#dnaEdit: Post Panama Paper leak, tension between Pakistan PM Sharif and General Sharif

While dismissing a lieutenant general, a major general, three brigadiers and a colonel after a court of inquiry found them guilty of corruption, army chief Raheel Sharif said that there is need to combat corruption across the board. Media in Pakistan has rightly seen this as a hint to politicians facing charges of corruption, especially Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as the names of his relatives figured in the leaked Panama Papers of parking money in tax havens through shell companies. PM Sharif addressing the nation on national television, in response to mounting pressure from Pakistan that he should step down, said that he would resign if charges are proved against him. He said that he would ask the chief justice of Pakistan to set up a judicial inquiry commission to look into the off-shore accounts of all citizens. He is also reported to have said that he is answerable to the Allah (God) and the awaam (People). 

The Prime Minister’s retort has special resonance in the political theatre of Pakistan because of the old jibe that three As dominate the country — Allah, Army and America. General Sharif’s anti-corruption speech is being counted as a hint that the army may be tempted to intervene in the politics of the country once again, and Sharif’s counter of Allah and Awaam are seen to have symbolic resonance in a country where shadow-boxing always precedes a crisis. As a matter of fact, when the Prime Minister went to London for medical check-up, rumours were rife that there were moves afoot to replace him, and that his trip to London was a bid to escape arrest.

It has to be noted that even as Panama Papers story broke out and the PM’s relatives’ names figured in the list, he had announced that he would set up an inquiry commission which would carry out a fair probe. His televised speech on Friday was the second one on the same subject. It can be argued, and with justification, that there is nothing unusual in a vibrant democracy if the opposition demands the resignation of the Prime Minister at the whiff of charges of corruption, and that the PM’s response was indeed the norm. But sceptics tend to read more into the pow-wow which is de rigueur in a democracy. They see in them dark hints of democracy being interrupted yet again in Pakistan.  

There is no doubt about an unstated tension between PM Sharif and General Sharif. It is not the first time that the Prime Minister had a run in with the army. Last time round it was with the then army chief, Pervez Musharraf. It ended in a coup and military rule. But Musharraf had to give way because the tide of popular opinion at home and abroad turned against him. It is quite possible that General Sharif has no intention of following in the footsteps of Musharraf. 

What is of critical importance is the fact that, for the first time, it has been officially revealed that there are instances of corruption in the upper echelons of the force. It was a known fact that there was corruption in the army but it could not be talked about in official channels. General Sharif has made it clear that there are cases of corruption and he would deal with them firmly. Would the army want to step out and fight corruption in the political system as well? It is an ominous question.