PML-N's fact sheet on corrupion of our saviours in Pakistan Army

Here is an account of the first three years of corruption by General Musharraf and his cronies in Pakistan Army (1999-2002) documented by PML-N. It may be noted that the level of corruption by the military and civil establishment in Pakistan was much higher in the subsequent 6 years, 2002-2007. Source

In the words Aal-e-Hashmat, there are certain innocent questions which beg answers :

· Why the flag-bearers of NRO scenario are blind towards this aspect of institutionalized corruption in Pakistan.

· Why only politicians and bureaucrats should be punished under NAB ordinance and not the army officials.

· Why the Parliament never thought of causing an amendment in the Army Act if the Generals cannot be investigated by NAB and cannot be tried in ordinary courts.

· Have any President of Pakistan, being Supreme Commander of forces, ever bothered to gather the statistics of inquiries or court martials conducted in connection with corrupt army officers and their organizations.

· Have the Supreme Court of Pakistan ever thought of initiating a suo moto action over any financial scam involving army generals.

· Have any Bar Association ever thought of moving a petition before the Supreme Court to bring corrupt army generals in the ambit of ‘equal citizenship’ given in the Constitution of Pakistan.

· Have any prominent anchor of media like Kashif Abbassi, Hamid Mir, Dr Shahid, Mazhar Abbas and Talat Hussain ever tried to float an opinion inviting discussions and comments of intelligentsia over the issue that if politicians and bureaucrats are being dragged in the streets of public consent then the generals should also be treated at par.

Let us hope that the Supreme Court steps forward to provide justice on the basis of equal basic rights for all and no citizen of Pakistan or institution be declared as ‘sacred cow’ now.

FACT SHEET

Track Record of Musharraf Regime

Released by Muhammad Siddique-ul-Farooque Central Information Secretary

Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) at a press conference on Sunday , October 06,2002.

The government of General Pervez Musharraf, which forced its way into power on October 12, 1999, has completed the tenure allowed to it by the Supreme Court under the controversial Rule of Necessity. It is time that the people of Pakistan take stock of the three-years performance of this regime, and decide through ballot whether they would like their elected government to continue the policies and mode of government introduced and practiced by the military rulers, or they want a government more open, more competent, more efficient, more sincere, more answerable and more responsive to the needs and aspirations of the nation.

CORRUPTION

One of the reasons, belatedly stated by General Musharraf for his capture of power, was that he wanted the country rid of corruption. In fact, his move was designed to provide protection to the most corrupt element in Pakistan -- the top brass of the armed forces. Out of the 135 billion rupees of defense budget, about one third of the amount, or 45 billion rupees are normally spent on purchase of weapons and equipment. And, as this fact sheet would show, an estimated amount of 31.64 billion went into the pockets of corrupt generals and other senior officers.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, fully aware of this situation, had decided to eliminate this corruption. For the first time in Pakistan’s history, he dismissed Admiral Mansurul Haq for receiving illegal gratification in the submarine deal. The Prime Minister had decided to arrest the admiral and recover the amount that he had looted, but his colleagues in the military urged the Prime Minister to limit the action against Mansurul Haq to mere forced retirement in order, what they called, to protect the image of the institution, and then the same friends helped Mansurul Haq to flee abroad.

However, the corrupt generals, feeling the sword of accountability dangling over their heads, planned removal of the elected government, and then launched a campaign to malign politicians and the political institutions. The objective was to keep public attention away from their own misdeeds. General Pervez Musharraf made it clear on the out set that that the National Accountability Bureau, headed by a serving general, would not probe into alleged corruption of the military and the judiciary. Later, publication by courageous pressmen of revealing reports about massive bribes, commissions kick-backs in armament purchase deals, and projects handles by the Army Welfare Trust, Shaheen Foundation, Defense Housing Authority etc. forced the regime to take token action against Admiral (retd.) Mansurul Haq, who was let off after recovery of a meager amount of 750 million rupees out of his huge ill-gotten assets worth $100 million, i.e. 6 billion rupees.

The fact remains that corruption is deep rooted among the higher ranks of the armed forces and the institutions under military control, and the regime blatantly refuses to check it. NAB Prosecutor-General Raja Muhammad Bashir categorically stated on August 6, 2002 that the NAB law would not be invoked in any way against the members of the armed forces. The military spokesmen have been arguing that the armed forces had their own internal system of accountability. As a matter of fact, that system is a fraud. A large number of cases can be cited to prove that culprits awarded heavy sentences by the military courts were freed by the high command after a few weeks of imprisonment. Commodore Shahid’s case is one example. He was sentenced to 7 years of hard labor, but was freed after he spent six weeks of imprisonment at his home!

1. Land Grabbing: The colonial tradition of land grabbing by military officers continued unabated during the past three years.

a) 111 armed forces men have allotted to themselves at least 400 or more kanals each of prime land in Bahawalpur and Rahimyar Khan districts, heart of Punjab, "to defend it from the enemy," at the throw away rate of Rs 47.5 per kanal, while the real price in those areas ranges 15,000 to 20,000 rupees per kanal. Thus 35,000 kanals of land were distributed among 111 military men in one case alone. Theypaid 1,662,500 rupees at the nominal rate of 47.5 rupees per kanal, while the real price comes to 700 million rupees. The list includes the names of:

· General Pervez Musharraf, Current President, 400 kanals in Nouabad village, Yazman, Bahawalpur.

· General Moinuddin Haider, Current Interior Minister, 400 kanals in Chak DB/43.

· General Aziz, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, 400 kanals in Chak DB/44.

· Lt. General Khalid Maqbool (Current Governor Punjab), 400 kanals in Chak 54/p.

· Major General Muzaffar Usmani (Later promoted to Lt General and retired recently as Deputy Chief of Army Staff Musharraf), 400 kanals in Chak 93/p.

· Lt. General Muhammed Afzal Janjua, 400 kanals in Chak 54/p

(i) 64 serving and retired officers of colonel to general rank got 400 kanals or more. They include:

10 Generals, 9 Lt. Generals, 16 Maj. Generals, one Admiral, one Air Marshal, 18 Brigadiers, 5 Lt. Colonels and 3 Colonels.

They paid 19,000 rupees for 400 kanals of land worth 400,000 rupees at market ratesif the land is unirrigated. The value of irrigated land in these areas is much higher.

(ii) 47 non-commissioned officers also got plots of agricultural land measuring 200 kanals or less.

Many of the generals have already sold their lots earning millions of rupees in profit at market rates, while others have turned into feudal lords with hired labor toiling for them.

b) Former Chairman of national Accountability Bureau Lt. Gen. Muhammed Amjad was allotted a 2-kanal (1000 sq. yd.) plot in Lahore, with a market value of 10 million rupees, against mere 800,000 rupees payable in 20 years. Invested in Defense Saving Certificates, those 800,000 rupees would multiply to 225 million rupees. He immediately sold half of the plot for 4.5 million rupees earning a profit of 8.2 million rupees on one plot.

c) General Musharraf has acquired a commercial plot, with the market value of 20 million rupees, in Defense Society, Lahore, for mere 100,000 rupees that he will pay in installments spread over 20 years. The General has neither showed this piece of land in his assets, nor sold it. If 20 million rupees are invested in the Defense Saving Certificates, they would grow up to about 500 million rupees. He owns several plots in other localities with a total market value of 200 million rupees. He has gifted a house with a market value of 20 million rupees to his daughter, which he has not shown in his assets. The 400 kanal agricultural plot that he got in Bahawalpur is also not mentioned in his assets.

d) The ISI has forced Environment Minister Shahida Jameel to allot 100 acres of land in the Margalla Hills National Park, one of the big attractions of the capital city. The agency wants to construct a new and “safe” Headquarter as well as, quite intriguingly, a housing colony for its officers. An official summary generated by Barrister Jameel’s ministry has been sent to President Pervez Musharraf, for an urgent decision. Initially the Environment Ministry response was one of alarm, as giving away 100 acres on these hills would almost destroy the whole area as a natural park, which needed to be preserved. When the ISI bosses learned about it, they immediately contacted the Minister and “convinced” her about the immediate need of 100 acres. The lady, naturally, could not resist the pressure. Again, the Generals would grab the best pieces for their homes.

e) Another 100 acres is being selected in Bahawalpur for the outgoing Naval Chief. Defense officials’ teams have been seen visiting Bahawalpur to select these 100 acres, while an offer had also been made to the outgoing Chief to become Pakistan’s Ambassador to Tunisia. The Chief wants to be Ambassador to France and his argument is that his force has a lot to buy from France, like the Augusta submarines his predecessor Admiral Mansurul Haq bought.

f) In a report, after a random check of 4 out of 11 military estate offices in 2000 –2001, Director General of Audit of the Defense Services has found close to five billion rupees loss caused by misuse of land, mismanagement and encroachments. According to an analyst, “the report is an outright indictment of the military, as it not only shows the monumental size of the lands acquired, but also the losses being caused are gigantic, compared to peanuts for which politicians are persecuted day in and day out.”

g) The Defense Housing Authority has been grabbing large chunks of valuable residential land at nominal prices around the country for the exclusive benefit of officers of the armed forces. For instance, in January 2001, the Sindh Governor bypassed the Sindh High Court stay orders, and permitted sale of highly valuable 200 acres of coastal land along Clifton, Karachi, at embarrassingly low rates to Defense Housing Authority. The land valued at market rate of Rs. 4,000/- per square yard was sold to Defense Housing Authority at Rs 20/- per square yard. Thus, the governor caused a staggering loss worth billions of rupees to the exchequer! An acre contains 4840 square yards. The real cost of 200 acres, multiplied by 4,000 per sq. yd. comes to 3.872 billion rupees.

