EDITORIAL: Much about the unpleasant clash between police forces and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers outside the Lahore office of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday could and should have been easily avoided. Firstly, why NAB could not obtain answers to their queries in writing from Maryam Nawaz instead of asking her come and reply in person? Her written reply could have been verified from the federal Board of Revenue that has her tax returns. The need for her physical appearance would only be necessary if her reply is not supported by her tax declarations. Secondly, why did Maryam feel that she needed to be accompanied by a fleet of supporters? Surely, it was her way of making a political statement about the strength of the party rank and file at a time when observers and analysts had all but written it off as a major opposition force. But considering the fact that she had been summoned to explain the alleged illegality of a land acquisition deal on her part, clearly this was neither the time nor the place to resort to such politics. And, thirdly, why did NAB have its office guarded by hundreds of policemen armed with anti-riot gear? It seems everybody made sure that they played their part in providing just the spark that was needed to set the powder keg alight. The result was that party workers and policemen threw stones at and injured each other, Maryam's meeting was called off, and a huge and completely unnecessary traffic jam was caused that completely blocked the entire area for hours and left people frustrated and angry.
Under the circumstances, it was only natural for Maryam to point to the crack in the windscreen of her bulletproof land cruiser and allege that the Bureau called her there to try to harm her. And who would really have been surprised that all this unpleasantness forced the rest of the opposition to express strong pro-PML-N, anti-PTI sentiments as well? Even Maulana Fazlur Rahman found it an opportune moment to weigh in on everything, and it's no surprise that he used the occasion to call on all the opposition to unite yet again and topple the government. And talk of a Multi Party Conference (MPC), which had all but died down much to the government's satisfaction, has again started doing rounds in the headlines. So an exercise that was meant to showcase impartial accountability has instead opened a can of worms. Sure, even a combined opposition would lack the teeth to send the government packing at this point in time, but it could keep bringing up just enough trouble to make sure that the government at least suffers a fair share of headaches in the three years it has remaining.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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