Accountability is the mother of democracy. Pakistan’s democracy is on trial and — for democracy’s sake — no democrat ought to be let free to slay the progenitor. Transparency is a precondition to democratic governance —individual as well collective transparency. Democracy is all about responsibility — individual as well collective responsibility.

For way too long the Pakistani state and its cohorts within our society have both lacked the all-important moral dimension in their actions as well as their behaviour. The born-again judicial organ of the state is now bent upon reforming both the state and the society by instilling that all-important moral dimension into both the state and the society.

Every reform undertaking has potential losers and potential gainers. The Pakistani executive, both civil and military, have long treated the judiciary as a mere extension of the executive. The Pakistani executive, along with its cohorts within the society, now stands to lose if the judiciary succeeds in its resolve. Potential gainers will be the other 180 million.

The problem is that potential losers are organised and powerful while potential

gainers are disorganized and meek. Pakistan’s presidential chair rests on three legs — constitutional, political and moral. The president of Pakistan has authority because the Constitution gives him the authority.

The president of Pakistan has authority because members of his political party have won elections to seats that comprise the president’s electoral college. Lastly, there is the all-important moral dimension to the president’s authority.

President Zardari’s political authority is fully intact. On the issue of the president’s constitutional authority the national consensus is that it must be diluted as per the intentions of the original framers of the Constitution.

On the issue of moral authority the incumbent never had any. The conclusion being that President Zardari in the not-too-distant future would have to balance his chair on just one leg. Law, any law, must ‘aim to serve the common good’ (John Finnis: Australian philosopher specialising in the philosophy of law). Law, any law, must ‘aim to be just’ (Gerald Postema: Professor of Law, University of North Carolina). Democracy’s legitimacy is accountability — political, ethical and administrative.

Transparency is the very essence of democracy — democracy’s necessity without which democracy loses its very identity. Responsibility, individual as well as of the cabinet, is democracy’s justification.

Democracy sans accountability, transparency and responsibility is not democracy but kleptocracy (Greek kleptes is thieves and kratos is rule). Neither the CIA nor the ISI pose any danger to our democracy. The only danger to our democracy is that our democrats will fail to carry their share of accountability, transparency and responsibility.

By: Farrukh Saleem