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.
haa haa
I knew this would provoke such an angry response, but how is he more crazy than the diehard jialas?
[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 Republic�, the president cannot even do that). And it came to pass that a letter
from the rather fetching Punjab information secretary of the PPP (or is it the PPPP?) appeared in ‘The Nation’ saying that I had forgotten that the MQM’s
Sindh governor had withdrawn 3,500 cases against his party, including the torture of Major Kaleem which was video recorded, “all done under the patronage
of� the governor, the implication being why therefore the government could not withdraw the numerous cases against Benazir and spouse.
The lady doesn’t realise that by drawing this analogy, she is implicitly admitting that the cases against Benazir are genuine, unless she says that the
cases against the MQM were false and thus the cases against Benazir are false too.
Government’s inefficiency or deliberate slovenliness in not pursuing them with full vigour doesn’t mean lack of evidence – there is enough of it to sink
the Titanic. It means playing chess with the people as pawns, no new thing in this country of tears and sorrow. Sadly, the lady either did not understand
or was not interested in the rest of my article, since all the Pipliyas can see is Benazir. It was about the universal principles of leadership, applicable
to everyone in every field, including the fetching lady herself.
It was totally wrong of the Sindh governor to do so, and any affected party, be it the people, an individual, family or institution (or the People’s Party
itself) can and should take him and the relevant governments to court. Take the major who was allegedly tortured under the governor’s patronage.
Unless there is a fair trial, we will never know and his family will continue living in mental torture. Similarly, I fully support the idea of constituting
a Truth Commission to investigate the manner, circumstances and fairness of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s trial and execution. Everyone, no matter who he or she
is – even Hitler, Bush, Saddam and Sharon – deserves a fair and impartial trial and as far as I am concerned.
What Mr. Bhutto got was a mockery of due process and what this country got was an everlasting stigma. I don’t blame Benazir Bhutto for entering politics.
Any self-respecting child would if their father or mother have been unfairly imprisoned, tortured and/or murdered by the state.
What I blame her for is doing bad politics. Worse, having suffered so much as a family, one rightly expected her to rise above material concerns, treat
the opportunity the God gave her not once but twice as a trust, and taken this country to the success that its founders dreamed of, or at least her father
dreamed of. Sadly, she got entangled in diamond necklaces.
More hilarity. Benazir and the Pipliyas keep insisting that there is no deal in the offing, yet privately they are telling everyone that it is round the
corner.
A telling sign that they expect to be in government soon, gratis Musharraf, is the way they have started strutting around again and dusting down their pliers
with which to restart pulling out the toenails of the recalcitrant.
So when someone like me writes against doing a ‘deal’ with her, they go bananas, hating the fact that I may upset their applecart. How can I? Why should
Musharraf listen to me? He hasn’t in the past most of the time. Had he, then I would like to believe that the mess might have been less.
Let me tell the Pipliyas again: as far as I know, there is going to be no deal. So cool it, calm down, control you excitement and put your pliers back in
your torture chamber. I am sorry though, for then we would have got so much more hilarity with the Pipliyas singing praises of Musharraf whom they had
been reviling for years. I forget: turning comes to most of our politicians with greater ease than it does to a worm.
It is not that the government and Benazir have never talked in the past. The government’s problem is that whereas it has a political agenda, Benazir has
a personal one, her prime demand being the withdrawal of all cases against her, including in Switzerland, and the quashing of all convictions.
How do you negotiate with someone who is still politicking only to force the government to meet her personal demands? The Pipliyas’ problem is that they
exist in the Bhutto Matrix – party members, friends, relatives and cronies all. Switch off the matrix and they will cease to exist, except possibly Aitizaz
Ahsan who is someone in his own right.
It is like the few dozen celebrities who regularly appear in Hello! – people who are called the ‘Hellocracy’. If the magazine shuts down most will cease
to exist, especially those who thrive on reflected celebrity of a spouse, former spouse or friend.