2. Defense Purchases: The submarine purchase scam involving Mansurul Haq is only a tip of the iceberg. Many more such deals with heavy kickbacks are hidden in the military closets. A large of deals for purchase of tanks, submarines, mine hunters, Mirage aircraft and army jeeps were signed through the Army Welfare Trust, Sheen Foundation and Bahria Foundation. It is estimated that various military officers pocketed commissions totaling 5.7 billion rupees in these deals.

a) A former NAB Chairman is reported to have written to the three service chiefs to provide records of certain arms deals, but NAB still awaits an answer.

b) The records could provide proof to the allegation that a former air chief Abbas Khatak received three million dollars (180 million rupees) in the purchase of 40 old Mirage aircraft for 120 million dollars. He is also accused of receiving kickbacks in deals for French missiles and Italian radars.

c) Another former air chief Farooq Feroze Khan is suspected of receiving 5 percent commission on purchase of 40 F-7 aircraft for 271 million dollars.

d) In 1996, Army bought 1047 GS-90 jeeps at 20,889 dollars per jeep, while the market price of the jeep was 13,000 dollars. NAB sources have been reported saying that some senior army officers pocketed 8.5 million dollars (510 million rupees).

e) The British Inland Revenue Services wrote a confidential letter to the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) in Islamabad to confirm a payment of five million pound sterling (450million rupees) in commission to an Islamabad-based Pakistani citizen who had acted as an intermediary between the British agent of an American company and the Pakistan Army for an 80 million pound sterling deal.

When summoned to the CBR in Islamabad for confirmation about the payment he had received from London, the Pakistani agent stunned the then chairman CBR Moinuddin Khan by acknowledging, unhesitatingly, that he had received the amount mentioned in the letter.

This shadowy businessman soon dropped a bombshell by disclosing that he got only 200,000 (2 lakh) pounds from the total payment of five million pounds (50 lakh pound) while the remaining amount was distributed among four senior officers of the Army. He also provided an actual breakdown of the payments and impressed upon the then CBR chairman that the then Chief of Army Staff had personally authorized the contract, meaning the COAS was also involved in corruption.

Within next few days a retired major general, who was the former Director General Weapons and Equipment (DGW & E) at the GHQ and had structured the deal with the American company through its British agent, approached the top CBR official and briefed him as how the disclosure and any probe into this deal would jeopardize the national security interest of the country.

After a flurry of activities between the CBR and some retired military officials, the CBR shelved the matter. This controversial deal is understood to be in the knowledge of the present military set-up, but there is nothing on the ground to suggest that it is being probed afresh.

f) Around June/July this year, Pakistan Army awarded a contract for purchase of 1000 Hino trucks at $40,000 per truck, while the Gandhara Industries had offered Isuzu truck of same specifications at $25,000. As per standard procedures for bulk military purchases in Pakistan, no international tenders were invited but tender documents were sent to four pre-selected companies for procurement of 1,000 5-ton 4x4 trucks (ammunition carrier vehicle) by the director general military purchase on April 10. Gandhara Industries sources dispute the Army's claim that their vehicle was not approved as 5-ton ammunition carrier. The Isuzu trucks were delivered to the Army for extended trial in February and after two months of trials the vehicle was finally short-listed and approved as 5-ton ammo carrier at the GSEEC meeting held on April 13. However, the top brass made final decision in favor of the Hino trucks. The loss to the national exchequer in this deal, at the rate of $15,000 per truck amounted to $15,000,000 (900 million rupees).

g) Pakistan Army's purchase of more than 3,000 Land Rover trucks in 1995 had also generated controversy with the allegation that the owner of Sygma motors, which had supplied the vehicles, was closely associated with the then chief of general staff of the Pakistan Army. Corruption amounting to 2 billion rupees is alleged in that deal.

h) The Field General Court Martial (FGCM) sentenced former Naval Intelligence Chief Commodore Shahid to 7 years of hard labor, but former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Fasih Bukhari wrote off his sentence after three months, which he had spent in the comfort of his home. It is believed he was freed after he threatened to disclose many more shady deals including a 250 million dollars purchase of mine sweepers.

i) In April 2001, the Public Accounts Committee ordered court trial of 22 corrupt officers of Garrison Engineers (Army) Rawalpindi for causing over a loss of over one billion rupees to the national exchequer with dubious purchases and embezzlement. Defense Ministry officials present at the PAC hearing opposed publication of the culprits’ names, whereupon senior PAC member Lt. General Talat Masood (retd.) admonished them and said that hidden faces involved in corruption must be exposed.

3. WAPDA: The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), controlled by army officers, has raised power rates 13 times during the past three years totaling 40 percent rise over the 1999 levels. The authorities always take shelter behind the pretext of budget deficit. But analysts have pointed out that the deficit is mainly due to mismanagement and rampant corruption. One instance of blatant corruption is as follows:

WAPDA purchased over three million electricity meters during past three years at exorbitant prices of Rs 1,050 and Rs 1,125 per meter. All these purchases were made by bypassing the due process of open tenders and made through closed-door negotiations. The real cost of a meter comes to around Rs 456 per piece. Thus, 1.65 billion rupees were pilfered in this deal.

4. Motorway: The Motorway Project was a product of creative imagination of Prime Minister Muhammed Nawaz Sharif. He completed the Lahore-Islamabad motorway, and the contract for Islamabad-Peshawar motorway was given to a Turkish firm. It was to be completed by December 2000. The military regime, after cutting the size of six-lane road to four lanes, forced that contractor to withdraw by delaying payments and creating administrative hurdles. Later, the contract was awarded to a new Pakistani consortium lead by Husnain Construction, without floating any tender. The firm hired the services of Brig. Aftab Siddiqui (retd.), father-in-law of Musharraf’s son Bilal, as consultant. Husnain Construction owner Yousaf Sheikh told a news conference in Islamabad that Brig Siddiqui was to be given a share of 2 percent in the profit, and that his company’s business under the current military rule included purchase of about a dozen of “sick industrial units”.

5. Karakoram Express: Pakistan Railways, headed by former ISI chief, made a deal of purchasing 175 passenger coaches from a Chinese firm for 200 million dollars despite the fact that the Pakistani factories were fully competent to manufacture the coaches, which have even found many foreign buyers. When 35 of these coaches arrived in August, they were found to be much wider than the railway platforms in the country could accommodate. Millions of rupees had to be spent on trimming the platforms. Many more millions were earlier spent from the national exchequer on numerous visits of the Railways chief and his experts to China. It appears that their concerns in those visits were other than discussing technical details of the deal. It was a test case for probe into suspicions of corruption, as well as lack of foresight and competence. But neither an inquiry for fixing responsibility was announced nor any heads were seen rolling.

6. UBL Sale: The Privatization Commission of the Musharraf regime sold 51 percent shares of the United Bank Ltd. for 12.35 billion rupees to a consortium with foreign participation through an out of the process re-bidding that in no way can be termed as transparent.

UBL is Pakistan’s fourth largest bank with 1,400 branches in the country and 16 international branches, manned by 11,000 strong work force. Senior officers of the Finance Ministry had been expecting to get a price of 20 billion rupees, while the successful bidder was also reported to be willing to pay 17 billion rupees. However, the Privatization Commission let it go for mere 12.35 billion, and the regime immediately issued a Letter of Acceptance. The so-called financial wizards of General Musharraf conveniently passed over the chance of getting 7.65 billion rupees more for the national exchequer, but they cannot do away with widespread allegation that this amount was pocketed by officials.

7. Pak-Saudi Fertilizers Ltd.: The regime also sold Pak-Saudi Fertilizers Ltd. for just 7 billion rupees with huge profits, stocks and work in progress. The government failed to watch the interests of the nation in that deal also. It is alleged that corruption of about 2 billion rupees was committed in this deal.

8. Police Cars: The military regime officials have made it a regular practice of making huge purchases without calling tenders. For instance, in May 2002, the interior ministry purchased 349 luxury cars of up to 1300cc for investigation wing of the police. No tenders were called, and 259 million rupees were spent at the sweet will of the concerned officials. The officials have been committing this sort of corruption, because they are sure to get all of their illegal actions indemnified with the force of the gun.

