It is a common misnomer in Pakistan’s society that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is a schematic setup to intersperse with the opposition parties and disparage the political leaders whenever needed. The other side of the coin is exactly contrary to this misconception. This constitutionally established institution under National Accountability Ordinance 1999 takes huge pains for curbing the economic, political and financial malpractices using prescribed procedures and legitimate authority.
The present wave of accountability in Pakistan is a huge blow to those who are corrupt, who launder money, who exchange benefits unlawfully and who make wrong use of the authority state gives them. The foul players of Panama case, fake accounts case, and mega money laundering cases have been put behind the bars and their facilitators are delivering so-called statements against conduct of NAB. The experts of earning beyond means are afraid of their destiny now. This is how NAB is putting efforts to regulate both the national economy and society.
Accountability fixes responsibility. It is what keeps individuals and institutions connected to a controlled fabric. The parents are held responsible if they do not educate their children. A student is accountable for his academic performance and learning outcomes. Similarly, the social animal is accountable for all derelictions.
In countries where the mechanism of accountability is sound, the economies preserve features of efficiency, equity, equality, transparency and security. All of the strong democracies of the world share a common feature of strong system of accountability. China gives death penalty to the corrupt ministers. The United States puts the culprits to the jail for up to twenty years with recovery of the misappropriated sum of money plus a fine as decided by the special court.
Money and assets is all about valued numbers. Let’s look at the qualitative side of the society NAB is trying to repair by making people achieve excellence in practising nationalism, truthfulness, fair play and mutual reverence. From Prime Minister of the country to a clerk in some public office everyone is answerable.
Accountability promotes social justice all around whereby a judge has to be answerable for his character and decrees, a public executor safeguards public interest, and an executive department hates being charged for irresponsibility. Democracy is the custodian of public rights; whereas, accountability becomes the spirit of democratic values. Accountability courts are performing well and billions of rupees, thus, have been recovered so far.
Rule of law is at the core of a society. In the absence of rule of law, democracy fails. Rule of law implies that there is no discrimination on the basis of group, sect, gender, status or religion. NAB has got the guts to arrest the powerfully corrupt people, thus, elevating the level of the rule of law by undermining the vicious roots of economic terrorism.
Uncontrolled power can be dangerous. The misuse of power in the form of cronyism and nepotism is the result of non-existent accountability. The rich exploit the poor through power of money. Some policemen ask for bribery through their absolute power abuse. To prevent such misconducts, a strong accountability check by NAB can curtail the illegal use of power. This accountability will upscale the public trust in its institutions and resultantly will lead to democratic stability.
Stronger the NAB, stronger the nation! The Prime Minister of Pakistan is the biggest advocate of an independent National Accountability Bureau that can exercise full spectrum of its jurisdictions across the board. In order to perform in an upright way, NAB needs to show greater transparency without getting influenced by the political or institutional agents.
The ‘fear factor’ associated with NAB is yet another misinterpretation. The perpetrators only feel suffocated while thinking about the dark clouds of accountability hovering upon their heads. For the innocents, this fear actually represents NAB’s authority to do well.
What if there is no element of accountability in a society? What will happen to democracy in the absence of accountability mechanism? Indeed, all in the position of power will be happy. They will feel relieved from the responsibility of being answerable. Absence of accountability will relax them while exercising their authority. In this context, they can exploit anybody fearlessly.
NAB protects rights of the state by conducting investigations and has the authority to issue arrest warrants against ones who might be involved in economic and financial corruption. The cases of such persons are dealt in the special accountability courts. NAB is one of the prime institutions for carrying out effective accountability procedures and techniques.
Empowering NAB could ultimately turn Pakistanis into a successful nation by hampering massive corruption and economic uncertainty. Imperative steps taken by NAB could appease the loads of debt taken from IMF and other international consortiums.
The writer is an researcher and journalist. Can be reached at waheedmba@yahoo.com
