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Nawazs chance
By:Malik Muhammad Ashraf 8 hrs ago | Comments (0)
For PML-N the way forward is to work together with other parties
The PML-N President and the future Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mian Nawaz Sharif, went to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital to inquire about the welfare of PTI chief Imran Khan and reportedly told the reporters after the meeting that putting the bitterness of the electoral campaign behind, both Imran Khan and he, had agreed to bury the hatchet and work together to surmount the challenges facing the country. He also made it a point that he would respect the mandate of PTI in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa. This gesture of Mian Nawaz Sharif is the best example of humility in victory, a rare human trait. The large heartedness shown by Mian sahib has gone well with the masses and those who were apprehensive about the continuation of hostility and confrontation between the two parties in the backdrop of the heat generated during the election campaign and the allegations of rigging in Punjab levelled by Imran Khan.
Imran Khan also needs to be complimented for reciprocating the goodwill gesture and political initiative of Mian Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan is at the crossroads and it can hardly afford the continuation of confrontation among the political entities. Mian sahib is well advised to also recognise and respect the mandate of the parties who have won majority seats in other provinces and discourage the underhand wheeling and dealing to fabricate coalitions in disregard to the mandate given by the people. In Balochistan, which has a split mandate, it would perhaps be in the fitness of things to work out an arrangement whereby a Baloch nationalist, preferably Akhtar Mengal, is installed as the chief minister. It will really help in tackling the insurgency and removing the sense of deprivation.
It is really sad that some of the political parties are back to their old ways and trying to cast doubts about the credibility of the entire electoral process by levelling allegations of extensive rigging and even taking to streets to put pressure on the ECP for re-polling in those constituencies. The scenario in Karachi is particularly very regrettable. The MQM chief Altaf Hussain, as usual, has committed the indiscretion of hurling threats on the political opponents and the media and even alluded to separation of Karachi from Sindh. Though he has climbed down from earlier posturing and called off the sit-in by the workers of the party, his convulsions have invited a very severe backlash. He needs to act more responsibly as the words spoken are sometimes more damaging than the wounds inflicted by guns. Karachi is already like a seething volcano and therefore nothing should be done to precipitate the crisis.
There is no denying the fact that a number of instances of irregularities, mismanagement and administrative flaws in coordination among different agencies have occurred at some places but there is no evidence of any organised rigging on a massive scale as being alleged by some parties. Therefore, instead of reinforcing the impression of being sore losers, they should revisit their strategies and let the ECP look into the complaints and come up with plausible solutions and remedial actions as prescribed under law. The ECP has already constituted 14 tribunals to deal with complaints pertaining to elections and is also in contact with the political parties in a bid to redress their grievances.
The sapling of democracy needs to be nurtured to become a strong tree capable of weathering the gusty winds instead of being trampled by inflated egos and false prides. Democracy is the only way we can move forward and leave a good legacy for the posterity. The political parties need to establish healthy democratic norms and traditions and prove their commitment through concrete actions rather than words. Democracy is the art of possible. The political entities therefore should not vie for something that is impossible to achieve. The enormity and gravity of the challenges faced by the country needs a concrete and determined cooperative effort by all the stakeholders to work out a broad based strategy to deal with those challenges. No single party, even enjoying majority in the legislatures can stabilise the lurching ship. The scenario emerging out of the electoral exercise also dictates the adoption of a cooperative approach.
It is said that wise people learn from the experience of others while the fools learn through their own mistakes. Regrettably, we as a nation have failed on both counts. Neither have we learnt from the experience of others nor have we learnt any lessons from our own setbacks and tragedies. However, we cannot afford this luxury anymore. There is no escape from reality. The reality is that we are where we are due to the shenanigans of the military dictators and self-serving politicians who have ruled the roost and encouraged the politics of graft and entitlement and indulged in reckless corruption which provided the predators to derail democracy repeatedly.
