Cleaning house or glass house?

There are reports that Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered an inquiry into allegations of corruption against three unidentified members of his cabinet. Or maybe he hasn’t, because soon after the initial reports came out, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted a denial, claiming that no such comment was made by the premier. Apparently Imran had told all bureaucrats in attendance to leave the room before warning his cabinet members that they are not immune to his long struggle against corruption.

Swift denial aside, there is nothing to be ashamed of if a mere accusation is forwarded for preliminary investigation. After all, an honest probe would help rubbish any false accusations and keep them from dogging down the good works the government intends to do.

However, the information minister’s denial conveniently ‘ignores’ the fact that two cabinet members are currently being investigated by NAB – Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and the PM’s adviser Zulfi Bukhari.

So the first sentence, at least, is factually dubious, if not outright wrong.

Imran’s alleged comment had come just a day after he told reporters that NAB was independent and no political pressure was applied in the cases and inquiries ordered against various PML-N leaders. Presumably, the same approach is being applied to investigations and cases against his own cabinet. Bukhari, in fact, has already complained to the Islamabad High Court regarding his placement on the exit control list, stating that despite the “passage of about two months,” his review petition has neither been put up for the cabinet, nor has a decision has been taken thereon by the federal government. The petition was filed after the PTI came to power.

Soon after taking office, Fawad’s ministry set up a Twitter handle to identify fake news coming from prominent personalities and sources. His own tweet has not yet been identified as such.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2018.

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