The EU believes that the National Accountability Bureau was unfairly targeting the opposition leaders while sparing the ruling party ministers and politicians.
It could find very few cases of the ruling party ministers and politicians pursued since the 2018 elections, which, it said, is considered to be a reflection of NAB’s partiality.
In its 33-page report on the EU Special Incentive Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance (GSP+) assessment of Pakistan covering the period 2018-2019, the EU particularly criticized NAB for being partial and harsh on the opposition.
It held that the leadership of the two main political parties as well as the second tier was in prison, mostly for interrogations. It also came hard on Pakistan’s institutions for a ‘crack down on freedom of expression’, ‘intimidation, abduction, and killing of human rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists’ and other issues.
NAB has been under criticism since Imran-led PTI came into power in 2018. Much has been said on the performance of the watchdog with the opposition parties, especially Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples’ Party voicing their disapproval of the watchdog organization and the ruling alliance terming the criticism just political point scoring and a strategy to escape from accountability.
In January this year, Prime Minister Imran Khan while addressing civil servants had said the opposition parties were criticizing the NAB Ordinance without understanding and analyzing its contents. He added the hue and cry over the matter is unjustified. In the meanwhile, attempts were also made to curb the powers of NAB and clip its wings.
Debate on working mechanism of the NAB aside, the EU’s question about impartiality of the accountability watchdog has once again brought the topic of accountability to the forefront. Accountability of the corrupt elements was the most repeated promise of Imran Khan during his 2018 election campaign.
There is no second opinion that the accountability of the opposition leaders is advancing smoothly. However, action against the opposition leaders is being considered as political victimization.
A fair accountability system in Pakistan has had always been a hard thing to find. Every time, a ruling party sits on the other side of the aisle in the parliament, it starts complaining of political victimization.
Numerous efforts have been made in the past to institute a sincere accountability mechanism but almost all such efforts failed due to the vested interest of the political parties. A politician likes to hold the fellow politician accountable but wouldn’t agree to be accountable in real terms. Same goes with the political parties.
No party would like to propose biased accountability laws as today’s ruling would be tomorrow’s opposition party. Whatever the accountability laws the country has, their implementation is the real thing to get desired results.
The margin for a ruling party to use accountability laws against their opponents lies in its application. It is none other but the accountability watchdog that can ensure equal implementation of law when it comes to accountability. Amidst growing criticism by the opposition parties and EU’s concerns, it’s time for the NAB for introspection as actions speak louder than words.
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