Some unconfirmed reports say Attorney General (AG) Malik Muhammad Qayyum may have met PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in Dubai and offered him to resolve differences with the government to share power in the next set-up or the cases of corruption against him could be reopened. If such a meeting has taken place, which both the PPP and the government have denied, it means that the government has once again sprung into action to cobble together a complaint future government that is also acceptable to the world community, especially the US. The alleged contact between the two sides comes about two weeks before the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) expires on February 5. The AG, a television channel reported, told Zardari that the government could re-issue the ordinance if the PPP reconciled with President Musharraf.

The controversy surrounding the NRO has resurfaced with the publication of news about this meeting, irrespective of whether it actually took place or not. President Musharraf promulgated the NRO in October last year after it was approved by the cabinet. The NRO provides amnesty to those politicians who have been active in Pakistan’s politics between 1985 and 1999. At the time of its imposition, questions were raised about the motive behind the issuance of the NRO. The ordinance was analysed in the backdrop of the talks between President Musharraf and the PPP. It was seen as a Benazir-specific law to absolve her from the corruption charges that had arguably forced her into self-exile about eight years ago. Believed to be the result of pressure from the US, the NRO prepared the ground for Benazir’s return to the country and at the same time removed hurdles in the president’s re-election. The NRO became one of the reasons for the PPP to distance itself from the movement for the restoration of judges because, once restored, the judges’ axe of justice would have fallen on the law, thereby re-opening the cases against Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari. The existence of NRO questions the very justification of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) that has earned notoriety of being a partisan organisation over the years. NAB has been criticised for tightening its noose around those who happened to be in the opposition while it spared those who were on the government’s side. The government’s decision to abolish the Special Operation Division (SOD) of NAB in April last year had caused ripples in the political circles.

After assuming power, accountability featured as one of General Musharraf’s seven-point agenda that was later compromised as politicians with questionable track record were inducted into the government set-up. The NRO damages the credibility of the government’s rhetoric of across the board accountability of politicians, leaving the society at the mercy of corrupt institutions and politicians. This blows the lid off the government’s claims of ensuring accountability and transparency. The blanket amnesty granted to the politicians violates Article 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan that says that all citizens are “entitled to equal protection of law”. The government’s discriminatory approach in dealing with the issue of accountability has not only made it suspicious in the eyes of the people but has also eroded its image in the world. The international institutions like the Amnesty International have been pointing out the rising level of corruption in Pakistan during the last few years. It would cause further damage to Pakistan’s image if political expediency is allowed to tinker with the principle of undiluted across the board accountability.

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