A national dialogue?

Byline: Sakib Sherani

OVER the last few weeks, calls from influential members of civil society have been growing for a 'grand national dialogue'. This appears to be a result of the growing political polarisation in the country, and a shrillness in the public discourse introduced by the PTI government since it came to power. However, this also coincides with much of the mainstream political opposition's leadership facing an accountability process for some fairly visible amassment of largely unexplained wealth that has happened during their respective tenures in public office. As a result, the opposition has bandied together and been forced into a 'do-or-die' situation, taking fairly extreme and unprecedented positions.

The need to lower the political temperature in the country has been obvious over the last two years. To move the legislative process forward, to introduce fundamental reforms in the polity and the economy, to address the issues facing the ordinary citizen - all of these require the parliamentary process to work, including inter alia debate, discussion, political bargaining and accommodation of opposing views and (to some extent) of political manifestos and legislative agendas. There is thus an established need to create political 'space' in a parliamentary democracy.

The political polarisation has also been driven by a flawed process of accountability that has strengthened the suspicion that it is being used yet again for a degree of political engineering as well as victimisation. This suspicion or charge is not unfounded in the Pakistani context, unfortunately. The recent revelations by Kaveh Moussavi, the Iranian-born British lawyer who headed the international asset-recovery firm Broadsheet, which had an agreement with NAB from 2000 to 2003, is a damning indictment of the true objectives of the accountability process under Gen Musharraf and the way NAB has conducted itself since.

In fact, 'accountability' has been used as a Trojan horse not just by the establishment but by elected civilian governments too (Ehtesab Bureau of Nawaz Sharif or the witch-hunts by FIA under PPP) for similar questionable designs. These shenanigans have fatally undermined the credibility of the process in Pakistan and caused long-term damage via an array of mostly unintended consequences (moral hazard and double jeopardy amongst them).

Fundamental reforms are needed to change the 'system of spoils', not save it.

There is thus an urgent need to make...