Neither was any attempt made to reform the political system nor was a viable security policy evolved to ward off the dangers lurking on the horizon. Our economic policies regrettably have been dominated by political considerations rather than being embedded in economic realities. The emphasis has been more on prestige projects in complete disregard to the necessity-led approach. All this has to change and a new beginning made. The rulers will have to tell the truth to the people about the state of the economy and the sacrifices they will have to make for its revival, the true nature of the security threat and above all the political reforms that are needed to improve the system of governance.
To accomplish these arduous tasks, some constitutional amendments and legal measures will have to be put in place, which will require an unstinted support of all the political parties. It is now or never. Therefore all the political leaders will have to set aside their narrow political interests and work collectively for the national good. Politicking can wait for better times. Bringing about the required transformation will be a big challenge for Mian sahib and it is hoped that he will not repeat the past mistakes and prove himself equal to the trust reposed in him by the people.
The writer is an academic.
- See more at: Nawaz
True to script
By:Kamran Rehmat 8 hrs ago | Comments (0)
Sharifs ride the Punjab wheel of fortune, again
One outstanding corollary of Pakistan’s electoral science is that whoever wins Punjab – the country’s most populous province with 148 out of 272 general seats of the National Assembly on offer – is pretty much home and dry.
This is why PML-N despite only scoring big in Punjab gets to rule the country again – and with their kind of numbers, decisively.
Nawaz Sharif’s return as prime minister for the third time was well scripted as a number of national and international opinion polls preceding the vote had predicted.
What has taken most pundits by surprise however is the scale of mandate PML-N has received from the critical bastion of power in the Pakistani matrix. Still, there is a sense of disbelief at the roughshod riding since it flies in the face of strong projections in the media ahead of the polls, in which rival PTI appeared to be giving the PML-N sleepless nights as it surged in public reckoning with a kinetic campaign that culminated with an emotional appeal for the electorate not to miss a golden opportunity to change the old order from a hospital bed after Imran Khan fell from a 15ft high fork-lifter at a rally two days from closing time.
The dramatic images of the fall galvanized a disparate nation with even Sharif forced to cancel rallies for a day as a sympathy wave surged across Pakistan for its revered cricket hero.
However, the end results show this may not have contributed to the eventual tally in any meaningful way, if at all. The ‘PTI factor’ – easily the biggest draw of Pakistan’s 10thgeneral elections – is deserving of a separate piece, perhaps, in the coming weeks.
Apparently, the electorate in Punjab chose to go with experience, leaving Khan with a window to learn the ropes in opposition.
But the capitulation of the PPP did contribute enormously to the PML-N’s return to power. While it was expected the former would take a bit of a hammering, again, the scale of bludgeoning has embarrassed analysts over their pre-poll calculations.
However, what cannot be denied is that the PML-N’s was always the big ticket for Circa ’13 as was evident in how droves of wannabe parliamentarians from other parties flocked to Raiwind in the months leading up to the polls.
In fact, the process was started in earnest last year as Sharif forged alliances with a number of political groups or parties to reinforce his political capital. In bare knuckle terms, the PML-N won the day thanks to its calculated ploy of herding electables of all hues.
The party had the right mix to go with it as Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif did more than just raise populist slogans: he delivered with a handful of public welfare schemes with a strong shelf life in terms of political capital as usual.
You have to hand it to the Sharifs for always calibrating projects that are etched in public memory, bringing them a windfall each time they go to the hustings.
The recently built Metro bus system in Lahore, spread over 27km and covering dozens of residential and commercial localities along the city’s main lowbrow artery – like the Motorway and Yellow Cab scheme of yesteryears – are all a stellar reminder every day about who delivered them!
Even though ‘intellectual’ criticism about launching mega projects at the expense of improving basic infrastructure persists, at the end of the day, the public visibility of road networks and the plying yellow cabs handed out in the 1990s and also more recently on easy loans perhaps overrides the argument at least in the public perception.
Coming back to the polls, even though the European Union largely declared polling ‘satisfactory’ at 90 per cent of the polling stations and its chief observer Michael Gahler felt the overall exercise was “a step forward towards democracy”, serious irregularities in 10 per cent of the polling stations mainly in the Sindh province were also cited.
