fatman17
PDF THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 32,563
- Reaction score
- 98
- Country
- Location
Sliding down the slippery slope
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Ameer Bhutto
As the government continues its slide down the slippery slope, the state institutions and apparatus meant to protect national interests are being used to save Zardari from the consequences of his questionable past and to provide him job security. What greater indictment of an administration can there be than the fact that even its handpicked civil servants do not want to do its dirty work?
As a consequence, we have witnessed a parade of officials passing through the turnstiles at posts such as chairman NAB, attorney general and law secretary, as public servants resist efforts to be turned into private servants and wish to avoid risking their necks in this government's kamikaze putsch against the judiciary. The ruling party cannot even find a finance minister from among its own ranks and had to endure the humiliation of pleading with Musharraf's financial whiz-kid to rescue it. This is what happens when useless darbaris and friends from prison are brought forward at the expense of competent and worthy people.
The game of hide and seek this government is playing with the Supreme Court over the implementation of the NRO verdict is shameful. If the Swiss cases are indeed a closed chapter, then what does this government stand to lose by writing the letter to the Swiss authorities? The fact that the government has chosen to defy the Supreme Court indicates that there is more to this than meets the eye. The issue is not of filing fresh charges against Zardari but revival and continuation of old cases which were terminated through an unauthorised letter written by the then attorney general on the basis of an illegal NRO. Since this action was illegal, an argument can be made for the revival of the cases.
If not, then there is absolutely no reason not to write the letter to the Swiss authorities. Why should we debate points of Swiss and International Laws? If, for whatever reason, the cases cannot be reopened, let the Swiss authorities tell us so through official channels. Perhaps the government is apprehensive that the pursuance of the Swiss cases might put presidential immunity in jeopardy and bring it before the Supreme Court for interpretation.
Constitutions are amended to keep them updated and relevant to changing times, not to make state institutions hostage to unelected party leaders and subservient to whimsical fancies of individuals who want to prolong their rule at all costs by overriding and overwhelming vital organs of state. If democracy is the best revenge, then the 18th Amendment was supposed to be the ultimate act of vengeance since it, ostensibly, revived real parliamentary democracy. But what is the point of reviving parliamentary powers if parliament is going to just sit idly on its haunches, with no constructive legislative agenda? Weeks after the passage of this amendment, things remain much the same, if not worse, as Zardari has bypassed not just parliament but the cabinet too with the formation of the Core Committee, consisting of jail-mates and yes-men, where all major policy decisions are taken.
The prime minister remains clueless and powerless, announcing the restoration of the old Hyderabad district one day then back-peddling rapidly the next day under pressure. Much was made of his support for a fake degree holder in a recent bye-election. The 18th Amendment has cleared the way for notorious criminals and convicts to enter parliament. Why should fake degree holders be left out of the melee? They are small potatoes by comparison.
It is, nevertheless, shocking that the voters saw it fit to put a fake degree holder in a position of authority to once again decide the fate of the country. What sort of a nation are we? We reward criminal conduct, but turn our backs on those who lay down their lives for us as soon as they are buried. The people are the political sovereign and the source of all legitimate political authority. The ultimate corrective mechanism rests in their hands. They must decide whether or not they want to save the country from drowning in a maelstrom of corruption, incompetence, deception and lies. If they do, then they took a leap in the wrong direction in the recent bye-elections in Punjab. The judiciary cannot be expected to set right all the wrongs. We, the people, must do it. But if we surrender our sovereign power or decline to use it judiciously, then this country is doomed.
A few days ago we saw British democracy at its finest as power transferred to the new coalition government. The formation of this coalition was preceded by intense negotiations that centered on issues and policies. The coalition partners came in for criticism for compromising too much on principles for the sake of power. One can only imagine the upheaval that might have ensued had the Tories and Liberal-Democrats indulged in the sort of unprincipled mufahimat the NRO unleashed in Pakistan, which whitewashed the sullied faces of many to make them eligible to rule again.
