Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts

Nawaz Sharif’s Strategy to Handle Revelations About His Offshore Assets After Panama Leaks


As expected, the ball is back in the court of prime minister and we arrive back at square one. The Chief Justice of Pakistan has refused to form a ‘toothless’ commission with vague terms of reference to probe indefinite number of individuals over infinite period of time. Instead, the chief justice has suggested the government to reconsider the legislation to empower the commission and provide the precise names of individuals and companies to probe. Keeping in mind contradictory statements of his family members, would it be possible for our prime minister to form such a commission is yet to be seen.

Legendary Chinese philosopher and writer Lao-Tzu says ‘who amasses too much bears heavy losses’. Before putting on the cloak of a politician Nawaz Sharif was a businessman. Once in power corridors, financial growth of his businesses had been phenomenal. Over the decades he has accumulated too much which is stashed in different continents. Ironically, he is the premier of a nation which is heading fast to be the poorest one on this planet and direly needs investment. Contradictory trajectories are bound to cross each other at some point and that point has arrived in the disguise of Panama leaks.

Nawaz Sharif is the most experienced and the luckiest prime minister the nation have ever had. Heavens have showered kindness and mercy on him again and again. But his luck is  running out and we are witnessing the second part of an era which would be termed as ‘rise and fall of Nawaz Sharif’ in history books. Now it is the war of survival with at least two objectives: keeping the riches invested abroad safe and making Maryam Safdar a prime minister in future.

In early days of his third term he was reported for being bored in the Prime Minister House. It was even reported that he did not wish to be the prime minister at first place. But then he found some utility of his third term; to market Maryam Safdar as the avatar of Benazir Bhutto and train her as a future prime minister. Since then Sharif family ceased to cherish shared objectives.

Panama leaks came as a thunder from the blue at a moment when he had started to dream a renewed mandate in 2018. His initial response was a panicked one. Then he went for London and the nation was told that he needed urgent medical treatment. During that stay damage assessment was done and a multidimensional defense strategy was formulated.

In his state address on April 22, he preferred to look as a billionaire, who also happened to be a Prime Minister, fully determined to defend every penny of his wealth. He asked the Chief Justice of Pakistan to form a commission  to probe Panma leaks and lot more. This address was made on Friday evening, and the following day chief justice was scheduled to leave for a seven days visit to Turkey. To delay as much as possible is the very first pillar of his strategy. In the mid May we stand exactly where we stood on April 3, when first episode of Panama Papers was leaked.


The second part of his strategy involves distraction and infusing confusion. Hence the usage of vituperative language by PML-N leaders and revival of decades old mantra that democracy is in danger. Revelations of offshore assets are projected as a conspiracy against Nawaz Sharif,  who stands for democracy and development of Pakistan, and as a turf war where military wants more control over the affairs of the state.

  The third dimension of his policy requires himself to present as the promised messiah for the nation. Taxpayer’s money is generously spent for his image building through massive advertisement. While addressing public gatherings he announces glitzy projects and makes every promise that comes in his mind. If he survives fall from Panama, these promises would go to the trash bin. In the other case, these speeches could be used in future to remind people that Pakistan was about to be a developed nation when he was ousted from power.

  To rule, our leaders ask people for votes and beg international power players for support. On the fourth side, SOS messages must have been sent to international masters. Few signs of foreign assistance are perceptible. In the near future, some events may eclipse the revelations of Panama leaks and we may have no choice but to postpone the accountability issue. In this perspective, the delay of a single day becomes significant.

If everything fails and history repeats itself, it would be more beneficial to be a political martyr than an impeached prime minister. Just imagine, few years later, in an election campaign, Maryam Safdar telling people that ‘My father had not yet seen the marriages of his grandchildren when he was ousted of the PM house’. She would go to people as a sister awaiting justice. Our memories are short and traditionally we do not let a sister or daughter return empty handed. Thus sooner or later she will be the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

We would remember the year 2016 as a ‘year of leaks’. We are being told that even people like Imran Khan and Dr A. Q. Khan have had offshore companies in the past. World Bank says that Pakistanis sent $5 billion to India last year and in last 3 years it amounts to $14.36 billions. In last 5 years, Pakistanis have invested AED 30.64 billion in Dubai and are considered among top 3 investors. These days we are learning about those Pakistanis who own properties in Dubai but have not declared in their tax returns. In the days to come more leaks are likely to follow. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures and thus economic emergency should have been imposed. The real issue today is not the resignation of Nawaz Sharif but impartial and across the board accountability. By now NAB and FIA should have been working overtime. Ideally, the Prime Minister of Pakistan should be leading the war against corruption and tax evasion. But it is not happening. Rather he is standing on the top of a dysfunctional system and brandishing the flag of democracy. Unlike his previous terms, heavens have put him on the wrong side as the last obstacle on the way of accountability. He may win at the end, but it would be a personal victory. Well, it had always been personal..