9. Golf Club: Pakistan Navy spent 13.112 million rupees on installation of air-conditioners and sprinkler irrigation system in the Islamabad Golf Club, which is in the hands of a private organization. Public Accounts Committee was informed that the money was spent under a directive of former president Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari now chief of the Millat Party, who happens to be one of the staunchest supporters of General Musharraf. In fact, the regime has condoned all misdeeds of Mr. Leghari, including the Mehran Bank scandal and renovation of his ancestral home with government money.

10. Special Education Fraud: Like the other departments of the military regime, the education department has also been indulging in corruption. It was reported in August 2002 that officers of the Special Education Directorate have pilfered 95 million rupees earmarked for education of handicapped children.

Conclusion

We present these facts to the people of Pakistan to illustrate the grim reality that deep-rooted corruption of the generals has soiled the reputation of national armed forces. It is, therefore, our considered opinion that mere internal system of checks in any institution fails to conduct impartial, transparent and effective accountability due to personal relationships and mutual interests.

The process of accountability should be impartial, uniform and across the board. The Musharraf regime has targeted the institution of politics as the bedrock of corruption. In reality, the corrupt have turned the institution of the armed forces into the most corrupt element of the society. It is essential that this institution, which used to be the pride of the nation, be saved from further disgrace, and its respect, credibility and prestige be restored with effective measures.

A high-powered representative commission with judicial authority should be set up to purge the armed forces of black sheep and recover the monies plundered by billionaire retired-generals and other officers. The commission should include Supreme Court judges of unblemished reputation, President and General Secretary of Pakistan Bar Council, Leader of the Opposition and the leaders of other parliamentary parties. This demand of ours is justified in view of fact the generals who captured power time and again from 1958 to 1999, mostly confined accountability to the politicians, while the generals alone were responsible for grave crimes of breaking the country and unmatchable corruption. Until big criminals are apprehended, the cause of justice would not be served and all claims of rooting out corruption would prove to be mere mirage.

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A relevant comment:

By i_shah: (source: pkpolitics)

let us try to answer the questions raised in the article:

· Why the flag-bearers of NRO scenario are blind towards this aspect of institutionalized corruption in Pakistan.

-Most of these flagbearers of the NRO cause are opportunists, who cannot resist the urge of mid-term elections and the chances of themselves getting popular with all the hypethey are creating over the issue. Sadly the public is equally responsible for this attitude as is shown by the growing popularity of coas kiyani in gallup surveys, desspite the fact that he and his corps cmdrs are the main shield hindering the proseqution of military corrups

· Why only politicians and bureaucrats should be punished under NAB ordinance and not the army officials.

-the army considers itself above the law, getting away scot free from even gruesome incidents like the humiliation of a teacher by petty army guards. i believe no action was taken against them. in a civilized society a teacher occupies the prime position of respect- not so in ours. there was some hue and cry but ultimately it died out and now we as a nation hardly remember the incident – again a case of apathy on our parts.

· Why the Parliament never thought of causing an amendment in the Army Act if the Generals cannot be investigated by NAB and cannot be tried in ordinary courts.

– the parliment seems afraid that kiyani and co will send them packing if they dare tread that path. the “bedaar” media keeping mum over the issue and eulogising kiyani every now and then is certainly of no helf either. the parliment is helpless even as army personell-even lowly ranks- are not ready to pay a meagre Rs. 5 toll tax over roads and bridges. when they can not extract this small amount how can we expect them to recover millions out of the corrupt generals.

· Have any President of Pakistan, being Supreme Commander of forces, ever bothered to gather the statistics of inquiries or court martials conducted in connection with corrupt army officers and their organizations.

-the supreme commander has never been acknowledged as such by the army. how can we expect him to act and court martial corrupt army officers. kiyani and co will act over night and depose him in “supreme national interest” with his huge unpopularity and corruption being cited as primary reason-by the corruption of the current president is nowhere near that of his military counterparts ayub/zia and old mush and even other generals/A.Ms/admirals.

· Have the Supreme Court of Pakistan ever thought of initiating a suo moto action over any financial scam involving army generals.

-the supreme court can only act within the ambits of the constitution, which sadly doesnot allow for them to be prosecuted in ordinary courts. even if the CJ takes action, there will be a lot of hue and cry raised in the name of the army getting demoralised in the middle of war on terror. interestingly, it was zia who laid the eggs of terrorism, which hatched into the present brood of terrorists in the form of taliban, laskar e jhangvi etc.

· Have any Bar Association ever thought of moving a petition before the Supreme Court to bring corrupt army generals in the ambit of ‘equal citizenship’ given in the Constitution of Pakistan.

-i guess the public’s sypathies for the army -as indicated by kiyani’s popularity graph from gallup surveys- hinders the prospect of such a scenario taking place

· Have any prominent anchor of media like Kashif Abbassi, Hamid Mir, Dr Shahid, Mazhar Abbas and Talat Hussain ever tried to float an opinion inviting discussions and comments of intelligentsia over the issue that if politicians and bureaucrats are being dragged in the streets of public consent then the generals should also be treated at par.

-thats one question that should be put to these popular anchors- and ourselves who make these anchors popular

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In defense of Nawaz Sharif: Are our politicians corrupt? Is Pakistan Army a sacred cow?

Rauf Klasra reveals some interesting details of the alleged 60 million dollar corruption by Nawaz Sharif.

http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/nov2009-daily/26-11-2009/col12.htm

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Geo: journalism without conscience

Pakistan’s conspiracy theories stifle debate
Ahmed Rashid

Switch on any of the dozens of satellite news channels now available in Pakistan.
You will be bombarded with talk show hosts who are mostly obsessed with demonising the elected government, trying to convince viewers of global conspiracies against Pakistan led by India and the United States or insisting that the recent campaign of suicide bomb blasts around the country is being orchestrated by foreigners rather than local militants.

Viewers may well ask where is the passionate debate about the real issues that people face - the crumbling economy, joblessness, the rising cost of living, crime and the lack of investment in health and education or settling the long-running insurgency in Balochistan province.

“ The principal obsession is when and how President Asif Ali Zardari will be replaced or sacked ”

The answer is nowhere.

One notable channel which also owns newspapers has taken it upon itself to topple the elected government.

Another insists that it will never air anything that is sympathetic to India, while all of them bring on pundits - often retired hardline diplomats, bureaucrats or retired Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officers who sport Taliban-style beards and give viewers loud, angry crash courses in anti-Westernism and anti-Indianism, thereby reinforcing views already held by many.

Collapse of confidence

Pakistan is going through a multi-dimensional series of crises and a collapse of public confidence in the state.

Suicide bombers strike almost daily and the economic meltdown just seems to get worse.

But this is rarely apparent in the media, bar a handful of liberal commentators who try and give a more balanced and intellectual understanding by pulling all the problems together.

The explosion in TV channels in Urdu, English and regional languages has bought to the fore large numbers of largely untrained, semi-educated and unworldly TV talk show hosts and journalists who deem it necessary to win viewership at a time of an acute advertising crunch, by being more outrageous and sensational than the next channel.

On any given issue the public barely learns anything new nor is it presented with all sides of the argument.

Every talk show host seems to have his own agenda and his guests reflect that agenda rather than offer alternative policies.

Recently, one senior retired army officer claimed that Hakimullah Mehsud - the leader of the Pakistani Taliban which is fighting the army in South Waziristan and has killed hundreds in daily suicide bombings in the past five weeks - had been whisked to safety in a US helicopter to the American-run Bagram airbase in Afghanistan.

In other words the Pakistani Taliban are American stooges, even as the same pundits admit that US-fired drone missiles are targeting the Pakistani Taliban in Waziristan.

These are just the kind of blatantly contradictory and nut-case conspiracy theories that get enormous traction on TV channels and in the media - especially when voiced by such senior former officials.

The explosion in civil society and pro-democracy movements that brought the former military regime of President Pervez Musharraf to its knees over two years has become divided, dissipated and confused about its aims and intentions.

Even when such activists do appear on TV, their voices are drowned out by the conspiracy theorists who insist that every one of Pakistan's ills are there because of interference by the US, India, Israel and Afghanistan.

The army has not helped by constantly insisting that the vicious Pakistani Taliban campaign to topple the state and install an Islamic emirate is not a local campaign waged by dozens of extremist groups, some of whom were trained by the military in the 1990s, but the result of foreign conspiracies.

Economic crisis

Such statements by the military hardly do justice to the hundreds of young soldiers who are laying down their lives to fight the Taliban extremists.

Nor has the elected government of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) tried to alter the balance, as it is mired in ineffective governance and widespread corruption while failing to tackle the economic recession, that is admittedly partly beyond its control.

Moreover the PPP has no talking pundits, sympathetic talk show hosts or a half decent media management campaign to refute the lies and innuendo that much of the media is now spewing out.