They will then do more and more outlandish things to attract media attention, like a dying person reaching out for a life-support system. Similarly, if
Benazir were to do a deal with Musharraf, I can bet that the Bhutto Matrix will switch off fast and these people will be looking for life support from
another matrix. (I can see their response: “What about Humayun Gauhar who exists in the Musharraf Matrix? Sorry, Musharraf is not the icon of a cult and
has no matrix). What will happen is that Musharraf will be stabbed in the back, just like all her former ‘allies’ with whom she did ‘deals’, the last being
Nawaz Sharif and their ‘deal’ called ‘The Charter of Democracy’. It took only a few months for Mr Sharif to be left high and dry: Today he is a very worried
man! Serves him right! He, of all people, should have known better, having been the victim of an earlier ‘deal’ between Benazir and a former president,
who also got ditched. President Musharraf should find himself a good medium so that he can get in touch with Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Nawabzada Nasrullah
and hear from them the tales of their ‘deals’ with Benazir.
Here’s a fable. A scorpion on the run found himself stranded on a riverbank, not knowing how to get across. Along came a fox and the scorpion asked whether
he could piggyback on him across the river. “But you will sting me,� said the fox. “I won’t,� promised the scorpion. “How can I sting someone who has saved
my life?�
The fox agreed. As the water got deeper, the scorpion climbed higher and higher until he was on the fox’s head and finally was parked on the tip of his
nose. When they reached the other bank, the scorpion stung the fox on the nose and got off, saying “thank you.� But you have broken your promise,� lamented
the dying fox. “Sorry, my friend,� said the scorpion. “But I can’t help it. It’s in my nature.�
E-mail: hgauhar@nation.com.pk
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.
Corruption in Musharraf’s Pakistan is at every level so why this Bhutto obsession????
One recent example:
Subject: ILLEGALITIES AND MAL-PRACTICES BY MR. RAZI UR RAHMAN, CHAIRMAN SECP
Respected Sir,
We are the employees of SECP who want to inform you about the dishonest actions, illegalities, irregularities and mal- practices being committed by Mr. Razi Ur Rahman, Chairman Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. Brief detail is as under:
a) Mr. Razi Ur Rehman is giving millions of rupees of public money to his favorites lavishly in the form of advertisements and Consultancy fee etc and all belong to Karachi. It is known by everyone that he is getting kick backs from all the jobs of purchases, renovations and consultancies etc.
b) Mr. Razi Ur Rahman got approved the Promotion Procedure from the Commission and did not get its approval from the Policy Board, which was mandatory as per Securities and Exchange Commission Act. He implemented the illegal Promotion Procedure in haste and promoted his blue eyed officers without taking into the generally recognized principle of “Seniority cum fitness”. He promoted his favorites who were very junior in seniority in the ranks and also paid a full gross salary as promotion bonus. Although there is no provision of Promotion Bonus in the Rules and Laws of SECP.
c) He got appointed to Mr. Ashraf Tiwana (one of his favorites) as Director/Registrar, who had been declared disqualified during the interview for the post of Director (SM) by the Selection Committee some months back. However, in order to accommodate him a new post of Registrar Appellate Bench was created and he was appointed as Director/Registrar on very high salary from the back date and also paid 3 gross salaries as honorarium too.
d) Mr. Razi belongs to Karachi and spends every weekends and also 3 working days there at the cost of SECP money. He receives TA/DA and air passage for these visits and periods. He stays in his own residence there and receives Daily Allowance. Since his appointment as Chairman SECP, he hardly stayed at Islamabad during the weekends. The computerized record of attendance will easily confirm this fact.
e) He is also sending his favorite employees on foreign tours at his own discretion without formal process of nominations. Even he facilitates in making the private visits of his most favorites converting it into as official visit, sending them on official tours and also attaching leave with the tours. The big example is Ms. Amber Dar Ex-Executive Director (Law) who also belonged to Karachi. She enjoyed her personal visits of UK every year making it as official tours, attaching leave with it. There are several other similar cases, which can be verified from the record.
f) Ms. Zaib Shahdani, Assistant Director is also an example. She is very close to Mr. Razi Ur Rahman (who is a divorced man un-luckily). She has also paid several foreign visits including UK, China, Korea and India etc. The record will provide the complete details of her visits.
