Adil Najam
Rumors of a ‘deal’ between PPP leader Benazir Bhutto and Gen. Pervez Musharraf have been rife for a long time. All indications now suggest that a deal of some sort has, in fact, been reached.
The ferocity with which the rumors are being denied – with obvious insincerity – suggests that something is afoot. The question is, exactly what.
There is little utility, it seems to us, to indulge any further in the speculation than people already are. The much more important question is what – if anything – will such a deal mean for Pakistan and for democracy in Pakistan.
Will it make things better? Will it make things worse? Will things remain as they have always been and this will simply be one more round in the ‘great game’ of musical chairs that has always been Pakistan politics?
That is the question for our new ATP Poll (see top of middle column). Let us know what you think, and why? With your vote in the poll and with your comments below.
[Re. Humayun Gauhar article above]
He is a sweet but quite crazy guy! Mad as a matter. So interesting that you take him seriously – no-one in Pakistan does. Zjan
The deal has already been finalised but is being kept secret and will be known just on the day of election or nomination of president of Pakistan.. SHOO just keep it a secret.
Here is another view. Though I don’t agree with the author’s assertion that there won’t be a deal, he does say some interesting things.
The Matrix
(The nation, april 22, 2007)
Humayun Gauhar
They’re quite hilarious really, our friends the Pipliyas of the People’s Party. Life would be so boring without them, though I can assure you that they
are going nowhere just yet, unless, of course, Benazir tangos with General Musharraf, which is unlikely, for the soldier-gentleman won’t dance with her.
So relax. We will continue to be diverted by the Pipliyas for some time yet.
In my last article called ‘Leadership’, I said that the president cannot withdraw the cases against Benazir since they are effectively the ‘People versus
Ms Bhutto’. If he does, any citizen can take the government to court, for at the end of the day the money that has been looted belongs to every citizen.
(The president can pardon people, but only after conviction, as he did Nawaz Sharif, and that too is a conditional pardon.
And in a country that chooses to constitutionally call itself an “Islamic Republicâ€
Obviously Ikram Ullah does not see the irony of saying virtually that he sees no good in PPP and does not care much for Husain Haqqani’s “political scruples” and then expressing the wish that BB takes Haqqani’s advice.
Why care what PPP and BB do if they are no good? How can HH be giving good advice if he is lacking in “political scruples.”
Problem is, armchair politics and high-sounding “political scruples” talk is easy; Getting into the game and playing it is tough.
Sometimes we get stuck about some things, and people. Eveents move on. In case of BB, some people are stuck on allegations of corruption that Mush and Co failed to prove in courts of law, forcing them to negotiate with her instead. In case of Mr. Haqqani, some of us can’t forget that he worked with Nawaz Sharif 20 years ago, before working with BB 14-15 years ago. For that we won’t even show respect for his intellectual acheivements of the last 10-12 years that he has not been in power.
Maybe we need to recognize that politics is a dynamic process. Things move, people move. Allegations are made, sometimes true, sometimes not so true. Individuals are not perfect and make errors of judgement, which they subsquently either rectify or fail to rectify.
Let us try and discuss, in detail, what is or is not in the country’s interest now and why.
I feel that a deal that opens the way for a transition to democracy will be good for Pakistan. If the deal is only to help BB and Mush save their skins then it is bad.
Now Mush is saying there is no deal and BB saying maybe there is. Maybe they are negotiating through press statements.
Whatever we think of Mr. Hussain Haqqani, I hope BB takes his advise and stays away from this deal because it is not good for her or Pakistan. The results of you Poll on this shows this clearly.