At present, the principal obsession is when and how President Asif Ali Zardari will be replaced or sacked, although there is no apparent constitutional course available to get rid of him except for a military coup, which is unlikely.

The campaign waged by some politicians and parts of the media - with underlying pressure from the army - is all about trying to build public opinion to make Mr Zardari's tenure untenable.

Nobody discusses the failure of the education system that is now turning out hundreds of suicide bombers, rather than doctors and engineers.

Or the collapsing and corrupt national health system that forces the poorest to seek expensive private medical treatment, or the explosion in crime or suicides by failed farmers and workers who have lost their jobs.

Pakistan cannot tackle its real problems unless the country's leaders - military and civilian - first admit that much of the present crisis is a result of long-standing mistakes, the lack of democracy, the failure to strengthen civic institutions and the lack of investment in public services like education, even as there continues to be a massive investment in nuclear weapons and the military.

Pakistan's crisis must first be acknowledged by officialdom and the media before solutions can be found.

The alternative is a continuation of the present paralysis where people are left confused, demoralised and angry.

Ahmed Rashid is the author of the best-selling book Taliban and, most recently, of Descent into Chaos: How the war against Islamic extremism is being lost in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia.

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Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/8369914.stm

Published: 2009/11/24 02:02:54 GMT

© BBC MMIX
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Establishment's temporary NRO for Yusuf Raza Gilani

It seems that the all powerful establishment in Pakistan and their agents in Pakistani media have decided to, at least temporarily, ignore the cases of alleged corruption against Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani (and other politicians). They have offered this temporary NRO to Gilani because their first target is to hit and malign President Zardari. Gilani and other politicians will be dealt with in the next round. Here is what was reported in Dawn today, which is followed by an analysis by Abbas Ather:

PM’s wife paid Rs45.5m against Rs570m liabilities
By Syed Irfan Raza
Sunday, 22 Nov, 2009

ISLAMABAD: Although the wife of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had settled her default case with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), she had been given ‘undue favour’ and asked to pay only Rs45.5 million against total liabilities of Rs570 million, sources in the NAB alleged on Saturday in an interview with Dawn.

A scrutiny of Fauzia Gilani’s case revealed that she had obtained two loans totalling Rs200 million from Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), but she settled the case after committing ‘wilful default that prevailed over a decade’.

According to documents, the sources said, the principal of Rs200 million had swelled to Rs570 million as non-payment of instalments spanned a decade. However, she managed to settle the case by paying back Rs45.521 million.

The sources said she had obtained a loan of Rs120 million for Multan Edible Oil Extraction and another loan Rs77 million for Pak Green Fertilisers.

According to the NAB press release, the cases were settled by the ZTBL in pursuance of the Sindh High Court’s order of Oct 2, 2006, and March 17 of last year and a circular of the State Bank.

In consequence, ZTBL forwarded a request to NAB for withdrawal of the cases.

‘After having received clearance of liability certificate from ZTBL regarding full payment of the settlement amount of Rs45.521 million, NAB withdrew references against the companies.’

The source said Mrs Gilani had gone through the prescribed procedure of settlement of ‘wilful default cases’. They interpreted the move as a ‘confessed wilful default’.

The NAB Ordinance defines wilful default as: ‘Wilful default under this ordinance if he does not pay, or continues not to pay, or return or repay the amount due from him to any bank, financial institution, cooperative society, Prime Minister Gilani faced two other cases in NAB—illegal appointments in National Assembly when he was National Assembly speaker and purchase of vehicles. Both cases were settled in the Islamabad High Court.

A case of the prime minister’s personal secretary, Tariq Khakwani, in which he was accused of obtaining a plot in Sector I-8, Islamabad, under the prime minister’s quota in 1988-89 is still alive in Lahore High Court.

The NAB had filed an appeal against its own reference and had requested an accountability court to dispose of the case.

However, the court turned down the request and the NAB moved LHC against the accountability court’s decision.

The LHC upheld the verdict of the accountability court and the case is still pending. Source..

Abbas Ather

.

Read more...

Zardari responsible for corruption in Pakistan?

In the following op-ed, Nazir Najis argues that it is not politicians but the civil and military establishment which is the biggest thief in Pakistan.

Read more...

Transparency, Corruption and Nawaz Sharif

Special interview of Nawaz Sharif with Hamid Mir and Sohail Warraich
Geo TV: 17 November 2009

A column in defence of Nawaz Sharif - by Ataul Haq Qasimi

What do oridnary Pakistanis thinks?
Source: friendskorners; pkpolitics

http://www.siasat.pk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=12687

taffembank said:
nawaz sharif avoiding hamid mir questions,hamid mir tried to ask him 4 times about his factories but he was not answring n talking to suhail warriach,

listen at 6.00 hamid mir was trying to ask him about the mills but nawaz sharif ignored him.

fanstasticman said:
Nawaz reply to Hamid Mir question of setting up a mill in Saudi arabia : "kya bhookay marjatay, bheek mangtay saudia jakar, kuch tu karna tha na"

hahahahaha.

shkanjabeen said:
he didnt answer so many questions.for example,he didnt explain the details of his assets shown to the election commission.

if you put him to a LIE DETECTOR,90% of his discussions are just LIES.
you can see his body language.he gets so uncomfortable while answering.
his political drama is also coming to an end Inshallah.

Graang2 said:

Saala kitna ghareeb ban raha hai...awam ka paisa loot kar saala bhikari banne ki koshish kar raha hai.

thetruepal said:
He is doing better than many politicians and have positively influenced PPP Govt. in many matters including Judges restoration, NRO and reverting Musharaf's constitution amendments. Overall, his approach is positive and constructive but he need to come up with a solid vision and action plan rather than status quo among PPP and Punjab Govt. He needs to show leadership and vision and be more intellectual; he should try eating lots of Almonds everyday in the morning and have head message with warm oil :-). Well, I still respect him because I believe he is sincere with nation and trustworthy politician.


haaji007 said:

buhat halaat kharab hai iss becharay kay.....

"Benazir Income Support Program" say issay bhi kuch milna chahiya

aftab said:
After listening to his conversation in the beginning of the show it came as cross that he did do corruption to make up for the loss of his assets and was hiding something when HM tried to cross question him and NS avoided answering those questions.


Waqar ur Rehman said:
I am supporter of PML N but unfortuanetly NS couldnt satisfay me on the first question asked by Hamid Mir……………he was clean bowled……….

Instance over war on terror and relations with India was also shaky………..no clear cut apporach………

rest interveiw was just ok…………..look like an interview from ordinary man………….

sorry Nawaz sb u disappoint me today……..

Dilsher Nawaz said:
I am not a great supporter of his, and he clearly was evasive. But for a businessman to shelter his taxes under a corporate entities and family foundation is not without reason. He does not pay a lot of personal income tax but probably pays a significant amount of corporate tax.
In any case when it comes to overt corruption any comparison between Zardari and Nawaz is a no contest, Zardari by a gazzilion miles

Masood Ahmad said:
I don’t know why we wish to have angels as our leaders, and we ourselves don’t even stop our cards on red lights.

In such a crisis of morals, i think even people like Nawaz Sharif are good for the country. Well if nothing else, atleast they have courage to stand up to some matters.

I don’t even want to discuss the replacements available …. you know it very well.

So for God’s sake, let somebody be there for the time being, until we grow higher as a nation.

rafay79 said:
…and to think this nincampoop is going to be at the helm of affairs when the government changes now. Zardari may be many things but an absolute idiot he aint!

NS is so lucky he had Zia to take him through the development phase and as with all guys who are willing throw their money around and share ‘awaam ka paisa’ with the ‘awaam kay khaadim’, managed to get a team around him which served him well. Even now, he has got very good people like Ahsan Iqbal, Kh. Asif, Saad Rafique etc. who make him and his party look good. On his own, he is an absolute waste of space!

جناب! شکر کریں پاکستان میں امریکا کی طرح صدارتی سیسٹم نہی ہے انتخابات میں. کبھی خدا نہ کرے آپ کا کسی سیاست دان کے ساتھ مباحثہ ہو جاتا تو جس طرح کے سہانے جواب آپ نے اس انٹرویو میں دے ہیں اس کے بعد تو آپ کے ووٹر منہ چھپاتے پھر رہے ہوتے. باقی رہ گیئ جناب کی بات، تو پہلے کب شرم آی ہے جو اب آ جائے گے.

