A lead Story of Pakistan Spectator
By AMICUS,
Pakistan confronts most serious threat to its existence since 1971, one finds complete rot all around.
On the economic front, there is nothing to cheer about, Musharraf years’ growth of 5% to 7% in GDP was based on promotion of consumption and liberalization of credit facilities and, therefore, unsustainable. The incidence of poverty has increased substantially. The rate of inflation is too high and unemployment is rampant.
The gap between the haves and have-nots has widened to an extent where the society has lost its equilibrium. With bread selling at Rs. 6/- a piece there should be no surprise that the figures of suicide and crime are soaring to new heights.
The government’s failure to divert necessary resources to social sector is playing havoc with the lives of common people. Sufficient state funds are not available for education, health and transport services. Justice is beyond the reach of the poor. Electricity outages, gas shortages, spiraling cost of essential commodities like sugar and wheat are giving thorough battering to the people.
At this critical juncture, the leadership is lacking in initiative and vision to steer the society and state out of the multi-dimensional crisis.
Instead of a charismatic leader who could electrify the masses with a sense of purpose and mission, one finds pigmies – notorious for their corrupt practices, insatiable greed and VIP culture – at the helm of the affairs.
Without a visible change at the top and a paradigm shift in the approach to the country’s multi-dimensional crisis the society and state are doomed or destined to languish in trauma.
The looming constitutional crisis and impending institutional implosion, has its origin in the actions taken by Pervez Musharraf, to pre-empt a likely adverse decision of the Supreme Court, against his competence or otherwise, to contest the office of “President of Pakistan”, while he was in uniform Pervez Musharraf, on 3 November 2007.
Pending final decision of the Supreme Court about the fate of PCO 2007, Pervez Musharraf was, himself elected, facilitated by Pakistan Peoples Party in consideration of the benefits derived from NRO 2007. The whole edifice erected on these two pillars, fabricated by Pervez Musharraf and Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, is poised to come down, as PCO and NRO have been declared void from inception.
By outmaneuvering Musharraf on the back of Mian Nawaz Shareef’s pathological hatred for him, and opting for presidency instead of premiership, President Asif Ali Zardari, upset the apple cart. The military establishment had endorsed and accepted the new arrangement with a pinch of salt and cautious optimism.
However, the cardinal sins of President Zardari were his, uncalled for and ambitious attempt at reining in the army and its agencies, keeping the pliant PCO Judiciary and now confronting the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Besides, the rampant corruption, mismanagement and absence of governance have also alienated the people.
From the beginning, President Zardari, it appears, knew that there was no constitutional provision, except the process of impeachment, to remove him from presidency. However, his nightmare was a possible revival of the cases withdrawn under the notorious National Reconciliation Ordinance.
He was aware (or was he?) that the restoration of pre-Nov 2007 PCO judiciary would lead to reopening of the closed cases. Perhaps he was! Hence, reluctance to restore Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and brother judges to the very last moment.
As the regular hearing of the NRO case commenced in the Supreme Court, Zardari appeared to be a besieged President. His detractors welcomed the Supreme Court’s Short Order dated December 16, 2009, declaring the NRO null and void ab initio (from inception), as if it was the much-awaited beginning of the end of President Zardari.
Nevertheless, President Zardari could not agree to shed his burden of the beast or past baggage, which has come to haunt him and his government. He, its visible, became paranoid and decided to fight back rather than accept the hand of fate and bow before the apex court’s decision.
Lately his defiant and valiant posturing, supplemented with not so astute political moves and tactics, makes him erroneously believe, his posturing has enabled him to regain some of the lost ground.
This is not to suggest, that President Zardari has returned from the precipice or is safely entrenched in the President House.
However, he believes that he has raised the cost of removing him through judicial or unconstitutional means, which would become much greater and harmful to the nascent democracy and the federal compact, and this may save the day for him.
As the Co-Chairman of the PPP, he believes that he is comfortably established. The party stalwarts like Amin Fahim, Raza Rabbani and even Aitzaz Ahsan and others, will be his companions on the rough and rising seas. Politics, however, is the name of deception and surprises.