g) Mr. Razi is also granting rewards to his favorite employees lavishly. He got approved three gross salaries for all the two Commissioners amounting to Rs. 3400,000. Also managed to enhance his and Commissioners salaries to Rs. 5,55,000 per month from Rs. 3, 50,000/- per month with effect from 01-01-2007, with increase of more than 50 percent. He paid full gross salaries as honorarium to all his other favorites like Mr. Ashraf Tiwana, Registrar (3 gross salaries), Miss. Shane (one gross salary) etc. He is employing his favorites on very high salaries like Mr. Zafar Abdullah Executive Director (Rs. 3,42,000 per month), Mr. Mansur Ahsan Executive Director (Rs. 3,10,000 per month, whose deficiency of qualification has also been waived off at the time of appointment) and Mr. Panjwani Director (Rs. 2,00,000 per month) etc. The record of Accounts Department will provide all the details. In short he is looting the exchequer of Securities and Exchange Commission with both hands like “Mallay Muft Dillay Bayreham”.
h) Mr. Razi Ur Rahman is receiving kick backs in all deals and affairs of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, whether it is matter of purchases or renovation of building or engaging of consultants. Interestingly he gives all work to the consultants of Karachi even he also engaged Legal Advisor from Karachi although the Head Office is located in Islamabad. He is severely prejudiced with the employees who are not from Urdu Speaking Community or from Karachi. Presently Traika comprising Mr. Razi Ur Rahman, Mr. Javed K. Siddiqui and Mr. Mansur Ahsan (All belongs to Karachi Urdu Speaking Community) is ruling the SECP. He is also spending 2,50,000/- per month on his own security although the same was never been done by the ex-Chairmen of SECP. Both the Commissioners have been bribed giving them high salaries and three gross salaries as honorarium. Hence, they are keeping their eyes closed on the looting of public money by Mr. Razi Ur Rahman.
i) These are some examples if a thorough investigation is conducted, several similar cases will certainly come in the lime light.
j) Mr. Razi Ur Rehman is not only fully bulldozing the rules and regulations of SECP, but also using the public money in order to please his favorites. He is in fact looting the public exchequer very lavishly.
k) The list of mal-practices and dishonesty at the part of Mr. Razi Ur Rehman is very long during his 1st year of appointment and if he is not checked and removed immediately, the public exchequer of SECP and organization will suffer irreparable loss.
l) Mr. Razi Ur Rahman is making hiring of his favorites against different posts on very high salaries and perks, but the existing regular employees who have been performing the similar jobs for years are being victimized although they have given the cream of their lives to SECP. Their perks/facilities are being withdrawn gradually and contract employees hired by Mr. Razi are being favored lavishly in the form of high salaries, expensive cars and bonuses etc. Recently he hired Directors, Joint Directors and Deputy Directors for Securities Market Division of SECP. The posts were advertised, but without short-listing of other candidates some favorite candidates were interviewed and all of them were offered the jobs on very high salaries. He has also got amendment in Selection Committee Rules and decided if he interviews a candidate directly, there will be no need of interview by Selection Committee. The interesting point is that he violates the Selection Committees as approved by the Commission.
m) The employees who do not obey his illegal and irregular instructions are always discouraged and insulted frequently. Consequently they are resigning, causing brain-drainage out of talented manpower. All the Executive Directors who were hired on merit by the ex-Chairman SECP have been compelled to resign. Recently four Directors and several Joint Directors, Dy Directors and Assistant Directors have resigned because of hopeless, discriminately treatment and disappointing environment created by Mr. Razi Ur Rahman. Several times news articles have been published in the leading daily newspapers on similar mal-practices of Mr. Razi Ur Rahman, but surprisingly no investigation has been conducted or any authority even tried to know the facts.
It is therefore requested to take notice of the situation immediately in the interest of Nation and advise to competent forums like NAB etc to conduct a detailed probe of the situation in Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan to save the public exchequer which is factually being looted with both hands by Mr. Razi ur Rehman, Chairman SECP and his favorites. The name of Mr. Razi and his allies may also please be placed in Exit Control List otherwise it is strong possibility that they will leave the country immediately in order to avoid the accountability.
Yours Faithfully
Employees of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan
Dear Wasiq Ali, Im well aware what Hussain Haqqani is currently doing and where is he posted at. If you read my last post in this thread may be you’ll get to know what I’m trying to stress.