Khawaja Izharul Hasan: Our governments fail to make legal reforms

ISLAMABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Khawaja Izharul Hasan criticised the prevailing notion of accountability in Pakistan during an episode of Upfront with Mona Alam on HUM News. Host Mona Alam questioned the panel about the “person-specific” amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Hasan’s stance on it.

Hasan argued that in Pakistan, the definition of accountability differs significantly from international standards. He noted that globally, when an individual faces allegations of illegal assets, that individual must prove the legitimacy of those assets. However, in Pakistan, accountability organisations are burdened with proving the legitimacy of a person’s assets.

He elaborated, “In our country, NAB has become a tool for coercion, with no accusations substantiated against high-ranking government officials in the past 75 years. In fact, whenever someone faces corruption allegations, they claim to be politically victimised and often convince their followers that the allegations are false.”

Meanwhile, host Alam raised questions about MQM’s own political actions, citing instances of home raids, arrests, and detentions under the 3MPO law, including the case of Parvez Elahi. Hasan defended his party’s role, stating that they held less prominent government positions and remained distant from high-profile corruption cases.

Hasan also highlighted that during the tenure of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), MQM had recommended the adoption of a formula for transparent accountability.

“Every government identifies corruption and blames each other, but comprehensive legal reforms to address corruption remain elusive,” Khawaja Izharul Hasan added.