The bond issue and the AG
It may look like a tit-for-tat when the Speaker of Parliament ignored the Attorney General’s request not to table the long awaited forensic audit report on the Central Bank bond scam. It was only the previous week that the AG had ignored a request by the Speaker to allow a lawyer to be present when an MP was being arrested.
The two issues may not have a co-relation though. The high drama surrounding the recent arrests of three vociferous Opposition MPs – with the AG’s permission -- has, no doubt, raised questions on why they have been singled out on the eve of a general election. Lawyers are complaining about the AG sanctioning the recent arrest of a sitting judge.
Insofar as the CB report is concerned, Parliament is the ultimate custodian of the nation’s purse and it is difficult to justify the argument that tabling the findings is going to interfere with ‘pending cases’. The public is aghast at the snail’s pace at which the AG’s Department has been handling some cases with kid gloves, and moving at the speed of greased lightning in others.
The discerning public is aware of the corruption that was rampant in the now disbanded FCID, and how the AG kept sending files back saying there was insufficient evidence to indict culprits. One of the few progressive acts of the former Government was to introduce the Right to Information culture, and enact enabling laws to help citizens. In such a backdrop there was no reason for the Speaker to withhold releasing the report to either the MPs or the public. There is a new issue that some annexures have not been provided to Parliament raising issues of a potential cover up.
Many believe that politicians on both sides of the House, and their cronies are guilty of corruption in the Central Bank’s primary markets (bonds) scam. A few people became multimillionaires overnight at the expense of public money and all of them are free to roam today. Expecting any worthwhile outcome from this forensic audit report’s finding, other than a mud-slinging debate in Parliament, might just be too much to ask for.