This article was published in DailyTimes.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/17-May-16/nawaz-sharifs-strategy

دشمن کے لیےگیدڑ ، عوام کے لیے شیر

دشمن کے لیےگیدڑ ، عوام کے لیے شیر

شیر نے ایک بار پھر تین انسانوں کا لہو پی لیا۔ تین گھر اجڑ گئے۔ تین آنگنوں میں صف ماتم بچھ گئی۔ شیر کی پیاس مگر جوان ہے۔ اندھیر نگری میں چوپٹ راج ہے۔ کوئی نہیں جانتا کہ شیر ابھی کتنے انسانوں کا خون پیے گا۔

اس وقت ہمارے ملک میں ایک جمہوری حکومت ہے۔ احتجاج ایک آئینی حق ہے۔ پی آئی اے کے ملازمین نجکاری کے خلاف احتجاج کر رہے تھے۔ یہ احتجاج ایک سانحے میں بدل گیا۔ اچانک فائرنگ ہوئی۔ تین انسان زندگی کی بازی ہار گئے۔ رینجرز کا کہنا ہے کہ انہوں نے گولی نہیں چلائی۔ پولیس کا بھی یہی موقف ہے۔ کہیں کوئی گلو بٹ اپنا کام تو نہیں دکھا گیا؟

سانحہ ماڈل ٹاون یاد کیجیے۔ اس قتل عام سے چند دن پہلے خواجہ سعد رفیق نے کہا تھا کہ پورا انتظام کر لیا گیا ہے۔ طاہر القادری کا ایسا استقبال ہو گا کہ وہ ہمیشہ یاد رکھیں گے۔ 17 اگست 2014 کو خون کی ہولی کھیلی گئی۔ خواجہ صاحب ٹھیک کہتے تھے ۔ قومی تاریخ کا یہ سیاہ دن قادری صاحب تو کیا قوم بھی ہمیشہ یاد رکھے گی۔ اس پر لطیفہ یہ کہ گاڑیوں کے شیشے توڑنے والا گلو بٹ جیل میں بیٹھا ہے مگر 14 انسانوں کا قاتل نا معلوم۔

یہی کہانی ایک بار پھر دہرائی گئی۔ ایک دن پہلے وفاقی وزیر اطلاعات پرویز رشید نے کہا تھا کہ احتجاج کرنے والوں کے پر کاٹ دیں گے۔ ان کے ساتھ وہی سلوک ہو گا جو دشمن کے ساتھ کیا جاتا ہے۔ یہ وہی پرویز رشید ہیں جو مشرف دور میں مسکینوں کے امام بنے پھرتے تھے۔ آج فرعون کی بنے پھرتے ہیں۔

پاکستان کے دورے پر آئے ہوئےنواز شریف سخت غصے میں ہیں۔ تین لاشیں گرنے کے بعد بھی ان کا غصہ کم نہیں ہوا۔ فرماتے ہیں جو ملازمین احتجاج کریں گے انہیں جیل بھیج دیا جائے گا۔ میاں صاحب کا انتخابی نشان شیر ہے۔ شیر ایک درندہ ہے۔ درندے سے رحم کی امید نہیں کی جا سکتی۔ مگر میاں صاحب کے غصے کی اصل وجہ کیا ہے؟

یہ وہی نواز شریف ہیں جو جیل برداشت نہ کر سکے۔ مچھروں کا رونا روتے رہے۔ چوری چوری معاہدہ کیا۔ جدہ بھاگ گئے۔ وہاں بیٹھ کر جمہوریت کی قوالی کرتے رہے۔ یہ وہی نواز شریف ہیں جو نریند مودی کے سامنے بھیگی بلی بن جاتے ہیں۔ دہلی سے بلاوا آئے تو سر کے بل جاتے ہیں۔ کشمیر کا نام بھی نہیں لیتے۔ اوبامہ کے سامنے زبان گنگ ہو جاتی ہے۔ طالبان کے آگے گھٹنے ٹیک دیتے ہیں۔ دشمن کے سامنے گیدڑ مگر عوام کے لیے شیر

پی آئی کی نجکاری ایک طرف، سوال یہ ہے کہ میاں صاحب کو اتنی جلدی کیا ہے؟ ایک طرف ان کے سمدھی ہیں، پاکستان کے منشی اعظم، جو کشکول تھامے نگری نگری گھومتے ہیں اور قرضے پر قرضہ لیے جا رہے ہیں۔ دوسری طرف میاں صاحب ہیں، جنہیں یہ فکر لاحق رہتی ہے کہ ہر اثاثہ بیچ دیا جائے۔ سوچنے کی بات یہ ہے کہ میاں صاحب کا اصل مشن کیا ہے؟