For now, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani too has remained loyal to him and the PPP. Like wise, President Zardari also believes, there is a consensus among the PPP leaders that they would stand by him through thick and thin. Hence, his recipe: ‘Minus one+342’ not minus one+22. Mazloom syndrome.
President Zardari has asserted without much ambiguity that the army and superior judiciary, duly supported by a section of the electronic and print media – the Jung/Geo group – are after him.
“We cannot be killed by a stroke of pen or of bayonet”, he has declared. By referring to the role of the army and judiciary in allegedly eliminating Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, President Zardari has fallaciously attempted to revive the painful memories of the nation. He has repeatedly said that the same quarters are conspiring against the democratic system.
President Zardari knows that his backbone is the political class. By securing the vote of confidence from the NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies, he has tried to demonstrate that the PPP-led ruling coalition is intact. His best shot is to keep and manage the frictions among the coalition partners within limits. If coalition withers, he would have had it. Pakistan’s political history is rife with recurring incidents of withering coalitions.
By garnering the support of the National Awami Party and the Muttahida Quami Movement for confidence motion, President Zardari believes, he has sent a strong message to the alleged ‘conspirators’, or shall we say to the Judiciary, that the three smaller provinces continue to repose trust in him even after the Supreme Court Judgment against the much maligned NRO.
To borrow a term from Musharraf era, ‘pragmatically’, the so-called ‘reposed trust’, in the ultimate analysis, would boil down to sustenance of the democratic dispensation and not Mr. Asif Ali Zardari.
Although the PPP is not in a position to obtain vote of confidence in President Zardari from the Punjab Assembly, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, has, for now, obtained public assurances from the leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), in particular from Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, that the PML (N) does not want the democratic system to derail.
The Sharif Brothers and some of his dovish colleagues are mortally afraid. Afraid that any constitutional deviation would be detrimental to the interests of the PML (N), believing it is the party-in-waiting to form the next government. However, there is no paucity of hawks within PML(N).
Right from the time the Supreme Court commenced the regular hearing of the NRO case making it to appear that the judges were specifically targeting Zardari with relish.
There were political analysts who objected to this alleged obsession with ‘selective justice’. Now, some very reputed people, including Justice (Retired) Fakharuddin G. Ibrahim, have warned against any reckless move that might derail the democratic system.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has stated that justice should be done no matter what it costs. No doubt, it is important that the wrongdoers are brought to justice; more true is, ‘all wrong doers are brought to justice, instead of just NRO beneficiaries’. Only that would ensure that no discrimination takes place in dispensation of justice.
Prima facie, President Zardari enjoys constitutional immunity from prosecution. If the Supreme Court orders his trial, it will be at the peril of allegations of bias against him. Besides, his trial would take years and years to complete the whole process.
There has been no other conviction of President Zardari in the country except in the BMW case for being absconder, under section 31-A of the NAB Ordinance, which was never challenged by Mr. Asif Ali Zardari.
Now his fate is hanging fire and the Supreme Court or any of the High courts may declare his candidature defective because of his said conviction.
While conceding that such an eventuality would be perfectly in conformity with the infirmity entailed by that unchallenged conviction, it would lead to negative political repercussion too. After all in any democracy disqualification and unseating of a sitting elected president would be a big event. However, one may take cue from the fate of another incumbent, Mr. Pervez Musharraf. He was also one of the NRO beneficiary and elected president. He went unsung unwept.
Be that, as it may, if the Supreme Court opted for ‘selective justice’, the questions would arise; why no action is being taken against those who have killed hundreds of Baloch nationalists, including Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti? What about those, who perpetrated gory mayhem on the streets of Karachi on May 12, 2007, December 27, 2007, December 27, 2009 and in addition, the one, who made it a habit of subverting the Constitution on October 12, 1999 and November 3, 2007.
Why no action against the people who indulged in rampant corruption before October 12, 1999?
