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.
Also, from Dawn today: Chaudhry Shuj of Guj has said that a deal is acceptable only if PPP accepts Mush in uniform (talk about shamelessness)
I for one, want to see PPP back in power,not through a deal, but an election. I think, PPP still has some of the smartest politicians. It is also a party with a manifesto,grassroots support, and most importantly support in all four provinces (though that may have eroded by now with all the Nationalist politics). The rumor on the street is also that the senior cadre of PPP are not interested in a deal, but want to fight it out in an election…. but BB knows that this is probably her last shot at getting power, so come hell or highwater……
I will post the following report in today’s DAWN of Karachi. This is self explanatory and if it is correct then all the rumours will dissipate.
http://www.dawn.com/2007/04/19/top6.htm
No deal with Musharraf, Benazir assures PML-N
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, April 18: Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto on Wednesday talked to Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Senator Ishaq Dar by telephone in Dubai, assuring him that her party would not strike any deal with the Musharraf regime and media reports in this regard were untrue, sources told Dawn.
The sources said Ms Bhutto contacted Senator Dar after receiving information that the PML-N leadership was perturbed over reports regarding a deal between the PPP and President Pervez Musharraf, particularly after publication of her interview in a British daily.
They said the former prime minister had clarified her position and assured Mr Dar that the PPP was committed to every word of the Charter of Democracy. She told the PML-N leader not to believe any report on the issue.
She said she had directed her party leadership to counter the government’s ‘disinformation campaign’.
Meanwhile, responding to a statement of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman that the country would break up if the PPP came into power, a spokesman for Ms Bhutto, Farhatullah Babar, said the remarks showed the maulana’s “contempt for the will of the people�.
“Maulana Fazl’s remarks imply that the people of Pakistan are faced with the stark choice of accepting the military rule in perpetuity or seeing the country break up if they vote any other government into power through free and fair elections,� Mr Babar said in a statement.
This will be good news for Pakistan no doubt.
My vote was “no difference.”
It is a catch-22 situation. As a country with fragile economy, insurgency, and mess on Western borders Pakistan cannot afford agitations, wheeljams, close suhtters, unleashing of the Lal Masjid zealots, and anarchy. On the other hand people of Pakistan cannot afford to have this circus go on for ever.
This leaves us with the status quo i.e. no difference!
On a troublesome note, with Zardari on the horizon, the waterfront development in karachi will either decrease by 20% or expand 180% - depending upon which sheikh is ready to cough up the commission. And since BB has been residing in Dubai for years - she knows the fat purses.
Standby and enjoy the show..
What are Benazir Bhutto and Pervez Musharraf up to?
Screwing the rest of us.
Also, when the PPP officially joins the government, and discredits itself once again, then NS will probably get the bulk of the anti-establishment votes on his side, with a likely alliance with MMA. Those who have been eager for the return of BB in the hope that this would strengthen the ‘liberal forces’ have hardly considered the possible backlash in the long-term whenever the military regime eventually unravels.
Of course such a backlash and outcome can be avoided if BB comes back and delivers on good governance in a substantial way instead of repeating the performance of the 1990s, but her previous record and the performance of the present government does not really encourage much optimism on this count.
“The lethal combination”
“Absolute power meets absolute corruption”
Time will tell, but at one level this is a very bad news, because it is a victory for personality politics. The only thing that has been stopping PPP from striking a deal with Musharraf has been his unwillingness to let BB come back, otherwise, the same deal could have been made a long time back. That kind of deal would probably have been better because it would at least have been a step away from personality politics, giving PPP a new start with the potential of developing as an institution.