میاں صاحب نے ہمیں یہ تو بتا دیا کہ پی آئی اے کو روزانہ 10 کروڑ خسارہ ہو رہا ہے مگر یہ نہیں بتایا کہ میٹرو بس پر روزانہ کتنا خسارہ ہو رہا ہے۔ جب اورنج ٹرین چلے گی تو یومیہ سرکاری خزانے سے کتنا روپیہ برباد ہو گا۔ میاں صاحب کو اس بات کا بھی پتہ نہیں چلا کہ پی آئی میں احتجاج کی شروعات کے پس منظر میں ان کے اپنے وزیر شاہد خاقان عباسی نےاپنی ایر لائن ائر بلو کے کرایوں میں تین سو گنا اضافہ کر دیا۔  

اس وقت یہ بھی کہا جا رہا ہے کہ کراچی میں تین انسانوں کا لہو بہا کر سندھ رینجرز کو بدنام کرنے کی کوشش کی گئی ہے۔ اگر واقعی ایسا ہے تو اپنی سیاسی اشرافیہ سے خیر کی توقع بھی گناہ کبیرہ ہو گا۔ اگر جمہوری حکومت کو اپنی بنیادیں مضبوط کرنے کے لیے عوام کے لہو کی ضرورت ہے تو جمہوریت کی قوالی کرنے کی کیا ضرورت۔ آخر دشمن کے لیے گیدڑ اور اپنے لیے شیر کون پالتا ہے؟

مریم نواز شریف سے گذارش ہیں کہ ٹوئٹر پر تشریف لائیں اور نعرہ لگائیں، دیکھو دیکھو کون آیا۔۔۔۔۔۔

Crusader Against Corruption Pursues French Presidency in 2012 !

Eva Joly, 66, best known in France for her personal crusade against corruption, has expressed her willingness to contend for the French Presidency in the 2012 elections. She has earned her name as a judge on the Paris bench because of her fearless approach in uncovering financial frauds and wrongdoings, and now she is determined to free France from corruption, while fighting in the political arena. Her party, the French Green Party ( Europe Ecologie ), seems to approve her nomination for the next presidential elections.

Joly is a self-made woman who gradually climbed the ladder of success. She was born on 5th December 1943 in Norway, and moved to Paris at the age of 18. Her legal education she obtained at night school, working as a secretary during the day. Specializing in financial affairs, she joined the High Court of Paris as an investigating judge in 1990.

It did not take too long for Joly to make her mark with her ruthless fight against corruption. In the early 1990s, her prosecution of the infamous businessman and government minister, Bernard Tapie, won her wide recognition in the power circles of Paris. Later she unmasked a series of money laundering and corruption cases, which made her name feared among corrupt politicians and officials.

Joly received death threats when she was working on a case involving corruption within the French Petroleum giant, ELF. Although harshly criticised for levelling unfair accusations at innocent people, nothing deterred her from doing her job, and she emerged as an honest and incorruptible judge. Her fearless fight against corruption earned her the nickname "Eva the Diva."

In 2002 Joly resigned from the bench and returned to Norway, where she was appointed as a government advisor on international corruption. Working at international level took her across the globe, during which time she was barely remembered in France, and the corrupt elements of society relaxed.

Joly returned to France in 2008 with even greater conviction. Now she had the determination to play a decisive role by entering into politics, and she announced,
"I am going into politics because I recognise the limitations of voluntary action … I have a strong desire to improve relations between the developed and developing world. I want to change power structures within society. I am desperate to see a more just and more united society."

Eva Joly joined Europe Ecologie, a grouping of France's various Green Movements, and the following year she was elected to represent the Paris area at the European Parliament. Since her election she has continuously criticised the French government over many different issues, and when the scandal of 'alleged financial donations' surfaced, involving Liliane Bettencourt, the L'oreal heiress, she demanded the resignation of Labour Minister Eric Woerth. She also strongly accuses the government of "State Racism" over its anti-immigration policies.

Nikolas Sarkozy, current president of the French Republic, seems willing to contend for the presidency for a second time, despite his bad performance in the opinion polls. In addition to Sarkozy there are various other potential candidates, which include incumbent Managing Director of IMF, Dominique Strass-Kahn. In opinion polls Martine Aubry, François Hollande and Ségolène Royal are also gaining.

So how will Joly, a mere two year old toddler in the political arena, perform in such a close race for the Elysees Palace? Only time will tell!


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