بات کرتے ہیں ہم اس کے سٹانس کی؟
آرٹیکل ٦ کرتا کرتا نہی تھکتا تھا. ایک چکّر سعودی عرب کا لگا اور ساری ہوا نکل گیے غبارے میں سے.
ایسے ہوتے ہیں لیڈر؟
ایسی پتا نہی کتنی باتیں ہیں جو لکھنے بیٹھو تو صبح سے شام ہو جائے.
خواتین و حضرات! یے ہیں آپ کے ملک کے اگلے پی ایم. اور اگر ہمیں پھر بھی عقل نا آی تو اگلی باری بلاول بھتو زرداری (المعروف پارک لین اسٹیٹ والے) اور اس کے بعد حمزہ شہباز یا حسین نواز اور اس کے بعد پھرمحترم بلاول بھتو زرادری صاحب اور پھر کوئی میاں اور پھر کوئی بھتو. بیچ میں ایک آدھا جرنیل بھی ڈال لیں منہ کا ذائقہ بدلنے کے لیے.

rafay79 said:
@Dilsher Nawaz
Dude! Corp tax and personal tax are two totally different things. A company is an entity on its own. It pays corporation tax on its earnings. The directors pay personal tax on their income, perks and drawings from the company. To say a person doenst pay personal tax cos he pays lots of corp tax is therefore incorrect.

And remember, this guy is someone who spends 3.5 million rupees a day. Or thats what his spokesman Siddiq-ul-Farooq would like us to think anyway.

Shujaat Ali said:
1) very fuzzy answer about self tax, question was very straight but he was just trying to fool nation and gave very lenghty answer without any logic
2) currently the most important issue is war on terror and again on this, he did not give straight answer infact no answer…may be he dosn’t want….becuase he is not sure current govt policy will work or not…and he knows this will be the hot issue in next election..so her again showing his real character
3) doesn’t want to destablize current system, he was trying to project that he has principal stand but in fact he is saving his own govt…and if mid term election will happen then he knows in current situation he popularity is down….

block said:
I am convinced that Nawaz Sharief is a very poor man and need our financial help.

Parvez said:
NS and his family has made money from business and he is not easy to buy with a few million dollars. He is pragmatic, seen the ups and downs of politics. If he gets to be a leader, you will see growth in economy and social stability. He needs to spend more time organizing his part at grass roots.

Bawa said:
نہایت ہی فضول انٹرویو، حامد میر اور سہیل وڑائچ نے اسی قسم کا انٹرویو کیا جیسا نجم سیٹھی نے پرویز مشرف اور الطاف حسین کا کیا تھا. سر آپکی بیگم کیسی ہیں، بچوں کا سیاست میں آنے کا ارادہ ھے کیا، حمزہ شہباز تو سیاست میں آپکے شاگرد ہیں وغیرہ وغیرہ. ان نام نہاد انکر پرسنز کو یہ نہیں پتہ یہ اس لیول کے لیڈر سے ان حالات میں کس طرح کے سوالات کرنے ضروری تھے. صاف دکھائی دے رہا تھا کہ نواز شریف کو سوالات پہلے سے تیاری کے لیے دیے گئے تھے

نواز شریف نے اس انٹرویو سے ان لوگوں کی امیدوں پر پانی پھیر دیا ھے جو سمجھتے تھے کہ نواز شریف نے ماضی سے بہت کچھ سیکھا ھے. وہ ابھی تک عوام کو بیوقوف بنانے کی ناکام کوشش کر رہے ہیں. سو دفعہ یہ اقرار کرنے کے باوجود کہ میں نے دس سال نہیں بلکہ پانچ سال کا معاہدہ کیا تھا. اب کہ رھے ہیں کہ ہم اپنی مرضی سے نہیں گئے تھے بلکہ ہمیں زبردستی بھیجا گیا تھا. سعودی عرب کے بارے میں کہ سعودی عرب کو پاکستان کی سیاست میں نہ گھسیٹیں تو بہتر ہوگا اور ہمیں سعودی عرب کا احترام کرنا چاہئیے اور انہیں پاکستان کے اندرونی معاملات میں ملوث نہیں کرنا چاہئیے، جو ملک ہماری اعَلیٰ ترین عدالت کے منہ پر تھپڑ مار کر ہمارے شہری کو ہمارے ہی ملک سے اغوا کر لے جائے کیا وہ ملک ہمارے لیے قابل احترام ہو سکتا ھے؟ جنرل کیانی کی شہباز شریف اور چوہدری نثار سے رات کے اندھیرے میں خفیہ ملاقاتوں کے سوال کا جواب بھی بچگانہ تھا. جنرل کیانی مسلح افاج کے سپریم کمانڈر اور وزیر دفاع کی اجازت کے بغیر سیاستدانوں سے رات کی تاریکی میں کیونکر ملاقات کر سکتے ہیں؟ کیا انکا یہ قدم فوج کو دوبارہ سیاست میں ملوث کرنے کے مترادف نہیں ھے؟ .

غرض انٹرویو انتہائی مایوس کن تھا. نہ تو ملکی صورتحال پر گفتگو کی گئی اور ان ہی موجودہ مسائل کو حل کرنے کے لیے نواز شریف نے اپنا کوئی پلان بتایا. ہاں البتہ یہ بتانا بہت ضروری سمجھا کہ شہباز شریف ہمارے خاندان کا نوجوان سیاستداں ھے میری بیگم نے ملکی مفاد کے لیے بہت کام کیا ھے اور میں اسکا شکریہ ادا کرتا رہتا ہوں. وہ جن لوگوں نے اسکی عدم موجودگی میں پارٹی کو زندہ رکھا انکا کوئی ذکر نہیں کیا. پارٹی کے اندر جمہوریت کے بارے میں سوال کا جواب تک نہ دیا. اپنے کاروبار کا نقصان گنواتے ہوئے ضیاء الحق کے دور میں اٹھائے جانے والے فوائد چھپانے کی مجرمانہ کوشش کی

Faarigh Jazbati said:
@ Bawa and all

السلام و علیکم
جیسے کے ہارون رشید نے کئی دفعہ کہا اور لکھا ہے کہ یہ سیاستدان ابھی تک ٨٠ اور ٩٠ کے دہائی میں رہ رہے ہیں اور ان کو پتا ہی نہیں کہ دنیا بدل چکی ہے زمانہ بدل چکا ہے . یہ لوگ خیالوں اور خوابوں کی دنیا میں رہتے ہیں. یہ نرگسیت کے مارے لوگ ہیں اور ان کا سواۓ اس کے اور کوئی علاج نہیں کہ ان کو اٹھا کر تاریخ کے کوڑے دن میں پھینک دیا جاۓ . ہمیں ایک نئی قیادت کی ضرورت ہے جو ہم میں سے ہی ہو . جو ہمارے مسائل اور مشکلات کو سمجھتی ہو ، ان کا ادراک کرتی ہو ، جو عصر حاضر سے آگاہ ہو ، جو عالمی سیاست کی باریکیوں اور نزاکتوں سے واقف ہو اور ان کی چالوں کا جواب دینے کی اہلیت رکھتی ہو ، جو عوام کو حکومتی معاملات میں شریک کرے اور انکو اپنے جیسا ہی سمجھے . جن کے بچے اور کاروبار پاکستان میں ہی ہوں. جو اداروں کا احترام کرنا جانتی ہو ، جو اپنے آپ کو قانون کے سامنے پیش کرنی سے نہ ہچکچاتی ہو اور قانون سب کے لئے یکساں پر ایمان رکھتی ہو . جو کاروباری ذہنیت نہ رکھتی ہو اور جن کے کوئی کاروباری مفادات نہ ہوں . موجودہ سیاسی قیادت چاہے وہ مسلم لیگ ن ق ع ف ہو یا پیپلز پارٹی، چاہے وہ مذہبی سیاسی جما عتیں ہوں یا
so called لسانی /علاقائی سیکولر جما عتیں ، سب کی سب اپنے اپنے مفادات کی اسیر ہیں .
ہمیں ایک نئی سیاسی جماعت اور ایک نئی سیاسی سوچ کی ضرورت ہے ، ایک نئے سیاسی نظریے کی ضرورت ہے ، ایک نئی
سیاسی ثقافت کی ضرورت ہے . ایسا سیاسی نظریہ اور ثقافت جس میں افراد کی بجاۓ اصولوں کی بات ہو ، جس میں افراد کی بجاۓ اداروں کی بات ہو، جس میں سیاسی خانوادے نہ ہوں ، جس میں سیاسی میراث کا کوئی تصوّر نہ ہو ، جس میں سیاسی جانشینی کا کوئی تصوّر نہ ہو ، جس میں سیاسی مزار نہ ہوں جس میں سیاسی بندر بانٹ نہ ہو ، جس میں جرنیلوں کی جوتیاں چاٹنے والے نہ ہوں . جس میں جرنیلوں کو سرکاری ملازم سے زیادہ اہمیت نہ ہو ، جس میں پلاٹوں کی سیاست کی کوئی گنجائش نہ ہو ،

کیا کروں آج دل بہت ہی دکھا ہوا ہے اور بھڑاس نکالنے پر تلا ہوا ہے. یہ جو اپنے آپ کو رہنما اور نہ جانے کیا کیا لکھتے اور سمجھتے ہیں اور سمجھتے ہیں کے ہمارے عقل و شعور کی توہین کریں میں ان سے بیزاری اوربغاوت کا اعلان کرتا ہوں اور ان کو اپنا رہنما ماننے سے انکار کرتا ہوں

FJ

mujtaba-ali said:
باوا جی
اور دوستو…
میرے خیال میں اس کو بات نہیں کرنی آیی آج تک … پی پی پی والے اسی بات پر اتنی آرام سے نکل جاتے ہیں .. یہ تو سادہ سا مسلہ تھا .. لیکن بھایی صاحب نے سیدھا جواب دیا ہی نہیں …. مثلا اگر میں آپ ہوتے تو یہ کہ سکتے تھے … کہ ….. بھایی ایکشن کمیشن کی جو ضرورت تھی اس کے حساب سے جو بنتا تھا بتا دیا … وہ ٹیکس پوچھتے ہیں میں نے بتا دیا … ذاتی دولت کا پوچھتے ہیں بتا دی … اب جو دولت خاندان ک نام ہے یعنی بزنسس کے نام ہے … اس کا نہ وہ پوچھتے ہیں نہ بتانے کے ضرورت ہے ….
اور بھایی جان نے ایک اور بات کی جو ذرا اچھی تھی … کہ ٥ پانچ ہزار بھی زیادہ ہیں ایک سیاست دن کا ان چیزوں سے کوئی لینا دینا نہیں ہونا چاہیے …

hafizmughal said:
A popular pakistan leader but when he will know to make a difference between public speeches and talking on tvs?

