pkpatriotic
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2008
- Messages
- 2,317
- Reaction score
- 0
Waiting to exhale The Pakistan report card
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Politics in Pakistan can be so surreal, who would have ever thought it would be Zardari charge-sheeting someone for embezzlement, or that foreign governments would be more concerned for Musharraf's "honour" than Musharraf himself. There is no doubt that sufficient grounds exist for Musharraf to be impeached, in fact had he been more concerned for his honour than foreign elements then he would have resigned right after the elections.
But let's say Musharraf resigns, or the impeachment process is successful. Then what? The coalition government has done well to document the president's past crimes, but they are absolutely shaky when it comes to describing how Musharraf has been responsible for the failures of the current government.
Musharraf did not cause Rehman Malik to lie about the security situation in NWFP so the elections could be delayed, Musharraf did not make Shah Mehmood Qureshi fumble in the announcement of the CNG prices and neither did Musharraf push for the ISI to rebel against the government's move to place it under the Interior Ministry. As far as the price of fuel goes, place the blame on the PML-Q and Shaukat Aziz for not delivering constant price adjustments.
Once Musharraf is out, this government can place no guarantee that it will have the vision to deliver, because its claims of impediments and conspiracies has been vague. The emphasis is all wrong, Musharraf's main crimes have been in the past before the elections, not now. He is being made a scapegoat to cover for recent performance issues of the coalition government, whereas that's not needed at all because his second emergency is more than enough to get him out of office.
In fact, the current charge-sheet discussions also seem to be incompletely thought out. In the gusto to make sure there were enough charges to ensure something would stick, the coalition government members have alleged he diverted US aid monies. Big problem there. With this accusation the US gets all the mileage it needs to pressure Pakistan even further, it can use this as the "proof" that we are not doing enough in the war on terror. It gives them an illegitimate claim to continue to bomb our territory.
If Musharraf has ever truly been a perpetrator of corruption, it is as the author of the NRO. In a single sweep, expediency took over morality and undermined every basis of the rule of law, however imperfect, that Pakistan has. Second, his greatest crime has been against the judges who stood up to him. Sad to see that Nawaz Sharif whose main election slogan was for the judges has now somehow turned it around to make Musharraf his priority.
The problem with this is that the impeachment process may very well be the death knell to the restoration of the judges. First off, the judges issue is now in the air, awaiting Musharraf's resignation or eventual impeachment. No discussion has taken place regarding whether the deposed judges will actually sit with their colleagues who took oath after Musharraf ended the second emergency. Will we eventually have a mixed judiciary or an upright one?
By placing the judiciary second to the impeachment process there is a dangerous pattern that is emerging, one that sidelines the rule of law. If the judges were restored outright as once was promised, they would have declared his re-election illegal, getting the same result as desired now.
So why the whole impeachment process? It's not the impeachment that is disturbing, it's the reasons behind. The PPP has found a way to keep the PML-N at bay by dangling a carrot in front of them, and the substantive issue of the judges away from sight. The PML-N has given in to the same expediency, as they had done before when they approved the finance bill that expanded the number of SC judges, for a face-saving exercise by ridding the country of a very unpopular president, but one who in the present circumstances has become a titular figure.
With Musharraf gone and an incomplete solution to the judges issue, what is it that binds the PPP and the PML-N together? Is there a vision that goes beyond issues prior to the February elections?
Asif Ali Zardari has already demonstrated an iron hand when it comes to certain decisions that the PML-N are not happy with, such as the appointment of Salman Taseer as governor Punjab. While the 100-days agenda of the present government has been exposed as wishful thinking, it will be the 100 days after Musharraf is gone that will truly explain what this coalition is all about. They will no longer be able to blame the unseen hand of the presidency, and no longer will they be able to hold off the judges because the man who dismissed them will have been dismissed.
The fact that none of the issues that will drive the 100 days post-Musharraf have been discussed, most obvious of which will be the modalities of the judges, is a cause for concern. The economy is lapsing, law and order worsening. What the coalition pulls out of their hat, we await with baited breath.