Punjab itself was not immune from cries of foul play with the PTI up in arms. Subsequently, serious allegations of irregularities were also leveled by other parties, citing vote snatching, stamping of ballots by party activists and/or polling staff, delayed arrival of polling staff and material, clashes between political activists and, in the odd case, even candidates, and last but not least, even the kidnapping of poll staff and candidates!
What is evident from dozens of videos and hundreds of individual cases of being at the receiving end of an unfair poll exercise is: the Election Commission as well as the law enforcing agencies failed in their singular obligation of ensuring an error-free and intimidation-free poll.
Indeed, Fakhruddin G Ibrahim, the octogenarian chief election commissioner, invited ridicule when he called the conduct of ‘free and fair’ polls as a ‘gift from us’ whilst referring to the “kidnapping of polling staff and re-polling in 43 stations of a constituency” in the same breath!
The social media was chock-a-block with evidences of rigging particularly, indicting the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Karachi, whose activists were allegedly caught in the act in multiple videos indulging in coercive measures.
Having said that, rigging allegations are nothing new as anyone with even remote Pakistani electoral experience will tell you. However, it marks the first time these have made an impact with recorded evidence since these were the first elections conducted in the presence of a robust electronic media and a near-zealous occupation of the social media cutting across the divide.
But it would be unfair not to give credit to the valiant voters – a large number of whom were first timers, including the zestful youth and women inspired by Imran Khan’s tremendous appeal – who defied militant threats to come out in what marked one of the highest turnouts in Pakistani history.
Pit this against the dozens of killings, including those of candidates, and the unavailability of a level playing field for secular parties and you get an idea of how treacherous the terrain was.
The writer is Editor Pique Magazine based in Islamabad. He can be reached atkaamyabi@gmail.com
- See more at: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/05/20/comment/columns/true-to-script/#sthash.FNMbu1XO.dpuf
By:Malik Muhammad Ashraf 8 hrs ago | Comments (0)
For PML-N the way forward is to work together with other parties
The PML-N President and the future Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mian Nawaz Sharif, went to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital to inquire about the welfare of PTI chief Imran Khan and reportedly told the reporters after the meeting that putting the bitterness of the electoral campaign behind, both Imran Khan and he, had agreed to bury the hatchet and work together to surmount the challenges facing the country. He also made it a point that he would respect the mandate of PTI in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa. This gesture of Mian Nawaz Sharif is the best example of humility in victory, a rare human trait. The large heartedness shown by Mian sahib has gone well with the masses and those who were apprehensive about the continuation of hostility and confrontation between the two parties in the backdrop of the heat generated during the election campaign and the allegations of rigging in Punjab levelled by Imran Khan.
Imran Khan also needs to be complimented for reciprocating the goodwill gesture and political initiative of Mian Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan is at the crossroads and it can hardly afford the continuation of confrontation among the political entities. Mian sahib is well advised to also recognise and respect the mandate of the parties who have won majority seats in other provinces and discourage the underhand wheeling and dealing to fabricate coalitions in disregard to the mandate given by the people. In Balochistan, which has a split mandate, it would perhaps be in the fitness of things to work out an arrangement whereby a Baloch nationalist, preferably Akhtar Mengal, is installed as the chief minister. It will really help in tackling the insurgency and removing the sense of deprivation.
It is really sad that some of the political parties are back to their old ways and trying to cast doubts about the credibility of the entire electoral process by levelling allegations of extensive rigging and even taking to streets to put pressure on the ECP for re-polling in those constituencies. The scenario in Karachi is particularly very regrettable. The MQM chief Altaf Hussain, as usual, has committed the indiscretion of hurling threats on the political opponents and the media and even alluded to separation of Karachi from Sindh. Though he has climbed down from earlier posturing and called off the sit-in by the workers of the party, his convulsions have invited a very severe backlash. He needs to act more responsibly as the words spoken are sometimes more damaging than the wounds inflicted by guns. Karachi is already like a seething volcano and therefore nothing should be done to precipitate the crisis.
