Put an end to this madness

Perhaps the most galling — and illustrative — aspect of the unholy mess that the government finds itself in regarding the Panama Papers is that none of it needed to have happened. Had Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif come clean at the outset there would have been no Joint Investigation Team and no backs-to-the-wall political crisis. But that is not the way, and the PM and his family and associates and advisers are collectively revealed as deceptive, duplicitous and capable of criminality in their efforts to conceal the financial dealings of the First Family. Not surprisingly, governmental preoccupation with preserving the power and position of Mr Sharif saps energy and strength from the government in the broadest sense, and colours perceptions both nationally and internationally.

Whilst it is true that the structures of the government continue political turmoil, notwithstanding, there is a manifest absence of strong leadership and the institutions of state cannot run on autopilot indefinitely. There needs to be a sense that there is a hand on the tiller. Pakistan is currently getting its arm twisted by Uncle Sam in the ‘not doing enough’ matter relative to combating terrorism. There has been no strong or defining rebuttal from the top, only silence. The interior minister is suffering back problems and we wish him a speedy recovery, but his ill health adds to the feeling of uncertainty around the upper echelons of governance. There are pressing domestic issues to do with tumbling exports and a potentially explosive policing crisis in Sindh.

Now, if ever, the leaders of the nation must be seen to lead, and they are not. The ship of state is effectively dead in the water while the senior crew members work out whether to ditch the captain and who should take the helm. The common man is fed denial — crisis what crisis? — and many commentators and analysts see this ending no way other than badly for the PM. This madness has to end before further harm is done to the state. We are suffering self-inflicted wounds and quietly bleeding out. Urgent action is required to stem the flow.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2017.

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