Fasi Zaka
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Politics in Pakistan can be so surreal, who would have ever thought it would be Zardari charge-sheeting someone for embezzlement, or that foreign governments would be more concerned for Musharraf's "honour" than Musharraf himself. There is no doubt that sufficient grounds exist for Musharraf to be impeached, in fact had he been more concerned for his honour than foreign elements then he would have resigned right after the elections.
But let's say Musharraf resigns, or the impeachment process is successful. Then what? The coalition government has done well to document the president's past crimes, but they are absolutely shaky when it comes to describing how Musharraf has been responsible for the failures of the current government.
Musharraf did not cause Rehman Malik to lie about the security situation in NWFP so the elections could be delayed, Musharraf did not make Shah Mehmood Qureshi fumble in the announcement of the CNG prices and neither did Musharraf push for the ISI to rebel against the government's move to place it under the Interior Ministry. As far as the price of fuel goes, place the blame on the PML-Q and Shaukat Aziz for not delivering constant price adjustments.
Once Musharraf is out, this government can place no guarantee that it will have the vision to deliver, because its claims of impediments and conspiracies has been vague. The emphasis is all wrong, Musharraf's main crimes have been in the past before the elections, not now. He is being made a scapegoat to cover for recent performance issues of the coalition government, whereas that's not needed at all because his second emergency is more than enough to get him out of office.
In fact, the current charge-sheet discussions also seem to be incompletely thought out. In the gusto to make sure there were enough charges to ensure something would stick, the coalition government members have alleged he diverted US aid monies. Big problem there. With this accusation the US gets all the mileage it needs to pressure Pakistan even further, it can use this as the "proof" that we are not doing enough in the war on terror. It gives them an illegitimate claim to continue to bomb our territory.
If Musharraf has ever truly been a perpetrator of corruption, it is as the author of the NRO. In a single sweep, expediency took over morality and undermined every basis of the rule of law, however imperfect, that Pakistan has. Second, his greatest crime has been against the judges who stood up to him. Sad to see that Nawaz Sharif whose main election slogan was for the judges has now somehow turned it around to make Musharraf his priority.
The problem with this is that the impeachment process may very well be the death knell to the restoration of the judges. First off, the judges issue is now in the air, awaiting Musharraf's resignation or eventual impeachment. No discussion has taken place regarding whether the deposed judges will actually sit with their colleagues who took oath after Musharraf ended the second emergency. Will we eventually have a mixed judiciary or an upright one?
By placing the judiciary second to the impeachment process there is a dangerous pattern that is emerging, one that sidelines the rule of law. If the judges were restored outright as once was promised, they would have declared his re-election illegal, getting the same result as desired now.
So why the whole impeachment process? It's not the impeachment that is disturbing, it's the reasons behind. The PPP has found a way to keep the PML-N at bay by dangling a carrot in front of them, and the substantive issue of the judges away from sight. The PML-N has given in to the same expediency, as they had done before when they approved the finance bill that expanded the number of SC judges, for a face-saving exercise by ridding the country of a very unpopular president, but one who in the present circumstances has become a titular figure.
With Musharraf gone and an incomplete solution to the judges issue, what is it that binds the PPP and the PML-N together? Is there a vision that goes beyond issues prior to the February elections?
Asif Ali Zardari has already demonstrated an iron hand when it comes to certain decisions that the PML-N are not happy with, such as the appointment of Salman Taseer as governor Punjab. While the 100-days agenda of the present government has been exposed as wishful thinking, it will be the 100 days after Musharraf is gone that will truly explain what this coalition is all about. They will no longer be able to blame the unseen hand of the presidency, and no longer will they be able to hold off the judges because the man who dismissed them will have been dismissed.
The fact that none of the issues that will drive the 100 days post-Musharraf have been discussed, most obvious of which will be the modalities of the judges, is a cause for concern. The economy is lapsing, law and order worsening. What the coalition pulls out of their hat, we await with baited breath.
Fasi Zaka
