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Last year’s Panama Papers leak not only exposed the truth behind the corrupt and swindling ways of Nawaz Sharif but also the person he really is.
It turns out that behind his false facade of ‘selfless, passionate aam aadmi, father, husband, and, brother who loves nothing more than his countrymen, and who is quick to rise from the ashes like a phoenix (despite being ousted repeatedly)’, Sharif is really nothing more than a self-involved, self-interested individual actor who has been taking this country for a ride for decades.
And, in a great twist of irony, on Saturday, hours after being disqualified as Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif finally decided to take us all on a literal ride. Setting off on a most absurd and excessive road trip with a cavalcade of [# of cars] traveling the 380 km from the nation’s capital, Islamabad, to his hometown, Lahore, while Sharif’s journey would’ve made his flashy Saudi friends proud, it only proved to the world just how asinine, self-obsessed and out-of-control he has become.
The self-professed point behind this hijinks was for Sharif to console and be with his supporters and to rally together as a nation in protest of a biased verdict. The way Sharif chose to do this was by making grand stops along his beloved motorway, holding rallies with his groupies and hurling insults at all those who were within a hundred-mile political radius from the Supreme Court decision (i.e. the Pak Army, Imran Khan, etc.).
Fine and fair because any decent democracy gives you the freedom of speech and freedom of association, right? Sure, yes. Except that the Supreme Court, in reviewing the leaked Panama Papers and the Prime Minister’s alleged involvement in grand tax evasion scheme, did precisely what it has constitutionally been set up to do.
So, for Sharif to condemn the verdict against him by going on the lam, exhibiting anti-social political behavior, and inciting mob mentality and chaos across the country shows a reckless and wanton disregard for the rule of law. And, to add even more injury to insult, for Sharif to casually dismiss as an accident the death of a nine-year old boy who was run over by Sharif’s many vehicles is not deeply disturbing, it is egregious, and it is criminal.
The boy, who had been accompanying his father to the side of the highway where hundreds had gathered to watch the Sharif cavalcade pass by, is so tragic and devoid of sense, I am compelled to address it before addressing the Supreme Court’s constitutional right to reach the decision that it did in the Panama Papers case.
Sharif (and his party people and family members) very briefly addressed the death hours after it happened. In passing, at one of his rallies, Sharif touched on the murdered boy as a sad yet unavoidable accident. Except, the boy’s death was not an accident and was very much avoidable. Hitting a trash can when reversing your car is an accident. Mowing down a boy while driving full-speed on a highway packed with people is not an accident. It is murder.
But, sadly, as all the events of the past few days tell us, the law is something that Sharif thinks he is above and beyond. But just like being prime minister does not make you immune from being held accountable for looting and defrauding the country, having one of the men who is taking direct orders from you kill someone in the process should not absolve you of all accountability either.
So, no, Nawaz Sharif cannot simply dismiss this dead young boy as a casualty in the pursuit of justice and democracy. Because what the Supreme Court’s verdict from last week has told us, if anything, is that this country can and should start its slow pedal towards accountability. And I cannot think of a better place to start than by discouraging Nawaz Sharif’s antisocial, solipsistic behaviors which bring me to my next point.
If Sharif truly loves this country as much as he claims to, then he must publicly and fully accept the decision rendered against him by the country’s highest court. He should do this for no reason other than to preserve and promote a respect for the rule of law and for the Constitution.
So far, what we have seen from Sharif, in the aftermath of the verdict, is an embarrassingly noisy public breakdown. A road trip, numerous rallies, and, most recently, filing a review of the Supreme Court’s decision are all signs indicating that Sharif thinks he can make reality bend to his will. Never mind that the very purpose of a Supreme Court is to do exactly what it did last week.
The Constitution sets up three command centers: the legislature, the executive branch, and the judiciary. And, the purpose of the judiciary (i.e. the Supreme Court) is to make sure that the other command centers (i.e. the Prime Minister’s office) do not fall prey to populist Caprice and demagogic excess. In other words, the very function of the Supreme Court is to review (but not make) law and to serve as a buffer and gatekeeper.
Admittedly, there are cracks in the Supreme Court’s verdict. Cracks which indicate a disturbing lack of neutrality and impartiality. And while no one in this country wants that to be true, Nawaz Sharif himself cannot try and be the one to prove it. Why? Because for someone like Nawaz Sharif to attack the credibility of one of this country’s most important institutions is a dangerous recipe for renegade political and social behavior.
Sharif would have us believe that his acts of protest are not motivated by self-interested or naked self-ambition. He wants us to blindly accept that his upset over the Supreme Court verdict is not political but due to ethical and moral considerations. But, truth is, these small but numerous acts of protest are highly flammable and can too quickly spiral into something well beyond our control.
Because by chipping away at the influence of the Supreme Court, politicians like Sharif will only become more individualistic and unaccountable over time. And by demonizing and disempowering an esteemed judiciary, politicians like Sharif will only lead us towards a quicker political disintegration. And by feeding our anger and manipulating our emotions, politicians like Sharif are only threatening more political disruption – a price that our future generations will have to pay in the form of even more governmental dysfunction.
