Adil Najam
Benazir Bhutto says that it is now time to take the ‘risk’ of going back to Pakistan. Gen. Musharraf says that he expects to be elected for another term as President. Pundits seem sure that a deal is not only on the cards but is done. Some do wonder if it is merely another detraction tactic by the military government, but others argue that it may be a step - even if a tiny one - towards democracy.
But while most have been caught in the ‘Deal or No Deal’ question, we at ATP asked our readers whether such a deal - if made - would be good for Pakistan or not. As many as 654 of our readers spoke. And quite unambiguously.
In response to our question - “What would a benazir-Musharraf Deal Mean for Pakistan?” - as many of 84% (547 votes) of respondents say that it would either make no difference (’Same old stuff’; 41%, 268 votes) or would actually make things worse (43%, 279 votes). Only 16% (16%, 107 votes) believe that such a deal would actually makes things better.
The result is surprising in how stark, clear and unambiguous it is. This is unusual for ATP Polls which have usually tend to show a divided viewpoint. The one exception had been the Poll on Chief Justice issue. Most other Polls - on ‘Grading General Musharraf‘, on ‘Who did the Most Good for Pakistan‘, on ‘What Gen. Musharraf Should Do about his Uniform‘ - had yielded rather divided views.
So, what is going on here? Why this sudden unanimity amongst our readers who tend not to be in such agreement on most issues?
Could it be just a high level of cynicism? Or is it that our readers tend to be more urban and come from cohorts that have tended not to be major BB supporters? Or - as some have said - those who come here are from a so-called ‘drawing room’ class? Or is it that our readers have a better sense of the pulse of the nation that political pundits do?
Actually, what is required is free and fair elections but that is too much to expect given past experience. No elections were as close to being fair as the 1970 elections but then the PPP who signed the Legal Framework Order and participated in the elections on that basis did not attend the National Assembly session called in March 1971, which eventually led to the break up of Pakistan, as per the movement “yahan hum and wahan tum,� and the other causes being the stupidity of Yahya Khan, a history of the mistreatment of the East Pakistanis, the military intervention of India, and the machinations of the West. But Pakistan could still have been saved from breaking up if the waderas, who were controlling the People’s Party and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, would have agreed to sit in the National Assembly and agreed to the majority government of the Awami League. But they were power hungry and were not to behave democratically and were skeptical of ever getting the reigns of government in their hands and at the worst feared that Mujib would bring about true land reforms thus ending the feudal lord’s grip and stranglehold of the masses of Pakistan.
Even now the proper course if free and fair elections but corrupt politicians abound and cases against them, though real, are only used for political bargaining and Musharraf has done precisely that and has even gone to the extent of meeting Altaf Hussein in London while cases against him are pending in the court. He also has soft pedaled cases against Asif Ali Zardari and Benazir Zardari to pave the way for a shady deal with the People’s Party and that is a shame. So to be fair, the case against all politicians should be first decided without government’s interference whatsoever! And, if the honourable Chaudhry Mohammed Iftikhar is restored to his rightful place, we can expect the courts to hopefully do more justice than has been hitherto the norm of Pakistan’s judicial system.
But to a great and a grave extent the expectation of fairness on the part of the government or of Benazir or for that matter of the others accused of corruption, incompetence and maladministration, is naïve and the poor people of Pakistan are likely to be fooled once again and they would never have a truly representative government unless they can somehow tame the political, the economic, the military, and the religious elites that have had them in their clutches for too long and who have exploited them endlessly, and often mercilessly. So May Allah have Mercy on the people and deliver them from the yoke of the insincere and the corrupt and the enemies of the great people of Pakistan and guide them so as to help them achieve a truly representative government, ameen!
