Asif Ali Zardari arrested on corruption charges: Why Pak PMs and Presidents have such trouble completing a term
The word ‘corruption’ has become as synonymous with Pakistan as the word ‘terrorism’. 'Contempt of court' is a hot favourite too.
At this point, a former Pakistan PM or President being arrested on charges of corruption isn’t even a surprise anymore. Just a few days ago, Asif Ali Zardari had vowed to remove Imran Khan’s government and end the misery of Pakistanis. He had accused Imran Khan’s government of price hikes and failing to generate employment. He had accused Imran Khan's government of causing every misery possible to the people of Pakistan.
But, while Zardari was criticising Imran Khan’s government, he perhaps forgot about his own deeds. So call it poetic justice, or karma doing its job, as of now, less than a week later, Zardari is behind bars — for allegedly carrying out suspicious transactions worth Rs. 4.4 billion rupees through fictitious bank accounts. If this isn’t a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is.
Pakistani PMs and Presidents are actually the last lot that should call people out for being corrupt or indulging in malpractices. The nation was just recovering from former PM Nawaz Sharif being sentenced to serve seven years in prison, all thanks to his alleged involvement in the Panama case and the Steel Mills graft issue.
But why is it that most Pakistani PMs and Presidents seem to be so heavily involved in corruption scandals — and contempt of court? To put things in perspective, Nawaz Sharif was impeached due to his alleged involvement and reported corruption in the Panama Papers case. The PM before him, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, was dismissed over contempt of court charges. The PM before him, Yousaf Raza Gillani was disqualified from his seat in Parliament over, errr, you guessed right, contempt of court charges.
At this point, it seems like all former Pakistani PMs could have a Whatsapp group called ‘Bad Boyzz’ because their scandals outnumber their achievements. I bet most of you didn’t know this but Shaukat Aziz, who was the Pakistani PM from August 2004 to November 2007, is the only Pakistani PM who could complete his Parliamentary term — the rest were either dismissed, or resigned before their term was completed.
Imran Khan, the incumbent Prime Minister, is likely to follow Aziz’s footsteps, some say, and become the second Pakistani PM to complete his term — unless another corruption scandal or contempt of court charge pops up.
What puts all Pakistani PMs and Presidents in self-destruct mode? Why do they all go down the same path of corruption, dirty politics — and contempt of court? Pakistan is the 117th least corrupt nation in the world out of 180 countries as per Transparency International. That's a very, very big 'least corrupt.'
The ranking won’t surprise you though if you look at the history of corruption of Pakistani PMs and Presidents. With Asif Ali Zardari being locked up now, it seems to cynics that Imran Khan can only laugh for so long.
Don't blame us, Imran sahib, that gaddi itself is torn. The clock is ticking and who knows, perhaps your tenure's time is almost up as well? Going by how Pakistan seems to function, another 'corruption scandal' could well hit the esteemed office.
Or, of course, contempt of court.