Daily Times Editorial Nov 23, 2009

NRO beneficiaries’ outing

The government has finally fulfilled its promise to reveal the names of those who benefited from the National Reconciliation Ordinance, albeit the list so far is still incomplete. Out of 8,041 beneficiaries, only the names of 248 have been published. Those 248 however, are very significant. They include the top leadership of the PPP, MQM and the PPP-Sherpao. The also include cabinet members, retired bureaucrats, technocrats, military officials and diplomats. The number of bureaucrats far exceeds those of politicians. President Asif Ali Zardari, MQM chief Altaf Hussain, Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad, PPP-S chief Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Farooq Sattar, Minister for Ports and Shipping Babar Khan Ghauri, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, PPP Secretary General Jahangir Badar and Mrs Nusrat Bhutto are amongst the noteworthy names.
The revelation of the NRO beneficiaries had become inescapable after the PPP failed to get the NRO passed as a bill from parliament because of the opposition of not only of those on the opposition benches but also some of the PPP’s allies. It is not yet known whether the remaining names will also be publicized. Some of the named beneficiaries have been arguing since the issue blew up that they were the targets of political victimisation. For example, most of the PPP stalwarts, including the president who enjoys immunity because of his office, have claimed that the PML-N government of Nawaz Sharif and his NAB chief Saifur Rehman had creatively used the well known tactic of harassing their political opponents on false charges by dragging them through the courts. Be that as it may, all the named will now possibly have their day in court to establish their innocence or otherwise.
Once the NRO lapses on November 28, the view in some quarters is that all the cases will be reopened automatically. Others think this would require the Supreme Court declaring the NRO ultra vires of the constitution. Legal quibbles aside, the issue has once again only touched one side of the political equation. Those who may have had corruption and other charges placed against them but did not figure in the relief awarded by the NRO may be laughing at the moment, but it seems a travesty of fairness and justice if their cases too are not taken up and closure provided. The Supreme Court in October 2007 issued a stay order against the NRO for being discriminatory and therefore a bad law, since it created a class of privileged accused. On similar grounds, it could be argued that those who were not part of the NRO relief should not be allowed to sit smugly and watch the spectacle of the NRO beneficiaries being prosecuted all over again.
The accountability process in our polity ha s been sullied perhaps beyond repair by partisanship and concessions rather than a strict adherence to the law of the land. Unless the political class as a whole, as well as state functionaries and others are treated equally before the law, without fear or favour, the taint of discriminatory prosecution and relief will continue to haunt us. What the country needs is an impartial accountability that proceeds on the basis that all are equal in the eyes of the law.