Minister’s outburst

Inflammatory remarks by Abdul Qayyum Jatoi could not have come at a worse time.

The inflammatory remarks made by Minister of State for Defence Production Abdul Qayyum Jatoi could not have come at a worse time given the current stand-off between the executive and the superior judiciary on the implementation of the Supreme Court’s verdict and directions on the now-defunct National Reconciliation Ordinance. Wisely, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, advised Jatoi to resign, so that it would be clear to all and sundry that the government did not agree with the minister’s remarks and in fact wanted to make sure that he would be punished for them.

Indeed, to suggest that people of all provinces should have the right to corruption is a ludicrous proposition and perhaps the only excuse for having such a view could be if the individual were to say that it was being made in a sarcastic manner and with a healthy dose of cynicism. However, for a minister to say this to journalists at a time when his government is under the scanner for being led by allegedly corrupt leadership would indicate that the said minister is perhaps not fit to be in his post. And that is precisely what the prime minister has ensured.

As for the other things that the minister said, one can dismiss right away his talk on the chief justice’s alleged domicile manipulation because it too comes at a time when the government that he is a part of is at odds with the apex court on a major issue related to accountability and transparency in governance. However, on Jatoi’s comment that the politicians and the PPP in particular were being singled out on the issue of corruption and accountability and that the military and judiciary should not be considered holy cows, one would agree with them on principle and grounds of fairness. For instance, why is nothing being said on how the defence budget was quietly increased by Rs110 billion?

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2010.