Panama and Constitutionalism: The Bottom Line
A line of reasoning taken in defense of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif since appearance of Panama Papers has been that it is a conspiracy to undermine the civilian supremacy and democracy in Pakistan. Just when I believe the continuous civil-military power struggle is a reality, and unelected power centers have always tried to undermine the representative rule in the country; this time around, the issue cannot be framed in the said context; and below is why? First and foremost, this time the crisis began because of a global leak that has shaken many a governments and powerful men across the globe. To say that Pakistani establishment had the sway to initiate such leak of global scale is giving it too much credence and credit. Also establishment in Pakistan has proven to be unsuccessful in shaking things decisively in recent attempts like Memogate and PTI/PAT sit-in. And no matter what spin of “establishment conspiracy” PML-N sympathizers want to give to the current episode; the re