HE is the most hated man amongst the prime minister's closest aides. Yet after Nawaz Sharif's brother, Shahbaz Sharif, he is the second most powerful man in Pakistan today. After 'playing' chauffeur to Sharif while he was in opposition, Saifur Rehman has not only been rewarded with a seat in the Upper House but has emerged as a "Mr fix it all", where he is present in all the crisis situations with what many of his detractors swear are briefcases full of "temptation".
This unabashed display of clout has resulted in even the staunchest supporters of Sharif asking for his resignation. Heading the dreaded Accountability Cell set up to follow up on corruption charges against the Pakistani elite, Rehman is under immense pressure to deliver. "The exercise has been completely one-sided with several members sitting on the treasury benches going scot free. There is a very thin line between accountability and victimisation and Saif has easily crossed it," says a cabinet member who has no love lost for the man.
Of late, faced with mounting pressure, Rehman became nervous and started to make diplomatic faux pas. While trying to nab Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari, some of his statements in Islamabad made the governments of Switzerland, Australia and Britian get up and take notice and issue strong denials. The foreign office here cringed with embarrassment and refused to bail out the senator who, they said in private, was entitled to sort out the mess of his own making.
But this time he has apparently gone too far. "I met with Sunday Times reporter Stephen Gray for five minutes on the request of information minister Mushahid Hussain. He insisted that I give him information on George Galloway but I replied that I had none. At this the reporter said, given my reluctance, his report could not get published. Then he asked me if I had any problems with Galloway and I said that he had links with Benazir through Pakistan's then high commissioner to the UK, Wajid Shamsul Hassan. I deny ever having said that Benazir paid him to help the Kashmir cause. Galloway is an upright man and a friend of Pakistan," Rehman told Outlook.
But The Sunday Times report in which Rehman was accused of saying Benazir paid Galloway millions to muster support for Kashmir shocked Pakistan and started an unsavoury controversy—with everyone asking for his resignation. "Energy that would have been better spent on drawing attention to human rights violations by Indian security forces will be wasted on answering absurd allegations," pointed out Hussain Haqqani, a former spokesman for the Bhutto government. A point Benazir harps on too. "The accountability commissioner has caused great damage to Pakistan's reputation and the cause of Kashmir with his allegations that payments had been made to Galloway," she said, terming it "treachery against Pakistan".
Other voices were also raised about the Muslim League government's attempts to ignore long-term security interests for short time political gains. The Nation, an English daily, warned: "Foreign policy and defence are two areas where a suspension of normal political contention in the interest of high state policy is called for. The damage done to Pakistan's image and the Kashmir cause may take years to undo." Indeed, even Sharif has taken Rehman to task and there are moves to invite Galloway to Pakistan as a damage control measure. The accountability antics of Rehman are yet another example of the heavy mandate of the Sharif regime.