There is no denying the fact that a number of instances of irregularities, mismanagement and administrative flaws in coordination among different agencies have occurred at some places but there is no evidence of any organised rigging on a massive scale as being alleged by some parties. Therefore, instead of reinforcing the impression of being sore losers, they should revisit their strategies and let the ECP look into the complaints and come up with plausible solutions and remedial actions as prescribed under law. The ECP has already constituted 14 tribunals to deal with complaints pertaining to elections and is also in contact with the political parties in a bid to redress their grievances.
The sapling of democracy needs to be nurtured to become a strong tree capable of weathering the gusty winds instead of being trampled by inflated egos and false prides. Democracy is the only way we can move forward and leave a good legacy for the posterity. The political parties need to establish healthy democratic norms and traditions and prove their commitment through concrete actions rather than words. Democracy is the art of possible. The political entities therefore should not vie for something that is impossible to achieve. The enormity and gravity of the challenges faced by the country needs a concrete and determined cooperative effort by all the stakeholders to work out a broad based strategy to deal with those challenges. No single party, even enjoying majority in the legislatures can stabilise the lurching ship. The scenario emerging out of the electoral exercise also dictates the adoption of a cooperative approach.
It is said that wise people learn from the experience of others while the fools learn through their own mistakes. Regrettably, we as a nation have failed on both counts. Neither have we learnt from the experience of others nor have we learnt any lessons from our own setbacks and tragedies. However, we cannot afford this luxury anymore. There is no escape from reality. The reality is that we are where we are due to the shenanigans of the military dictators and self-serving politicians who have ruled the roost and encouraged the politics of graft and entitlement and indulged in reckless corruption which provided the predators to derail democracy repeatedly.
Neither was any attempt made to reform the political system nor was a viable security policy evolved to ward off the dangers lurking on the horizon. Our economic policies regrettably have been dominated by political considerations rather than being embedded in economic realities. The emphasis has been more on prestige projects in complete disregard to the necessity-led approach. All this has to change and a new beginning made. The rulers will have to tell the truth to the people about the state of the economy and the sacrifices they will have to make for its revival, the true nature of the security threat and above all the political reforms that are needed to improve the system of governance.
To accomplish these arduous tasks, some constitutional amendments and legal measures will have to be put in place, which will require an unstinted support of all the political parties. It is now or never. Therefore all the political leaders will have to set aside their narrow political interests and work collectively for the national good. Politicking can wait for better times. Bringing about the required transformation will be a big challenge for Mian sahib and it is hoped that he will not repeat the past mistakes and prove himself equal to the trust reposed in him by the people.
The writer is an academic.
- See more at: Nawaz
True to script
By:Kamran Rehmat 8 hrs ago | Comments (0)
Sharifs ride the Punjab wheel of fortune, again
One outstanding corollary of Pakistan’s electoral science is that whoever wins Punjab – the country’s most populous province with 148 out of 272 general seats of the National Assembly on offer – is pretty much home and dry.
This is why PML-N despite only scoring big in Punjab gets to rule the country again – and with their kind of numbers, decisively.
Nawaz Sharif’s return as prime minister for the third time was well scripted as a number of national and international opinion polls preceding the vote had predicted.
What has taken most pundits by surprise however is the scale of mandate PML-N has received from the critical bastion of power in the Pakistani matrix. Still, there is a sense of disbelief at the roughshod riding since it flies in the face of strong projections in the media ahead of the polls, in which rival PTI appeared to be giving the PML-N sleepless nights as it surged in public reckoning with a kinetic campaign that culminated with an emotional appeal for the electorate not to miss a golden opportunity to change the old order from a hospital bed after Imran Khan fell from a 15ft high fork-lifter at a rally two days from closing time.
