybody.”



“There should not be special courts for politicians and for the civil and military bureaucracies… this cannot work,” he said. “This duality in the [accountability] system is not acceptable… it is the reason why we are where we are today,” the Senate chairman added.

Rabbani’s remarks came a day after the National Accountability Bureau opened two new inquiries against his fellow Pakistan Peoples Party compatriot and former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. The ex-premier has been accused of corruption and misuse of authority while awarding contracts for two rental power plants – he was the water and power minister when the deals were given the go-ahead.

Speaking at the event, Rabbani also said “the only way forward for Pakistan is by upholding the supremacy of parliament and the constitution.”

Referring to a proposal for setting up a national security council, he said the idea had been tried by the former president Pervez Musharraf’s regime and failed. “Pakistan cannot afford experiments anymore… any new establishment can only be brought forth through the academia and middle class,” he added.

The Senate chairman also rejected the idea that there are any ‘good’ Taliban who can help Pakistan reduce India’s influence in Afghanistan.

Referring to Afanullah’s book – titled Pakistan: The Way Forward – Rabbani said: “I agree with the author that perhaps the time has arrived for us to have special seats in parliament for the working class.”

“The hegemony of the rural and urban elite should be reduced in Pakistani politics and the country’s middle class should be empowered politically,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th,  2015.