Will we ever have real democracy and stability under honest leadership? Is it too much to ask for a leader who is not No.5 on the list of the world's biggest losers, published by the respected international journal 'Foreign Policy' in its issue of March 20, 2009? Is it unreasonable to want leaders who have some merit and stature of their own and do not have to hold sympathy for a slain leader to the nation's head like a loaded gun?
Is it wrong to want leaders who have a vision for the future and whose actions are cloaked not in surreptitious deviousness but driven by political acumen and savvy? Is it a crime to want leaders the nation can look up to rather than those whose shameful past needs to be rinsed by the NRO or presidential patronage and are an embarrassment for the nation at home and abroad?
If India can become a regional superpower and Malaysia an economic giant, then why can we not do the same? The only difference is that they have real democracy and they vote on issues, not personalities or sympathy. As a result, the leaders their systems produce are moved by national interests and the electorate is swift to hold them accountable. John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy are idolised as heroes in America, but their brother, Edward Kennedy was denied even the presidential nomination by the Democratic Party because of a lapse in judgment in his younger days. Winston Churchill played a leading role in winning the Second World War, but was voted out of office in the 1945 elections in a landslide defeat for failing to provide on the domestic front and because the Labor Party was deemed better suited to rebuild the country after the ravages of war.
If we are to make any headway toward real progress, we will have to learn to think and act like an enlightened and responsible democratic nation and must hold our leaders responsible for their actions rather than allowing them free rein to repeatedly run roughshod over us. We must cut the umbilical cord with leaders or parties whom we futilely follow unquestioningly and seek fresh and clean alternatives. Individual greed, because of which we put up with crooks, must give way to a new macro-mentality, which does not suffer demagogues and charlatans. The concept of national interests, alien to us as a nation, must be allowed to germinate and take root. National salvation lies not in any misguided notion of loyalty to failed and disgraced elements, but in an honest and unwavering commitment to national interests and the common good.
The writer is vice-chairman of Sindh National Front and a former MPA from Ratodero. He has degrees from the University of Buckingham and Cambridge University.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Ameer Bhutto
As the government continues its slide down the slippery slope, the state institutions and apparatus meant to protect national interests are being used to save Zardari from the consequences of his questionable past and to provide him job security. What greater indictment of an administration can there be than the fact that even its handpicked civil servants do not want to do its dirty work?
As a consequence, we have witnessed a parade of officials passing through the turnstiles at posts such as chairman NAB, attorney general and law secretary, as public servants resist efforts to be turned into private servants and wish to avoid risking their necks in this government's kamikaze putsch against the judiciary. The ruling party cannot even find a finance minister from among its own ranks and had to endure the humiliation of pleading with Musharraf's financial whiz-kid to rescue it. This is what happens when useless darbaris and friends from prison are brought forward at the expense of competent and worthy people.
The game of hide and seek this government is playing with the Supreme Court over the implementation of the NRO verdict is shameful. If the Swiss cases are indeed a closed chapter, then what does this government stand to lose by writing the letter to the Swiss authorities? The fact that the government has chosen to defy the Supreme Court indicates that there is more to this than meets the eye. The issue is not of filing fresh charges against Zardari but revival and continuation of old cases which were terminated through an unauthorised letter written by the then attorney general on the basis of an illegal NRO. Since this action was illegal, an argument can be made for the revival of the cases.
If not, then there is absolutely no reason not to write the letter to the Swiss authorities. Why should we debate points of Swiss and International Laws? If, for whatever reason, the cases cannot be reopened, let the Swiss authorities tell us so through official channels. Perhaps the government is apprehensive that the pursuance of the Swiss cases might put presidential immunity in jeopardy and bring it before the Supreme Court for interpretation.
