Wading in the Panama swamp
The opposition does not have a killer move, no smoking gun — and the Panama Papers story is going nowhere
In this file photo, PTI chairman Imran Khan embraces PAT chief Tahirul Qadri. PHOTO: REUTERS
The release of the Panama Papers has presented the politicians of Pakistan with a unique set of opportunities to display their collective incompetencies. No individual or party comes out well, and the latest set of developments indicates the depths of immaturity on all sides. Having failed to reach — or even get close to — the terms of reference (ToR) for a commission of inquiry into the leaked papers and what if any wrongdoing there may have been by the prime minister and the other 600-odd Pakistani citizens named therein, both government and opposition are set to launch separate bills in the two houses of parliament.
On August 31, the federal cabinet approved the Commissions of Inquiry Act of 2016, which is to replace the current law that has been on the books since 1956. The new law will be tabled before the National Assembly in the upcoming session. Mere hours after the cabinet approved the draft of the new bill, lo-and-behold the PPP submitted a bill seeking the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the Panama Papers. The PPP bill is much more tightly targeted than that of the government reflecting the opposition position generally, and is titled the Panama Papers Inquiries Act 2016.
The problem is immediately obvious — the two bills have the effect of cancelling each other out, and it is anyway doubtful that the opposition bill is going to get the traction to see it passed, in which event the government will get a ‘bye’ on its own bill by virtue of its majority in the lower house. The government and the opposition are locked into precisely the same circular activity as they were when they were thrashing about in the swamp of ToR creation. The opposition parties want to focus on the specifics relating to the family of the prime minister, whilst the prime minister and his party want to kick the entire imbroglio into the long grass there to wither away. It is by now obvious that the opposition does not have a killer move, no smoking gun — and the Panama Papers story is going nowhere.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2016.
On August 31, the federal cabinet approved the Commissions of Inquiry Act of 2016, which is to replace the current law that has been on the books since 1956. The new law will be tabled before the National Assembly in the upcoming session. Mere hours after the cabinet approved the draft of the new bill, lo-and-behold the PPP submitted a bill seeking the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the Panama Papers. The PPP bill is much more tightly targeted than that of the government reflecting the opposition position generally, and is titled the Panama Papers Inquiries Act 2016.
The problem is immediately obvious — the two bills have the effect of cancelling each other out, and it is anyway doubtful that the opposition bill is going to get the traction to see it passed, in which event the government will get a ‘bye’ on its own bill by virtue of its majority in the lower house. The government and the opposition are locked into precisely the same circular activity as they were when they were thrashing about in the swamp of ToR creation. The opposition parties want to focus on the specifics relating to the family of the prime minister, whilst the prime minister and his party want to kick the entire imbroglio into the long grass there to wither away. It is by now obvious that the opposition does not have a killer move, no smoking gun — and the Panama Papers story is going nowhere.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2016.