The dramatic images of the fall galvanized a disparate nation with even Sharif forced to cancel rallies for a day as a sympathy wave surged across Pakistan for its revered cricket hero.
However, the end results show this may not have contributed to the eventual tally in any meaningful way, if at all. The ‘PTI factor’ – easily the biggest draw of Pakistan’s 10thgeneral elections – is deserving of a separate piece, perhaps, in the coming weeks.
Apparently, the electorate in Punjab chose to go with experience, leaving Khan with a window to learn the ropes in opposition.
But the capitulation of the PPP did contribute enormously to the PML-N’s return to power. While it was expected the former would take a bit of a hammering, again, the scale of bludgeoning has embarrassed analysts over their pre-poll calculations.
However, what cannot be denied is that the PML-N’s was always the big ticket for Circa ’13 as was evident in how droves of wannabe parliamentarians from other parties flocked to Raiwind in the months leading up to the polls.
In fact, the process was started in earnest last year as Sharif forged alliances with a number of political groups or parties to reinforce his political capital. In bare knuckle terms, the PML-N won the day thanks to its calculated ploy of herding electables of all hues.
The party had the right mix to go with it as Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif did more than just raise populist slogans: he delivered with a handful of public welfare schemes with a strong shelf life in terms of political capital as usual.
You have to hand it to the Sharifs for always calibrating projects that are etched in public memory, bringing them a windfall each time they go to the hustings.
The recently built Metro bus system in Lahore, spread over 27km and covering dozens of residential and commercial localities along the city’s main lowbrow artery – like the Motorway and Yellow Cab scheme of yesteryears – are all a stellar reminder every day about who delivered them!
Even though ‘intellectual’ criticism about launching mega projects at the expense of improving basic infrastructure persists, at the end of the day, the public visibility of road networks and the plying yellow cabs handed out in the 1990s and also more recently on easy loans perhaps overrides the argument at least in the public perception.
Coming back to the polls, even though the European Union largely declared polling ‘satisfactory’ at 90 per cent of the polling stations and its chief observer Michael Gahler felt the overall exercise was “a step forward towards democracy”, serious irregularities in 10 per cent of the polling stations mainly in the Sindh province were also cited.
Punjab itself was not immune from cries of foul play with the PTI up in arms. Subsequently, serious allegations of irregularities were also leveled by other parties, citing vote snatching, stamping of ballots by party activists and/or polling staff, delayed arrival of polling staff and material, clashes between political activists and, in the odd case, even candidates, and last but not least, even the kidnapping of poll staff and candidates!
What is evident from dozens of videos and hundreds of individual cases of being at the receiving end of an unfair poll exercise is: the Election Commission as well as the law enforcing agencies failed in their singular obligation of ensuring an error-free and intimidation-free poll.
Indeed, Fakhruddin G Ibrahim, the octogenarian chief election commissioner, invited ridicule when he called the conduct of ‘free and fair’ polls as a ‘gift from us’ whilst referring to the “kidnapping of polling staff and re-polling in 43 stations of a constituency” in the same breath!
The social media was chock-a-block with evidences of rigging particularly, indicting the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Karachi, whose activists were allegedly caught in the act in multiple videos indulging in coercive measures.
Having said that, rigging allegations are nothing new as anyone with even remote Pakistani electoral experience will tell you. However, it marks the first time these have made an impact with recorded evidence since these were the first elections conducted in the presence of a robust electronic media and a near-zealous occupation of the social media cutting across the divide.
But it would be unfair not to give credit to the valiant voters – a large number of whom were first timers, including the zestful youth and women inspired by Imran Khan’s tremendous appeal – who defied militant threats to come out in what marked one of the highest turnouts in Pakistani history.
Pit this against the dozens of killings, including those of candidates, and the unavailability of a level playing field for secular parties and you get an idea of how treacherous the terrain was.
The writer is Editor Pique Magazine based in Islamabad. He can be reached atkaamyabi@gmail.com
- See more at: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/05/20/comment/columns/true-to-script/#sthash.FNMbu1XO.dpuf
