Creating accountability
The separation of powers between The Establishment and the political mainstream is what is at stake
It is almost exactly 18 years since the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was established in November 1999 under an ordinance promulgated by a military junta. Ever since controversy has ebbed and flowed around it. Thus far no credible argument has been advanced that it should be wound up as its benefits as an institution considerably outweighs its deficits; but as to what ‘accountability’ means in reality and who is to be held accountable and who not is a bone of contention much fought over. The current dispute over the fate of the new accountability law hinges around whether generals and judges are to be brought within its ambit. The parliamentary committee tasked with the resolution of this issue is clearly split along party lines.
The meeting on Thursday 9th November saw a PML-N senator calling for that very thing, judges and generals accountable like any other citizen whatever their status. This runs counter to a previous decision by the committee; and has produced at least one resignation by a senator who had been cajoled into one position only to find that he was required by his party to reverse it. The next committee is to be on 14th November.
All had been going well up until the 16th meeting of the committee at which point the wheels came off, consensus evaporated into the usual party-political fractiousness and the entire matter lies in considerable disarray. There are any number of political axes being ground, any number of current and future favours being deposited — or withdrawn — from the World Favour Bank where every politician in the land has an account, some several. As yet there is no word from ‘The Establishment’ but they will be watching with interest as the civilians grapple with the frills and furbelows of an advancing democratic experiment. The separation of powers between The Establishment and the political mainstream is what is at stake, and whether there is to be a one-size-fits-all accountability or an accountability with endless exceptions — which is no accountability at all.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2017.
The meeting on Thursday 9th November saw a PML-N senator calling for that very thing, judges and generals accountable like any other citizen whatever their status. This runs counter to a previous decision by the committee; and has produced at least one resignation by a senator who had been cajoled into one position only to find that he was required by his party to reverse it. The next committee is to be on 14th November.
All had been going well up until the 16th meeting of the committee at which point the wheels came off, consensus evaporated into the usual party-political fractiousness and the entire matter lies in considerable disarray. There are any number of political axes being ground, any number of current and future favours being deposited — or withdrawn — from the World Favour Bank where every politician in the land has an account, some several. As yet there is no word from ‘The Establishment’ but they will be watching with interest as the civilians grapple with the frills and furbelows of an advancing democratic experiment. The separation of powers between The Establishment and the political mainstream is what is at stake, and whether there is to be a one-size-fits-all accountability or an accountability with endless exceptions — which is no accountability at all.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2017.