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.
“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.
It does not matter if there is a deal or not. Pakistan like past will continued to be ruled in near and distant future by the most organized political party namely Pakistan Army. Till this party is dismantled there is not going to be any objective and positive change.
Editorial, The News, April 19, 2007
The real deal?
Rumours of a deal between Benazir Bhutto and the Musharraf-led government have been doing the rounds for month but now it seems that finally something tangible is in the offing. However, the government as ever seems divided on the issue, not least because several of its ministers happen to be former PPP men, who then turned ‘patriotic’, eventually merging their ‘party’ with the ruling PML-Q. There are also several ministers who have been mostly quiet over the developments, while others, particularly the information minister, have vociferously denied any deal taking place. Even within the PPP itself, there has been generally a policy of keeping mum, with an official spokesman denying that any deal with the government was in the offing. Then there is the MQM, which in the past has been at daggers drawn with the PPP, over Sindh, and which has generally been quiet over this apparent development. There is also the MMA and its senior leader, JUI (F) chief and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, has been quoted as saying that the if the PPP were to come to power, it would be bad for the country. However, in the same address, to party workers in Peshawar, he asked why Ms Bhutto was not ready to sit with the MMA. Then there is the PML-N which may well be left high and dry if this arrangement does bear fruit. And the Chaudhries of Gujrat, who have been bitter opponents of the PPP, may well be quite unhappy as well to find that in this particular game of politics their services to General Musharraf and his regime may well go unrequited.
If a deal is eventually worked out, the biggest gainer will plausibly be Ms Bhutto and her beleaguered husband Asif Ali Zardari, since one of the compromises will be on the many cases registered against the couple. However, this may well be a purely personal gain and only time will tell whether it pays dividends for the party as a whole. For instance, there is one view that says a party which has through much of its existence railed against military dictatorships should not be supping with generals, and certainly not in exchange for benefits that will accrue only to its top leadership. A deal, this view suggests, may well leave quite a few of the party’s diehard supporters disillusioned. Of course, deals are part of politics everywhere and the leader of an opposition political party, especially one who has seen bad times as has Ms Bhutto, may feel it his or her prerogative to arrive at some kind of compromise with an otherwise hostile government.
There are also many Pakistanis who feel that the present government should not in any way enter into any agreement with Ms Bhutto and her husband since they have, according to this particular view, indulged in massive corruption when they were in power. However, this ignores the fact that at least ideologically speaking, the president and Ms Bhutto’s party have much in common, especially when important issues such as terrorism, fighting extremism, protection of minorities and ending discriminatory laws against women are considered (in the last matter, the PPP actually voted in favour of a government-sponsored bill in parliament). Of course, the president and his government have often been at the receiving end (and with some justification) on not coming good on the otherwise worthy intention of fighting extremism with actual deeds. Perhaps, having the support of a liberal and secular party like the PPP, which incidentally received the highest number of votes in the 2002 general election, will allow the president to do just that. One hopes that if a PPP government is formed, then at the very least, the space available to progressive and liberal elements in the country, to push forward an agenda of moderation and aggressively standing up to extremism will materialise. That perhaps would be the primary benefit to the country if indeed the purported deal between the PPP and General Musharraf is in fact real.
If you read the following article in The News,
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=50018
you will see that Mohtarma would do anything to get the seat. Regarding her claims about General Musharraf, I believe them because Army have conducted similar adventures in the past like Operation Midnight Jackal and Kargil operation.
A person who can sell the family secrets just to be in good books of George Bush or to prove herself better, she can never be good for the country much less democracy.
God save the country from her and further damage to the institutions by Musharraf.