Now that the immediate shock of the Pandora Papers has passed and the issue has moved away from front-page headlines, perhaps its time to take a closer look at some of the names on the list. Such is the nature of politics that those in government come under the spotlight rather more quickly than others. And even though Prime Minister Imran Khan has appeared completely unstained from this controversy, some of his lieutenants and coalition members have not. And the most questions being asked right now concern Moonis Elahi and Faisal Vowda; both never free of controversy for too long even in the best of times.
Both also seem to carry a fair amount of baggage and allegedly move their money around onshore and offshore companies through middlemen. The thing with front men, though, is that owing to the rather dubious nature of their job they turn out to be shady characters more often than not. Moonis has already once had a hard time explaining his actions when his father enjoyed a rather elevated position during the last PPP government and only got off the hook because of a rare thaw between PPP and PML-Q at the time. No doubt some cases against the Chaudharys of Gujrat and their family members were politically motivated, as is often the case in such countries, but that’s not to say that none of them raised any serious questions, which will eventually have to be answered. PM Imran Khan resisted including Moonis in the cabinet for the longest time, largely because of his own previous statements about this family, yet the Chaudharis are not known as political geniuses for nothing. Their political wisdom is second to none. And even now, with very limited seats, they are more or less calling the shots in Punjab.
It would have been better for Moonis’s spokesperson to point out that owning offshore companies was not a crime in itself; unless, of course, they were used for moving black money and evading taxes, for which reasons they were not disclosed to tax authorities. That’s a much better line to take than playing the victim card. He’s flatly rejected owing any offshore company or possessing any wealth that he’s not disclosed, and appears confident about any investigation that might take place. So, time will tell how he fares. Faisal Vowda has a pretty checkered past as well. He didn’t exactly rise to his party’s ideals when he hid is dual nationality, wasted the court’s time and dodged the ECP on the matter; and then took a big favour from his boss in the form of a Senate seat. But then he incurred the wrath of the same job when the reelection for his vacated seat led to much embarrassment and humiliation for the party.
The PM compromised to accommodate both these gentlemen in different ways. And he’s had reason to regret his decision on both occasions. Now, with their name appearing in the Pandora Papers, their alleged offshore companies and wealth need to be explained, both to the public and their boss.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/825674/zeroing-in-on-pandora-papers/
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