Whatever the law may permit, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif must do
the right thing by democracy and step aside, at least temporarily.The JIT
report submitted to the Supreme Court has now been pored over by experts,
politicians and citizens alike. It is not a perfect report and the PML-N has
already raised some important objections that will eventually have to be
addressed by the court.
But the JIT
report has laid out a number of very serious and specific allegations against
Prime Minister Sharif and his children. Simply, no democratic order ought to
have a prime minister operating under such a dark cloud of suspicion.
The PML-N
may urge Mr Sharif to stay in office and Mr Sharif may be tempted to hunker
down and fight, but the toll on democracy would be too great. The prime
minister has a clear alternative: step aside, fight whatever charges are
brought against him or his children in court and, if he is eventually cleared
of the charges, he can seek a return to office as the law permits.
To be sure,
stepping aside now would not be an admission of guilt. It would, in fact, be a
necessary sacrifice for the protection and strengthening of the democratic
order. The country does not need and cannot afford the distraction of an
incumbent prime minister fighting corruption charges in the courts.
Moreover,
with the JIT report now public, the principal PML-N allegation that the Panama
Papers investigation is nothing more than a witch-hunt stands significantly
diminished. Anti-democratic forces may exist in the country and they may wish
Mr Sharif ill, but none of that prevented Mr Sharif and his family from
providing evidence to the JIT that would corroborate the family’s claims.
The JIT
conducted its entire investigation while the political stakes were crystal
clear to the country and to the Sharifs themselves. Surely, the Sharif family
should have gone the extra mile to provide evidence and explanations to the
satisfaction of a reasonable investigation. As the JIT report makes clear, the
Sharifs have not done so.
The other option would be for Mr Sharif to call a snap election. If
Mr Sharif’s case is sent to the National Accountability Bureau, the presence of
a caretaker government would dispel concerns of a manipulated process, NAB
being prone to intense interference by the executive.
A fair but expedited accountability process would allow Mr Sharif
to contest the next election without a cloud of suspicion hanging over him and
his family, assuming a NAB process clears the family. Whichever option Mr
Sharif chooses, it should be clear that the status quo is not an option. A
prime minister preoccupied with fighting corruption charges is a prime minister
no democratic polity deserves.
Mr Sharif
may have his doubts about the fairness of the system, but the system has doubts
about him. The system must prevail over the personal.
Courtesy
dawn
