“Our efforts paid, FATF Paris 20 Feb meeting conclusion on US led motion to put Pakistan on watch list - No consensus for nominating Pakistan … Grateful to friends who helped,” tweeted a jubilant Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, who was on a trip to Moscow.
Undoubtedly, this was a big achievement given the mighty line-up: the US, UK, France and Germany who were sponsoring the motion for Pakistan’s grey listing with the international anti-money laundering and anti-terror financing watchdog. It would have been for deficiencies in implementing UN sanctions against individuals and organizations listed with the world body.
But, we need not lose sight of the fact that the anti-Pakistan motion has not been defeated—it has only been deferred for three months. And as FM Asif himself put out the details, the process has been paused for three months and the Asia Pacific Group (APG), the regional arm of FATF, has in the meantime been asked to submit a fresh report on Pakistan.
Pakistan, it needs to be recalled, has been perilously surviving at FATF for over a year now, even though the push this time to put the country on the watch list was the most serious one as yet
The purpose of international pressure, lest we forget in our celebrations, was to make us act against the Hafiz Saeed ‘network’ and we have already done half the job. In all possibility, the unrelenting world will sooner or later make us do the remaining part as well.
What does this three-month pause actually mean?
Pakistan, it needs to be recalled, has been perilously surviving at FATF for over a year now, even though the push this time to put the country on the watch list was the most serious one as yet.
The pattern, however, has been familiar. Ahead of each of the previous three occasions last year (the FATF Plenary, the decision-making forum of the counter-illicit financing watchdog, meets thrice annually), Pakistan took minor steps to address the global concerns: detaining Hafiz Saeed, banning one of his lesser known entities Tehreek Azadi Jammu and Kashmir (TAJK) etc. Each of those steps, irrespective of their efficacy, was considered by FATF members and referred to the APG for a review. The APG was, however, unimpressed and the matter kept returning to FATF.
This time round, the government took the most significant decision of promulgating a presidential ordinance to include all UN-proscribed persons and entities on the banned list. Much like the three previous occasions, the matter has been once again sent back to the APG for a review. It remains to be seen if it will be convinced this time.
This would depend on how seriously the government pursues action against Hafiz Saeed, his associates, and his organizations, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF). There have already been questions about the action that has so far been taken against these people and organizations. Even as of now, the list of banned organizations maintained by NACTA has not been updated and it still shows the JuD and FIF as organizations under watch. A NACTA source said the government body has not been notified to change the status of these groups.
We should not either forget that the Chinese help that earned us a reprieve also has its limitations and may not be enough to defy world pressure for long. The realization, it appears, is there, as is evidenced from the promulgation of the ordinance. It now only needs to stay course and put away all domestic expediencies that could have so far been preventing action against these individuals and entities.
Media accounts give details of how reluctantly the government decided to harmonize its domestic lists of banned organizations and individuals with the UN lists because of the fear of political backlash.
The upcoming elections, it is feared, may further weaken the political will to take determined action. Moreover, with the polls drawing closer, the priorities of the government may change.
Senator Sherry Rehman, former ambassador to US and chairperson of the Jinnah Institute, warns against laxity. “This is the normal process and time span given for reprieve warning. We all want Pakistan to come out of watch list nominations, but so far there’s no indication at all that the voting line up will change in 3 months. Please don’t become complacent and ignore the danger,” she commented on FM Asif’s self congratulatory tweet.
Moreover, we ought not forget that taking this action or that to troubleshoot will not be enough to get us out of the woods; we need to change the policies and mindset that brought us to this unenviable position in the first place. Otherwise we will always have to contend with and celebrate the lifeline thrown to us for one reason or the other.
We also need to emerge from a siege and victimhood mentality. Listings like one maintained by FATF may have political undertones, but it is our responsibility not to provide others an opportunity to exploit them for political purposes.
Columnist and TV talk show host Nusrat Javeed was spot on when he remarked: “Only we can display the naivety of celebrating eluding the ‘Grey List’ of FATF, apparently for 3 months, like victors.”
The writer is a freelance journalist based in Islamabad and can be reached at mamoonarubab@gmail.com