Political upheavals of a tumultuous year

Panamagate and Altaf’s exit from MQM were the most significant events

ISLAMABAD: If anything dominated the country’s political landscape in 2016, it was Panamagate – the scandal that briefly became the rallying cry for all major opposition parties against the ruling Sharif family. The row became the Achilles’ heel of the government, eroding the credibility of the prime minister as calls for his resignation rose to a crescendo. The second biggest political upheaval of the year was the ‘exit’ of Altaf Hussain from politics and fragmentation of his Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

Politically, the start of 2016 was not so eventful, though Imran Khan kept the government on tenterhooks. Just when the PTI’s campaign against the government appeared to be losing steam, Panamagate came like a godsend for the party.

The Panama Papers, a treasure trove of classified documents leaked from a Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, revealed in April that three scions of the Sharif family were among hundreds of influential people of the world who had secreted their money offshore.

The controversy shook the government to its foundation, especially when Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson stepped aside amid mounting public outrage that his family also had sheltered offshore companies. Premier Sharif appeared on national television to promise a fair inquiry by a retired judge of the Supreme Court into the allegations against his children.

The PTI’s anti-government campaign found a new lease of life. The party rejected Sharif’s announcement and called for a judicial inquiry into the Panama Papers revelations, calling for the prime minister to come clean on the matter.

In May, the controversy subsided, though temporarily, when Premier Sharif had to fly to London for an open heart surgery. After a two-month hiatus, the PTI once again came out all guns blazing, saying it would not settle for anything less than an independent judicial inquiry.

The government budged and decided to engage the PTI and other opposition parties in negotiations on setting up an inquiry commission. Rounds and rounds of talks ended in a stalemate. The opposition pushed for a blanket inquiry not sparing Premier Sharif – something that was not acceptable to the ruling party.

The opposition parties called off negotiations but couldn’t agree on street agitation. Imran decided to go solo and threatened to ‘paralyse’ the federal capital on November 2, the PPP opposed the move. Banking on the cracks in the opposition, an undeterred government decided to take on the PTI. All the roads leading to Islamabad from Peshawar were sealed, while a crackdown against PTI workers was launched in Punjab.

A day before November 2 ‘lockdown’, the Supreme Court intervened to take the case, prompting Imran to call off his protest. The PTI had pinned high hopes on the top court but after weeks-long proceedings, the then chief justice, Anwar Zaheer Jamali, who was retiring, left it to his successor to form a new bench to decide the case. The PTI was left in the lurch, while the government got breathing space.  The Panamagate scandal polarised the political fraternity. While the PTI, PPP, Jamaat-e-Islami and other smaller opposition groups challenged the government, JUI-F, PkMAP and some other parties stood rock solid by the ruling party.

Away from the power corridors, another development changed the political landscape of Karachi. In March, MQM renegade Mustafa Kamal returned to Karachi to challenge his former party in its stronghold. Kamal dented the MQM before launching his own Pak Sarzameen Party. The MQM stood by Altaf all along. And then came August 22.

Altaf made an incendiary speech by phone to his supporters in Karachi and incited them to attack media houses in the city. Altaf, who had already been gaged by the court, also shouted slogans against Pakistan, whipping up a firestorm of criticism.

Subsequently, the MQM renounced its powerful leader and his coterie, called London Rabita Committee, and rebranded itself as MQM-Pakistan. Altaf, who once virtually ruled Karachi while sitting in London, would have never imagined such an unceremonious end to his sway over the metropolis.

Altaf’s coterie in London and his loyalists in Karachi made an attempt to reassert his control – but to little avail. The MQM-Pakistan staged first show of its political strength in Karachi on Friday which dispelled the impression that the party cannot command popularity without Altaf.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2017.