Accountability of elected representatives is vital for the success of the democratic system. However this principle has had little success when applied to the Pakistani democratic experiment. The fact that 68 legislators from the national and provincial assemblies were suspended on Tuesday by the Election Commission for not submitting details of their assets and liabilities strengthens this view.

Political victimisation can be ruled out because among the suspended parliamentarians are members of the PPP, the ruling party, while lawmakers from the PML-N and other political parties also feature in the list. Serving provincial ministers are among those whose membership of their respective legislatures has been suspended. The step was taken when lawmakers failed to meet the EC’s deadline for filing the required information. They will remain suspended until details are submitted.

What do these men and women have to hide? Or were they just too lazy to file the statements? Perhaps they did not consider the process of personal accountability worth their while. Regardless of the legislators’ motives for not sharing the information with the EC, these suspensions speak of a larger disease afflicting society as a whole and the ruling classes in particular: we consider ourselves above the law. The issue becomes serious when lawmakers fail to submit themselves to scrutiny, especially when it comes to matters involving money. As it is politicians do not enjoy a good reputation with the public, and this is mostly due to their own misdeeds. But the hypocrisy becomes intolerable when political parties that keep harping on about democracy and rule of law fail to instil respect for these ideals in their own legislators.

The suspended legislators should submit the details of their assets without delay, while hopefully the EC’s action will have a sobering effect not only on lawmakers but other public servants as well.