They would ask why only Zardari and other beneficiaries of stillborn NRO are the target when the beneficiaries of the NRO included murderers and arsonists, and proclaimed absconders. Thus, the Supreme Court may be in a quandary.
If the Supreme Court wants to live up to recently acquired prestige and respect, it would have to opt for indiscriminate justice. It cannot go after NRO beneficiaries alone and let others go off the hook. Seeking assistance of the army under Article 190 of the Constitution for selective justice would bring bad name to both, the judiciary and the army.
There is no denying the fact, that Zardari’s government is one of the most corrupt that people have endured, during the country’s political history.
It is the responsibility of the media to expose the instances of corruption and other malpractices. Nevertheless, the campaign launched by the Jung / Geo Group is loosing its objectivity as it has become person/s-specific.
Presently the military establishment is hardly disposed to any other course of action than to maintain working relationship with Government. The army has its hands full in FATA, NWFP and Balochistan and on the eastern front. It cannot afford to expand the area of its operations or activities. Intervention would only be as a forced option, if vital national security interests are threatened by the action or inaction of President Zardari or incumbent government collides with the judiciary. Conflict of state Institutions would force such an eventuality.
President Zardari has to understand that as an institution the army is not involved in any conspiracy to topple him. Simultaneously the military establishment needs to advise President Zardari not to drag the army into politics or cast aspersion on its motives.
President Zardari has to understand that it is him and his colleagues who need to do some introspection and evaluate their own conduct vis-à-vis the Armed forces of Pakistan and other sensitive defense agencies.
Right from the day they came, ostensibly to illuminate the Public Offices, they, on the one hand, failed to come up to the call of their respective offices and, on the other, their zealously belligerent tone, tenor and actions in the matters military and sensitive agencies have caused much pain and anguish.
Principally the political forces and the civil society have one common objective: to secure the democratic system, consolidate and strengthen the state institutions within the limits prescribed by the Constitution.
As aptly articulated in editorial of Dawn of January 25, 2010;
“Everyone agrees that the government of the day is not performing as well as, or even close to, the expectations of most Pakistanis. But the solution should not be to call for unconstitutional ouster of a government.” It has added, “No more ‘rescue missions’ to ‘save’ democracy through anti-democratic and unconstitutional measures will be accepted.”
The People of Pakistan and civil Society is not prepared to jeopardize the democratic system just for the sake of President Zardari and some of his colleagues or any one else out to harm the system.
These are times for making amends, as there are many, especially those by the holders of highest office.
It ought to dawn upon them that the castle in the thin air of NRO, they built and opted to live under, was not sustained or validated by their own government or the Parliament.
They ought to make a new beginning, since the crutches of NRO, parochial card/s or the bogey of persecution is not going to come to their rescue.
They must also realize that traditional conventional politics of 20th century must give way to information age 21st century ground realities. It is about time they come out of their retrogressive and exploitative mindset of yester century or make room for others.
One way out of the present impasse is for the Supreme Court to take suo moto notice of bad governance and then, as a comprehensive and non-discriminatory solution of the perennial problem of corruption, opt for across the board accountability.
On the premise that country needs clean politics, the Supreme may ask the federal and provincial ministers, members of Senate, National Assembly and provincial assemblies, and office bearers of all registered political parties to submit details of their assets and disclose sources of their income. Those who fail to furnish required information with satisfactory documentary evidence may be disqualified forthwith from holding public or party office and membership of legislative assemblies.
To give credence to its efforts for improving the quality of governance, it is imperative that the Supreme Court takes necessary measures to reform the judiciary also. For this purpose, it may devise some mechanism to make the judicial system more efficient in dispensing justice and to address the problem of corruption within the system, in particular at the lower level.
It would further enhance the prestige of the Supreme Court if the judges of the superior judiciary and army officers above the rank of colonel were also, made to disclose their assets to public at the time of assumption of office and on retirement.
Let the Decision of the Supreme court of Pakistan on NRO be the catalyst for across the board accountability.
