Accountability For All

By mid-December 1997, Pakistani investigators must prove that the money in four Swiss bank accounts frozen in September by the Swiss government, was misappropriated by Benazir Bhutto from the government of Pakistan during her two prime ministerial tenures. Both tenures had ended prematurely, when her government was sent packing by two different presidents on charges of corruption and mismanagement of economy. The investigators have a tough task before them, since none of the accounts or off-shore companies identified in this case are in Bhutto´s name (they are held apparently by her husband Asif Zardari and mother Nusrat Bhutto). Also, there are discrepancies (for example, in dates) in the documents held by Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif´s recently-established Ehtesab (accountability) Cell, as evidence of illegal money making.

Unless they can manage to substantiate their claims within the three-month deadline given by the Swiss government, the accounts will be un-frozen, and in the process give Bhutto a "not guilty" clearance. The task of proving these illegalities is being carried out by the head of the Cell, Senator Saifur Rehman, under the direct supervision of Bhutto´s arch rival, Nawaz Sharif. Rehman, besides being a wealthy businessman, is also a close associate of Sharif.

The damaging allegations have put Bhutto and Zardari on the defensive. An angry Bhutto, caught on the wrong foot as she returned to Pakistan after a visit to her children in Dubai, first denied the charges as "baseless and untrue". She later admitted that the accounts could be hers. "We have accounts all over the world. We are rich people. Those accounts may or may not be ours," was her weak defence when grilled by journalists in Karachi.

Nawaz Sharif and his party-men are jubilant at having managed to put Bhutto in the dock even if this turns out to be temporary. But many feel that their jubilation is misplaced in a country where corruption is rampant, and where accountability is selectively applied to those in the opposition. In such a situation, Bhutto´s calls for a more equal process of accountability have sympathetic ears, even among those who do not support her politically.

Gunning for political opponents and proving their misdeeds would carry a lot more weight if accountability began at home for the government. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, himself a very wealthy man, along with many of his political colleagues, faced several charges of loan default and financial misdeeds before they were returned to power, and were also accused of laundering money through fake bank accounts. The cases were shelved after his government returned to power. The accountability commission, meanwhile, seems to be targeting only opposition politicians and the businessmen and bureaucrats close to them, even as the head of the Ehtesab Cell has himself been accused of financial misdeeds.

And what of the people who vote these bickering parties in and out of power? There is increasing disillusionment with politics, which is reflected in the diminishing percentage of registered voters exercising their right of franchise: only 30 percent in the last elections in February 1997, one of the lowest turnouts ever.

The core problem lies with the destruction of political institutions in the country, which allows wholesale corruption to go unchecked. Individuals in successive governments (Pakistan has had four in eight years), including the present one, must take the blame for this state of affairs. Accountability must be a continuous process carried out through independent organs of the state, and the law must be applicable across the board. Considering that his own government is not allowing this to happen, Nawaz Sharif´s rejoicing over the fact that Pakistan has dropped from second to fifth in Transparency International´s list of most corrupt nations may be a trifle premature.

While Benazir Bhutto will certainly not be the first Pakistani politician so tainted, the financial extent of the scandal is probably the largest in Pakistan´s history. However, politics must continue, so while Bhutto´s detractors will continue to rail against her, her supporters will continue to stand behind her.