Core issues unresolved

The Supreme Court broke the logjam that threatened to cause mayhem in Islamabad, but the logs thus unblocked are still very much afloat. The leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan far from dialing back and letting events take their legal course was in full voice at the ‘Thanksgiving’ event held at the Parade Ground on 2^nd November. He demanded that the PM Nawaz Sharif step down in view of ‘a case being currently pending’. Mr Khan needs to be a little more careful with his words. There is no case pending against the PM and he has not yet been indicted for anything. The proposed Commission to enquire into the Panama Papers has yet to finalise ToRs — and the government has already said that it will stick to a ‘generic’ line — and once ToRs are agreed (or imposed by the SC) the Commission will go about its business. At the end of that process there may or may not be a recommendation to indict the PM, and Mr Khan needs to understand the difference between unsubstantiated allegation and criminal charges that are evidence-based.



There was also criticism of the government for blocking motorways and road, arresting PTI workers and using teargas, in which there is a grain of justification in that the crowd control techniques used by law enforcement agencies are decades behind that of many other countries, with brute force being the primary tool. That said, the government was duty bound to protect itself against the threat of a disabling and targeted influx of hundreds of thousands into the capital. Its methods may have been crude, excessive even; but they were only tools in the kitbag.

The PM is not going to step down voluntarily and legal process has now to run its course. The SC in the past has proved unwilling to be pulled into the Panama Papers affair; and in the event of a likely impasse over the ToRs it is going to be sorely tested as are the PML-N and the PTI both of which are on record and saying they will comply with the SC no matter what. Floating logs still present a considerable hazard to political shipping.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2016.

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