Even he is not clear about his directions. Sorry.

Read more...

Transparency International 2009 Report on Pakistan: An Analysis

In its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, the TI said Pakistan’s 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index Score is 2.4, and of the 180 countries and in its ranking as the most corrupt country it has slipped five ranks, from 47 in 2008 to the 42nd most corrupt country in 2009. (In Nawaz Sharif's government in 1999, Pakistan was 13th most corrupt country in the world.)

TI Pakistan Chairman Syed Adil Gilani said TI Pakistan was of the view that terrorism was the direct result of poverty, which had resulted due to corruption, especially the illegal direct, or indirect, rule of armed forces in Pakistan since 1951 to 2007. The endorsements provided to military regimes by a corrupt judiciary were also to be blamed.

Adil said positive impact of the few good governance steps taken by the government would be visible by the next year.

He mentioned the reinstatement of sacked judges by the Prime Minister through an executive order on March 16, declaration by the Supreme Court chief justice of zero tolerance for corruption and the withdrawal of the National Reconciliation Ordinance from the National Assembly as positive steps.

He said TI Pakistan also congratulated the Pakistan Army, which had proved to the world that Pakistan’s military were among the best in the world.

“The elimination of terrorists in Swat in two months is what the US and NATO forces have failed to achieve in 8 years in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has made Pakistan a proud nation,” TI Pakistan said. (Daily Times, 17 Nov 09)

Here is a critical and realistic analysis by Abbas Ather:

Here is another critical analysis by Rauf Klasra in which he compares politicians' corruption with the military rule's corruption in Pakistan:

Read more...

Nawaz Sharif's morality and democracy in Pakistan

The PML-N adopted a highly moral disposition of not condoning corruption through the NRO and maintained that none of its leaders benefited from the NRO. However, the information available on November 12 showed that some PML-N members in Punjab benefitted from the NRO. On the same day the cases were discovered in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) record going back to the year 2000 that accused Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif of money laundering. Some PML-N leaders have described these charges as political victimisation by NAB. Hopefully, they would now view the NAB cases against the PPP leaders in the same manner.

Democracy and politicians —Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi

Both the government and the opposition are strong in verbal commitment to democracy but their political discourse and activities are not always helpful to democracy

The current domestic political situation does not promise a secure future for democracy in Pakistan. If anything, the people’s trust in the political institutions and leadership in power is fast eroding, increasing the space for manoeuvre for state-institutions and non-democratic forces.

Pakistan began the current democratic era with a lot of optimism for the future of democracy for understandable reasons. The relatively fair and free general elections in February 2008 brought forward two genuinely popular parties — the PPP and the PML-N. The regional political parties that acquired salience were willing to cooperate with the nationwide political parties.

Twenty months later, the optimism of the earlier days has waned and a large number of political observers are expressing doubts if the present political arrangements at the federal level can stay intact until the second anniversary. The Zardari-Gilani combine may find it extremely difficult to sustain itself without making drastic changes in personnel at the top and policy management.

These threats are not being posed by the Taliban and other extremist Islamic groups. It is ironic that the threat comes primarily from within the political class that is sharply polarised and different political parties and leaders cannot rise above their narrow partisan interests. Both the government and the opposition are strong in verbal commitment to democracy but their political discourse and activities are not always helpful to democracy. The PPP-led government wants to hold on to power on its terms for as long as possible and use state patronage to advance its partisan agenda. The opposition, especially the PML-N, cannot hide its desire to knock out President Asif Ali Zardari from the presidency and force mid-term elections on Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

The PML-N pursues its confrontation with the government in an election campaign style. The general pattern is to pick up a particular issue and launch a massive political offensive in a now-or-never style. The PML-N’s political discourse on the restoration of the Chief Justice after the PML-N Punjab government was replaced with governor’s rule was non-democratic and highly confrontational. Later, the issue of the trial of General Musharraf was taken up. This was replaced with the Kerry-Lugar bill and then the NRO. The opposition to the NRO was based on the hope that its abolition would revive corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari and reopen criminal proceedings against some MQM activists.

The PML-N adopted a highly moral disposition of not condoning corruption through the NRO and maintained that none of its leaders benefited from the NRO. However, the information available on November 12 showed that some PML-N members in Punjab benefitted from the NRO. On the same day the cases were discovered in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) record going back to the year 2000 that accused Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif of money laundering. Some PML-N leaders have described these charges as political victimisation by NAB. Hopefully, they would now view the NAB cases against the PPP leaders in the same manner.

The political leaders are unable to recognise that their never-ending effort to delegitimise each other undermines the political institutions and processes. The charges they often frame against each other are subsequently used by the military to exclude them from any role in politics.

Another development that adversely affects democracy is the tendency of the opposition to rely more on extra-parliamentary pressures and make only limited use of parliament. For example, the PML-N spearheaded the long march for the restoration of the chief justice but it did not move any resolution or adjournment motion in the National Assembly on this issue. Similarly, its members bitterly criticised the Kerry-Lugar bill (mostly outside parliament) but they never moved a resolution in the National Assembly condemning its provisions or rejecting it altogether.

The main constraint on the capacity of parliament to function as the supreme law-making body and the pivot of power is not necessarily the 17th amendment that enhanced the powers of the president. The constraints are political, which will continue to adversely affect the performance of parliament even if the powers of the president are reduced. The political leaders need to assign primacy to parliament in their political gaming. The National Assembly often faces a quorum problem; its meetings are brief and attendance poor. The National Assembly barely meets the constitutional requirement of minimum working days. The political parties rely more on extra-parliamentary measures, i.e. street protest, press conferences, political talk-shows on private sector television networks, etc, to advance their political agendas.

If the opposition role has not been helpful to democracy, the PPP and its allies have not shown much interest in strengthening the civilian institutions and processes. The political institutions and leaders have lost credibility with the people, mainly because of poor governance and the failure of the government to address their socio-economic problems.

The federal government’s poor management of the key policy issues like the restoration of the chief justice, the sugar crisis, the Kerry-Lugar bill, the NRO, gas load management and two weekly holidays shows that it suffers from poor policy making and management, failure to pre-empt a difficult situation, and a lack of consultation with the stakeholders for policy-making.

The presidency’s constant effort to dominate policymaking and management has exposed the presidency and made it vulnerable to criticism. President Zardari has become more controversial now than was the case when he contested the presidential elections in September 2008.

The presidency appears to rely on the advice of people who have a poor rapport and reputation inside and outside the PPP. The decisions on key issues are taken without paying much attention to the ground political realities. Consequently, the presidency had to backtrack on the restoration of the chief justice and other judges. It was completely out of touch with the domestic political realities when it agreed to the language of some provisions of the Kerry-Lugar bill in the pre-approval stage. The refusal of the coalition partners to support the NRO shows that the presidency did not consult them before sending it to the National Assembly. The unnecessary delay in amending the constitution in the context of the Charter of Democracy has done maximum damage to the credibility of the presidency.

The sugar crisis shows the inability of the presidency and the federal and provincial governments to force the mill owners to bring the sugar to market at a fixed price. The gas load management issue is another example of a self-created problem by not taking the relevant business quarters into confidence.

The opposition and the government need to mend their ways if they want democracy to become viable. Greater responsibility falls on the government, which needs to improve governance relating to the socio-economic problems of the people if it wants to retrieve its credibility at the popular level. The presidency needs to step back from its overstretched role and the prime minister needs to bridge the gap between official rhetoric and performance. The president and the prime minister need to replace some advisers/ministers with people who enjoy better credibility in the PPP and the opposition circles. The political status quo at the federal level has become non-viable.

Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi is a political and defence analyst. Source

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‘Sharifs used paper mill to whiten money’ - Ishaq Dar's confession

By Azaz Syed
Friday, 13 Nov, 2009
Dawn

Senator Ishaq Dar, while accusing Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif of money laundering, also implicated himself by confessing in the court that he had opened fake foreign currency accounts in different international banks.

ISLAMABAD: The Musharraf government prepared a money laundering reference against PML-N leaders Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mian Shahbaz Sharif in 2000 on the basis of a statement recorded by one of their trusted lieutenants, Senator Ishaq Dar, according to a court document seen by Dawn here on Thursday.

Senator Dar’s handwritten statement, given before a magistrate back on April 25, 2000, had alleged that Sharif brothers used the Hudaibya Paper Mills as cover for money laundering during the late 1990s.

The reference was prepared on the orders of then president Pervez Musharraf, but it was shelved after the Sharif brothers went into exile in December of the same year.

The Musharraf government tried to reopen the reference in 2007 after Nawaz Sharif announced his return to the country.

The confessional statement of Senator Ishaq Dar was recorded before a district magistrate in Lahore. He was brought to the court from a jail by Basharat Shahzad, who was then serving as assistant director in the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

According to legal experts, the senator’s deposition was an `irrevocable statement’ as had been recorded under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

Senator Ishaq Dar has always been regarded as one of the closest aides of the Sharif family, and is now also a relative as his son is married to Nawaz Sharif’s younger daughter.

However, the NAB record clearly shows that back in 2000 he had agreed to give a written statement against the Sharifs about their alleged involvement in money laundering.

The top PML-N leaders had hit a rough patch by then as some of their lieutenants were busy developing a new political system for Gen Pervez Musharraf after his Oct 1999 military coup.

In the statement, Ishaq Dar accused Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif of money laundering in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case.

At one point in the 43-page statement, Mr Dar said that on the instructions of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif, ‘I opened two foreign currency accounts in the name of Sikandara Masood Qazi and Talat Masood Qazi with the foreign currency funds provided by the Sharif family in the Bank of America by signing as Sikandara Masood Qazi and Talat Masood Qazi’.

He said that all instructions to the bank in the name of these two persons were signed by him under the orders of ‘original depositors’, namely Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mian Shahbaz Sharif.

‘The foreign currency accounts of Nuzhat Gohar and Kashif Masood Qazi were opened in Bank of America by Naeem Mehmood under my instructions (based on instructions of Sharifs) by signing the same as Nuzhat Gohar and Kashif Masood Qazi.’

The document shows Dar stated that besides these foreign currency accounts, a previously opened foreign currency account of Saeed Ahmed, a former director of First Hajvari Modaraba Co and close friend of Dar, and of Mussa Ghani, the nephew of Dar’s wife, were also used to deposit huge foreign currency funds provided by ‘the Sharif family’ to offer them as collateral to obtain different direct and indirect credit lines.

Senator Dar had disclosed that the Bank of America, Citibank, Atlas Investment Bank, Al Barka Bank and Al Towfeeq Investment Bank were used under the instructions of the Sharif family.

Interestingly enough, Ishaq Dar also implicated himself by confessing in court that he — along with his friends Kamal Qureshi and Naeem Mehmood — had opened fake foreign currency accounts in different international banks.

Mr Dar said an amount of $3.725 million in Emirates Bank, $ 8.539 million in Al Faysal Bank and $2.622 million were later transferred in the accounts of the accounts Hudaibya Paper Mills.

He said that the entire amount in these banks finally landed in the accounts of the paper mills.

The Hudaibiya Paper Mills case is still pending in the National Accountability Bureau.
If it is opened again, the Sharif brothers may be in for a rude shock: a confidant is to blame for the albatross around their necks.

In this regard Dawn made repeated efforts to contact Senator Dar on telephone, but without luck as his mobile number was switched off and he did not reply to text messages.

However, a PML-N spokesman Siddiq ul Farooq alleged that the signed statement was extracted from Mr Ishaq Dar under duress.


‘NAB report dents Nawaz Sharif’s stance on NRO’

LAHORE: Rashed Rahman, renowned analyst and Editor of the Daily Times, has said that the recent money laundering scandal of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif revealed in the documents of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has damaged the so-called moral stance of the Sharifs on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Talking to a private television channel, he said that no body had the moral high grounds amongst the political class of the Pakistan, as they were all involved in scandals including the Sharifs. Rahman said that PML-N leader Ishaq Dar had confessed to the money laundering of the Sharifs viz-a-viz the Hudabia Paper Mills case, saying he could not deny the confessional statement of Sharif’s confidant and accountant-en-chief, Ishaq Dar.

Rahman said the same statement of Ishaq Dar was lying with NAB since 2000, and wondered as to why this report had been suppressed for so long. (Daily Times)
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French submarine deal and President Zardari

By Abdul Nishapuri

Thanks to the right-wing media's persistence in character assassination of Bhuttos and now President Zardari, it’s a scandal and a label that refuses to go away. Allegations of kickbacks on government deals have been 'rediscovered' and 'repropagated' to haunt the beleaguered president.

However, the real motives about this international campaign against the democratic government of Pakistan are not hard to understand. Given that instead of hammering the Taliban terrorists from both sides, NATO forces have been quietly vacating their posts on the Afghanistan side of the border while Pakistan Army is courageously dismantling the Taliban - Al Qaeda network in Waziristan, one can see an international malicious campaign not only against the democratic government but also against the Pakistan Army.

It has been alleged by a French newspaper that in 1994 Mr Zardari received up to $4.3 million in kickbacks. An amount of $49.5 million is what the Pakistan military allegedly received as part of the same deal. From this standard if Mr Zardari is Mr 10%, then Pakistan military is allegedly much more than Mr 100% given that its share was more than 10 times Mr Zardari's share.

There is also another element in this malicious campaign at least in the context of Pakistani media. Pakistan's predominantly right-wing media is currently busy in character assassination of President Zardari because of his commitment and courage to fight Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan. Therefore, while pro-Taliban journalists and anchors conveniently ignore issues such as the fact that right-wing opposition leaders such as Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif are involved in money laundering (according to one of their close associates and a high-profile PML-N leader, Ishaq Dar), something which has been recorded in NAB Court documents in Pakistan, the media trial has been dedicated for President Zardari only. (read Sharif brothers accused of money laundering, Dawn, 12 November 2009).

Govt rejects Zardari kickback allegations
By Syed Irfan Raza
Thursday, 12 Nov, 2009 (Dawn)

ISLAMABAD: The government has contradicted a report published in a local and a French newspaper that accuses President Asif Ali Zardari and military authorities of having received millions of dollars in kickbacks from the 1994 sale of three French submarines to Pakistan Navy.

‘This is actually new regurgitation of an old story which was already contradicted by French President Mr Sarkozy on July 11 this year as ‘untrue’, ‘malicious’ and ‘mischievous’. It is part of a media trial of PPP leadership which we condemn and dismiss with the contempt it deserves,’ Presidential Spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.

According to the report in French daily Liberation, President Zardari is suspected of having received millions of dollars in kickbacks from the 1994 submarines deal.

In addition, investigators believe that the non-payment of the full amount of the agreed kickbacks may have led to the death of 11 French nationals in a 2002 terror attack in Karachi.

The newspaper says it has acquired documents that show that Mr Zardari allegedly received $4.3 million in kickbacks from the sale of three Agosta-90 submarines for 825 million euros (currently $1.237 billion).

The documents which were sent to the Pakistani National Accountability Bureau (NAB) by British authorities in April 2001 indicate that Mr Zardari received several large payments into his Swiss bank accounts from a Lebanese businessman, Abdulrahman Al-Assir, in 1994 and 1995.

Commenting on the report, the spokesman said the purchase of equipment by the armed forces of Pakistan was done through a proper competitive process under the supervision of the Ministry of Defence.

‘Mr Zardari was neither the president nor the prime minister nor the defence minister when the submarines referred to in the news item were purchased. The then ‘Admiral’ responsible for this purchase was investigated by the Accountability Bureau. But no allegation of misdoing could be established by the investigation authorities against Mr Zardari,’ the spokesman said.

Regarding the allegation about the killing of French nationals in Karachi, the spokesman said that President Zardari was in prison in 2002 when the unfortunate incident took place.

‘This indicates the motive behind levelling such baseless allegations. How can a person in prison arrange such high-profile killings,’ he added.

‘Allegations of kickbacks and involvement in the killing of French nationals against the person of the president are, therefore, highly unfortunate and seem to be part of a malicious campaign launched against the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,’ the spokesman said.

The Liberation report quoted a former executive of the French naval company DCN as saying that French authorities had chosen Al-Assir to act as intermediary in the deal and he allegedly deposited a total of $1.3 million in Mr Zardari’s bank accounts between Aug 15 and Aug 30, 1994, one month before the submarine contract was signed, and then $1.2 million and $1.8 million one year later.

