Ehteshamul Haq

Senior Journalist/Analyst

think there is absolutely no impact on our politics as they are irrelevant in context of the politics of the country. As a society we have accepted corruption as the new way of life. For instance if someone were to say, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif eats up funds, he also forks out funds for public projects and if Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zadari is a friend of friends, he splashes out tax payers’s money on obliging his friends.

They are acceptable in our society. The same is the case with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Pakistan (PTI) led government where, except for a bunch of people, most electables and notorious persons are sitting with Prime Minister Imran Khan. Such kind of papers will never affect the local politics at all. There were 809 names in the Panama Papers but only Nawaz Sharif was ousted, we are unaware of the rest of the names.

The Swiss banking scandal appeared a few days back – the names of three sons of the former Director General Inter-Services Intelligence General Akhtar Abdur Rahman Khan emerged and a bit of news came in market, however, people did not pay attention to it. There is rampant corruption in our country and there is no chance of a change in terms of corruption and dishonesty in our society where people do not consider it bad. Here people are cheating each other and unfortunately they are glad.

There is no importance of such scandals in our politics. When Nawaz Sharif was asked how he built his empire, he could not produce the money trail. Similarly, PTI’s disgruntled leader Jahangir Tareen is supposedly a clean man and pays his taxes, however, he was allegedly involved in sugar and wheat scandals, cases for which are catching dust at the National Accountability Bureau, the Federal Investigation Agency and others.

Hussain Naqi

Veteran journalist

et me quote eminent senior journalists and researchers as saying in a talk-show of a private TV channel that hundreds of Pakistanis have their money in Swiss banks – most of these individuals belong to industries, trade, various political parties and even the establishment of the civil and armed forces. It is my view that all regimes that are not democratic and popularly elected, do not allow the democratic values or practice democratic principles.

This is evident in through our government and governments, in South America and even many Gulf states such as Jordan and Iraq. In regimes of this nature, influential people who come into power loot the people’s money by laundering it to these offshore banks while considering them to be safe. You may say that such banks are be safe havens for their ill-gotten wealth. Where these new leaks are concerned, I am sure that this is just the tip of the iceberg. You will never read the names of corrupt army generals who looted money from the country, but politicians are constantly called corrupt. No doubt politicians are corrupt, however I do not understand why the names of the blue-eyed boys of the establishment do not usually appear in these papers.

This is a problem with which we have live. Furthermore, those who are named have carried out much more corruption than these papers reveal from time to time. I reckon that such leaks will not profoundly affect our people or politics or system as the common people are of the view that when it comes to really carrying out the work to fight corruption or filling a case in the offices of government functionaries, or even lower or higher courts, they will have to pay bribes as per the nature of the cases in question.

This is the establishment which launched every corrupt political figure in politics, I can challenge.

Raja Amir Abbas

Eminent lawyer

ll of these leaked papers have shown that in Western countries, they have banks that provide paths for ill-gotten or plundered money from third world countries, specially countries like Pakistan and African countries. These leaked papers have had two impacts. First, the queries around those countries that are hiding laundered money, which many believe is being misused for terror financing.

Secondly, the nation has been made aware that our politicians, bureaucrats and army generals are looting the country’s money and hiding it in Swiss banks. We know this from the notorious case of Zardari which emerged a couple of years ago and from when  the Panama Papers included names of Nawaz Sharif and his family members and others. The release of such leaks impacts Pakistan in a way that its masses are more aware of how these corrupt individuals have been looting money and transferring them from one jurisdiction to other.

When it comes to an impact on politics and the nation, it has prompting a good and fortunate conversation around bringing these corrupt people to the court of law, however, they are not being punished by the court since three or four years, so they are still in politics and they still manage their power groups and enjoy their vote banks, leaving Pakistan unable to eradicate corruption. The PTI led government which came into power with a slogan of bringing looted money back to the country, punish looters and administer justice, is unable to fulfil its commitment, which I believe will affect its voter bank.

Furthermore, people are not taking to the streets in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) protest march because they think the Sharif family looted and plundered poor tax payers’ money. Therefore, these leaks have somehow impacted the politics of the country, but the real impact will be be when looters get punished.

Prof Dr Samina Saeed

Analyst and educationist

think the recent Credit Suisse data leak is not the first incident to have triggered a debate on these issues in Pakistan. The Panama Papers in 2016, the Paradise Papers in 2017, and the Pandora Papers in 2021all shed light on the pervasive problem of corruption and money laundering in the country.

I don’t believe there will be significant political ramifications in Pakistan. This is mainly because PM Imran Khan himself is not named in the report, as in the case of the Panama leaks, in which children of then PM Nawaz Sharif were named in the leaks.

Apart from the Panama leaks, which received sustained media attention in Pakistan, interest in other leaks has fizzled out very quickly due to the non-involvement of any significant political personality, which could give spark to political agitation. On top of that, people can differ with the policies of PM Khan, but he has been unflinchingly consistent in his stand on corruption.

In Pakistani politics, just one leak: the ‘Panama Papers,’ due to the involvement of one of the country’s major political parties in the leak. The verdict in the Panama case by Pakistan’s judiciary was a hopeful sign for the people that those involved in corruption would be held accountable in the eyes of the law and could be punished for their wrongdoings.

In the 2018 elections, the PTI highlighting the Panama case decision as a successful challenge to corruption increased their voter bank. In spite of the defeat at the polls and the conviction of its leader, the PML-N does not appear to be out of options.

Due to illiteracy and a multitude of other circumstances, locals support political parties on a purely emotional level. As a nation, we have a very short political memory, and we repeatedly wind up with a leadership focused on filling its own pockets.