IN an interview, Prime Minister Imran Khan has warned that the opposition will be responsible if the country is placed on the black list by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the resultant collapse of the economy. He also talked about the atmosphere of fear in government institutions adding that officials were not ready to take prompt decisions due to NAB factor.
The Prime Minister has legitimately pointed out that India wanted destruction of Pakistan’s economy and, therefore, the opposition should cooperate with the treasury benches in getting the FATF-related bills passed to thwart designs of our enemy. There are no two opinions that Pakistan cannot afford to be placed in the black list because of serious implications of such a move. The opposition too especially the two major parties of PML(N) and PPP realized the threat and extended their full support in the passage of most of the FATF-related bills in the both houses of Parliament. The two parties cooperated with the treasury even at the risk of dents to the unity of the opposition as Maulana Fazlur Rehman was firmly against such a move. This made it evident that the opposition was ready to join hands with the Government despite sharp differences on a range of issues purely in view of state interest. In this backdrop, the Government should look into reasons and circumstances that forced the opposition to review its cooperation in the case of two bills. Apart from the ground reality that both the Government and the NAB became suddenly active on the front of accountability during presentation and passage of FATF-related bills, which polluted the atmosphere, the opposition also claims to have serious reservations over some clauses.
Interviews of some political leaders make it clear that the opposition was not against these bills in totality but wants amendments in some clauses, which is right and privilege of the parliamentary opposition. The opposition believes these clauses are dictatorial in nature and might be misused at some point of time and these apprehensions should be thoroughly considered, discussed and a way out found. No doubt, the Government has already convened the joint session of Parliament where it might get the required majority with the support of smaller parties to get the bills passed without votes from major parties but preference should be given to rectification of the said clauses. The Prime Minister believes the opposition was trying to blackmail the Government on the issue of accountability and has reiterated his oft-repeated position that he will not give NRO to anyone. However, the national interest demands the two sides should sit together and look into the issue in broader context burying their petty political differences.
Through hard work, Pakistan has made significant progress on implementation of points raised by FATF and it is generally believed that the proposed laws would pave the way for removal of the country from the grey-list. The progress should not be allowed to go waste because of politically-motivated differences. As for fear of NAB among civil servants, this is reality that is there for the last several years but unfortunately lack of understanding among political forces is impeding the possibility of solving this problem through reforms in accountability law. There is now remote possibility of such an understanding after the Government side made public talking points that the opposition presented during discussions on accountability law, citing it as an example of opposition demanding NRO from the Government. The move has breached the trust and there are hardly chances of any breakthrough on the otherwise crucial legislation. However, leaving apart the full-spectrum reforms and amendments, the two sides should explore the possibility of amending the law to the extent that it helps restore the shattered confidence of bureaucracy. It is a universal truth that officials have to take countless decisions on a daily basis, which may or may not prove right or judicious afterwards. They should not be probed or victimized if any of their decision leads to some harm provided it was taken in good faith.