According to DCN employees who testified in the terror attack investigation, the kickbacks to Pakistan in the deal totalled 10 per cent of the purchase amount, with 6 per cent, or $49.5 million, going to the military and 4 per cent, or 33 million euros, being funnelled to political circles.

In 2001, Pakistani Navy’s former chief of staff Mansour-ul-Haq was arrested for his part in the deal and forced to repay $7 million, the daily says.

Legal proceedings against Mr Zardari were dropped in April 2008, several months before he was elected president. He was imprisoned from 1997 to 2004 on corruption charges unrelated to this affair.

The president, according to the report, is one of his country’s richest men, with a net worth estimated at $1.8 billion.

The ongoing investigation in Paris into the May 8, 2002, terrorist attack that killed 11 DCN employees in Karachi may shed new light on the submarine purchase.

The victims were in Karachi to complete work on the three submarines. According to French media, the magistrate looking into the bombing has rejected the theory that it was the work of Al Qaeda.

He is now considering the possibility that it was carried out by Pakistanis, either because only 85 per cent of the agreed kickbacks to politicians had been paid or because of negotiations carried out by French authorities to sell submarines to India.

In any case, some French parliamentarians are now demanding to be allowed to look into how the submarine contract with Pakistan was negotiated and executed.

Courts influenced by pro-Taliban agencies?

However, according to Amir Mir, it may be recalled that in 2003, an Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) had found two men linked to a jehadi group - Harkatul Mujahideen Al Alami - responsible for the murders, although they have since been acquitted by the Sindh High Court due to a lack of proof.
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Good governance in Punjab? Chief secretary blamed for land grabbing

Punjab chief secretary blamed for land grabbing
The News, Thursday, November 12, 2009

ISLAMABAD: The Chief Secretary Punjab Javed Mahmood has blamed for land grabbing in district Qusoor.

In a media briefing in National Press Club here, Barrister Shahid Masood said chief secretary Punjab made changes in 160 years old record with the assistance of revenue department and the property case is under trial in the court.

He claimed that chief secretary did contempt of court by forcefully possessing the property with the help of police and government machinery despite stay order of the court.

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Birds of a feather...

Birds of a feather flock together. Need some empirical evidence?

Here is a video of the union of the military and civil establishment responsible for the current plight of Pakistan. The event is the wedding ceremony of ex-DG Rangers Hussain Mehdi's son.

I wasted precious 3 minutes and 20 seconds of my life in watching this video clip. You want to try that?

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In the name of God, go. Let our next military saviour step in.

By Abdul Nishapuri

Friends of Taliban in Pakistani media are continuously and shamelessly suggesting that politicians are corrupt, and that democracy has failed to deliver good governance in Pakistan.

Here are two different perspectives on this topic: The first perspective is offered by Ansar Abbasi and Roedad Khan who suggest that in the interests of the country, President Asif Zardari must quit his position sooner than later.

The second perspective is offered by Nazir Naji who deconstructs the myth that politicians are corrupt whereas military dictators are the saviours of Pakistan.

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In the name of God, go

Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Roedad Khan (The writer has been a key supporter of the military dictatorships of Generals Ayub, Yahya and Zia-ul-Haq.)

Some leaders sail with the wind until the decisive moment when their conscience and events propel them into the centre of the storm. Altaf Hussain's fateful decision not to support Zardari on the infamous NRO issue was a masterly stroke in the game of politics. Otto von Bismarck famously said that political genius entailed hearing the hoofbeat of history and then rising to catch the galloping horseman by the coattails. This is what Altaf Bhai has done, to the surprise of friends and foes alike.

Altaf Bhai's friendly advice to President Asif Zardari to sacrifice his exalted office for the sake of the country and democracy reminds me of the fateful "Norway Debate” in the House of Commons in May 1940. Britain was at war, facing the full might of Nazi Germany. In the backdrop of the dismal picture of failure and retreat which confronted the nation, L S Amery, MP, delivered the historic speech which led to the resignation of Prime Minister Chamberlain and elevation of Churchill as prime minister. "I cast prudence to the winds," Amery wrote in his diary, "and ended full-out with my Cromwellian injunction to the government… 'You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go.' "

"I say solemnly," Lloyd George who followed Amery, declared, "that the prime minister should give an example of sacrifice because there is nothing which can contribute more to victory in this war than that he should sacrifice his Seals of Office." President Lyndon Johnson had won an enormous election victory and proposed civil rights legislations and Great Society. Less than three years later, broken by the Vietnam War, realising the nation no longer trusted him, and unable to appear in public, he announced he would not seek re-election. What is President Zardari going to do?

All presidents fall from their honeymoon highs, but no elected president in history has fallen this low this fast. All presidents are opposed, of course, and many are disliked; but few suffer widespread attacks on their personal integrity or veracity. President Zardari is one of those few. Zardari knows well the man responsible for the trouble he is in. He looks at him everyday while shaving.

Talking about despotic rulers, like himself, Mussolini said just before he faced the firing squad: "Have you ever seen a prudent, calculating dictator, they all become mad, they lose their equilibrium in the clouds, quivering ambitions and obsessions – and it is actually that mad passion which brought them to where they are." Absolute power, unrestrained by law, must make people mad. Power is heady substance. How else can one explain Zardari's erratic behaviour and his massive blunders?

Sometimes, once in a long while, you get a chance to serve your country. Today President Zardari is the Atlas on whose shoulders the state of Pakistan rests! Few people had been offered the opportunity that lay open to Mr Zardari. He blew it. No wonder, the country is gripped by fear and uncertainty. If Zardari remains in command of the ship of state, we will all go down like the Titanic.

At a time when the country is at war, Mr Zardari, the Supreme Commander, spends almost his entire existence in the confines of a bunker – which he seldom leaves these days. Mortally afraid of his own people and the sword of the NRO hanging over his head, he is more concerned about protecting himself and his power rather than protecting the country or the people of Pakistan.

Mr Zardari is so swathed in his inner circle that he has completely lost touch with the people and reality. He wanders around among small knots of persons who agree with him. His blunders are too obvious, his behaviour too erratic, his vision too blurred. He has painted himself into a corner.

A year after he captured the presidency, Zardari seems to have lost his "mandate of heaven." At a time when leadership is desperately needed to cope with matters of vital importance to the very survival of the country, Pakistan is led by a president who lacks both credibility and integrity. What is worse, he seems oblivious to the realities of his awesome responsibilities and is only interested in perpetuating himself.

What is it that people really expected from their president in a national crisis? It is something that the national psyche needs. The people, especially those in the war zone, expect the occupant of the Presidency to share their suffering, to assure those trapped in the crossfire that they will survive; that they will get through it. He has to be a Chief Executive who is in command, who reacts promptly, who alleviates human suffering. Above all, he must inspire confidence and hope. And so, he has to be that larger-than-life figure, which Zardari is not. No president and no prime minister can govern from a bunker.

These are critical days in Pakistan. Isn't it a great tragedy that at a time like this there is a loveless relationship between the rulers and the ruled? There is no steady hand on the tiller of government. The survival of the country, its sovereignty, its stunted democracy, its hard-won independent judiciary, all are on the line. Tragically, in our political life, we prefer to wait until things reach the emergency room. Each man feels what is wrong, and knows what is required to be done, but none has the will or the courage or the energy needed to speak up and say enough is enough. All have lofty ideals, hopes, aspirations, desires, which produce no visible or durable results, like old men's passions ending in impotence.

"Fortune is a fickle courtesan," Napoleon said on the eve of the battle of Borodino. "I have always said so and now I am beginning to experience it." When I watched Zardari a few days ago on TV, he was visibly undergoing a similar experience and looked like the captain of a sinking ship, the wind of defeat in his hair. How fortunes fluctuate! The calendar says Zardari will be around for another four years, but the writing on the wall shows the party is almost over.

For Mr Zardari, the accidental president of Pakistan, the moment of truth has arrived. His presidency is collapsing all around us; the wolf is at the door.

The presidency is more than an honour, it is more than an office. It is a charge to keep. Asif Zardari's sudden ascension to presidency caused panic among the people. Thrown there by accident, he is grotesquely unsuited for his position. Henry Adams once wrote that the essence of leadership in the presidency is "a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port to seek." President Zardari grasped the helm more then a year ago but the country still doesn't know whether he has an inner compass, or a course to steer or a port to seek. It is now abundantly clear that he is not worthy of the trust placed in him by his people. He carries a serious baggage, dogged for years by charges of corruption until they were abruptly dropped under the NRO, which he tried to get validated through the Parliament but failed. No democrat should come to power through such an array of backroom machinations, deals with Generals or foreign powers. No wonder, too many people reject Zardari's political legitimacy.

The Zardari aura is crumbling. His star is already burning out, but he will stop at nothing to keep his lock on power.

The writer is a former federal secretary. Email: roedad@comsats.net.pk, www.roedadkhan.com (The News)

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Ansar Abbasi:

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Nazir Naji

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