Constitutions are amended to keep them updated and relevant to changing times, not to make state institutions hostage to unelected party leaders and subservient to whimsical fancies of individuals who want to prolong their rule at all costs by overriding and overwhelming vital organs of state. If democracy is the best revenge, then the 18th Amendment was supposed to be the ultimate act of vengeance since it, ostensibly, revived real parliamentary democracy. But what is the point of reviving parliamentary powers if parliament is going to just sit idly on its haunches, with no constructive legislative agenda? Weeks after the passage of this amendment, things remain much the same, if not worse, as Zardari has bypassed not just parliament but the cabinet too with the formation of the Core Committee, consisting of jail-mates and yes-men, where all major policy decisions are taken.
The prime minister remains clueless and powerless, announcing the restoration of the old Hyderabad district one day then back-peddling rapidly the next day under pressure. Much was made of his support for a fake degree holder in a recent bye-election. The 18th Amendment has cleared the way for notorious criminals and convicts to enter parliament. Why should fake degree holders be left out of the melee? They are small potatoes by comparison.
It is, nevertheless, shocking that the voters saw it fit to put a fake degree holder in a position of authority to once again decide the fate of the country. What sort of a nation are we? We reward criminal conduct, but turn our backs on those who lay down their lives for us as soon as they are buried. The people are the political sovereign and the source of all legitimate political authority. The ultimate corrective mechanism rests in their hands. They must decide whether or not they want to save the country from drowning in a maelstrom of corruption, incompetence, deception and lies. If they do, then they took a leap in the wrong direction in the recent bye-elections in Punjab. The judiciary cannot be expected to set right all the wrongs. We, the people, must do it. But if we surrender our sovereign power or decline to use it judiciously, then this country is doomed.
A few days ago we saw British democracy at its finest as power transferred to the new coalition government. The formation of this coalition was preceded by intense negotiations that centered on issues and policies. The coalition partners came in for criticism for compromising too much on principles for the sake of power. One can only imagine the upheaval that might have ensued had the Tories and Liberal-Democrats indulged in the sort of unprincipled mufahimat the NRO unleashed in Pakistan, which whitewashed the sullied faces of many to make them eligible to rule again.
Will we ever have real democracy and stability under honest leadership? Is it too much to ask for a leader who is not No.5 on the list of the world's biggest losers, published by the respected international journal 'Foreign Policy' in its issue of March 20, 2009? Is it unreasonable to want leaders who have some merit and stature of their own and do not have to hold sympathy for a slain leader to the nation's head like a loaded gun?
Is it wrong to want leaders who have a vision for the future and whose actions are cloaked not in surreptitious deviousness but driven by political acumen and savvy? Is it a crime to want leaders the nation can look up to rather than those whose shameful past needs to be rinsed by the NRO or presidential patronage and are an embarrassment for the nation at home and abroad?
If India can become a regional superpower and Malaysia an economic giant, then why can we not do the same? The only difference is that they have real democracy and they vote on issues, not personalities or sympathy. As a result, the leaders their systems produce are moved by national interests and the electorate is swift to hold them accountable. John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy are idolised as heroes in America, but their brother, Edward Kennedy was denied even the presidential nomination by the Democratic Party because of a lapse in judgment in his younger days. Winston Churchill played a leading role in winning the Second World War, but was voted out of office in the 1945 elections in a landslide defeat for failing to provide on the domestic front and because the Labor Party was deemed better suited to rebuild the country after the ravages of war.
If we are to make any headway toward real progress, we will have to learn to think and act like an enlightened and responsible democratic nation and must hold our leaders responsible for their actions rather than allowing them free rein to repeatedly run roughshod over us. We must cut the umbilical cord with leaders or parties whom we futilely follow unquestioningly and seek fresh and clean alternatives. Individual greed, because of which we put up with crooks, must give way to a new macro-mentality, which does not suffer demagogues and charlatans. The concept of national interests, alien to us as a nation, must be allowed to germinate and take root. National salvation lies not in any misguided notion of loyalty to failed and disgraced elements, but in an honest and unwavering commitment to national interests and the common good.
The writer is vice-chairman of Sindh National Front and a former MPA from Ratodero. He has degrees from the University of Buckingham and Cambridge University.