It appears that Benazir is going to save the presidency of Musharraf through an unwritten understanding of helping her get back in power. She denies it but she has never been honest or trust worthy and she would do anything just to get in and stay in power, just as she was responsible for firing at a demonstration in which her mother was taking part to promote Benazir brother’s political position and it was during her misrule that her brother was assassinated of which she did not even hold a fair inquiry thus strengthening her implicit and illicit approval if not outright planning of the despicable murder, most definitely in the knowledge of her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, if not his doing, and he was let out of the prison by Musharraf *courts in Pakistan being manipulated by the rulers* as a first significant gesture to Benazir for setting up the ground for future political understanding! So once again, it appears that the people of Pakistan would suffer through the machinations of dictators and politicians. If Benazir was sincere she would join PML (N) and MMA and the protesting lawyers in a country wide mass movement to oust the dictator and then maybe even the MQM would also join it and the bandwagon effect would also possibly bring the PML (Q) turncoats around! BUT SHE IS UNSURE OF HER POLITICAL POPULARITY AND WOULD PREFER THE BACK DOOR THROUGH SOME SUBTLE ELECTION RIGGING IN HER FAVOR IN EXCHANGE FOR MAKING MUSHARRAF PRESIDENT THROUGH THE PARLIAMENT FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS! WHAT A SHAME! And, Musharraf’s playing with the cases in the courts against her and against Zardari is for political maneuvering and if she is really corrupt as was alleged by the President of Pakistan, Leghari from her political party who dismissed her government on these charges among others, including that of political incompetence, she should first be cleared by the courts without their being influenced one way or the other by the despot! The autocrat should not be allowed to continue and the only good he can do for the country is to speed up and have the pending cases against all politicians tried honestly, and if still possible hold free and impartial elections and get out!!!
Unfortunately, the rural perspective seldom enters our discourse. Wasiq (with his PPP views) can claim that the anti-BB sentiment is largely a ‘drawing room’ phenominon and others can turn around and say that people in rural areas vote for PPP mainly because of ignorance and manipulation. The only logical way to have better understanding on this issue is to have some direct input from rural Pakistan.
In either case, BB, in her two past governments, has done nothing to deserve much praise, at least from the urban segments of the society, and if PPP has done something really commendable in rural areas, then the object of Wasiq’s resentment, the anti-PPP, educated english speaking Pakistanis have not heard much about it.
The only thing that I can think of is the lady health worker program started during BB’s second government. Another common claim by Jialas is the provision of electricity to a large number of villages, but this becomes controversial due to the non-transparent nature of the agreements with the IPPs.
From THE NEWS (April 29)
By Rauf Klasra
LONDON: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has announced that she would accept General Musharraf as president after the 2007 general elections.
“I think that a good working relationship between Musharraf and me would be a necessity,â€Â? she told a reporter of The Times during a four-hour interview in Dubai published here at the weekend. She repeatedly said it was in the “national interestsâ€Â?.
The Times has claimed that Benazir does not rule out that she might become prime minister again. “If the people vote for my party and parliament elects me as prime minister, it would be an honour for me to take up that role and General Musharraf would be there as president, so I think that a good working relationship between him and me would be a necessity for Pakistan,� she said.
“I would have the choice of either respecting the will of the people and making it a success or being short-sighted and putting my personal feelings about past events ahead of the national interest, and what I want more than anything is for Pakistan to prosper as we make a transition to democracy,’ she said.
The interview unfolds many interesting aspects of Benazir’s personality and her new found love for working with General Musharraf.
“(Benazir) Bhutto is the most extraordinary woman who says the most extraordinary things, veering wildly between self-aggrandisement and a knowing, sometimes humorous, recognition of how she can come across,” the reporter writes.
The Times writes that Benazir’s response to a possible deal with Musharraf was: “I find these reports very confusing.� It is also confusing that while Benazir does not shirk from criticising Musharraf at every opportunity, she also makes it clear in this interview that she would be ready to work alongside him as long as certain conditions were met.
The PPP chairperson said, “My followers will read this and they haven’t heard me speak like this before. Firstly, I plan to go back to Pakistan by the end of this year whether Musharraf would like it or not. And I believe that the (corruption) cases must all be dropped. Not one single case has been dropped and you will please note that between my mother, my father-in-law and myself there are about 20 charges or more. And what I feel and my party feels is that for more than a decade these charges have been used to hobble the opposition, to undermine my leadership and the PPP, and they should be dropped because none of them has been proven, and if they’re not dropped then it creates an unbalance as we enter the elections of 2007. And we feel outraged that government funds have been used on a politically motivated investigation that has borne no fruit over ten years.â€Â?
“But I also believe, there are other important issues for the people of Pakistan to consider, which is would Musharraf continue to keep his uniform? And would there be a balance of power between the president and the prime minister, because at the moment we have shadow-boxing, where the prime minister is technically the head of the government but the substantive decisions are taken by the presidency or the military.”
Benazir knows that in returning to her homeland, she may be arrested or killed the moment she steps off the plane. This is why she is still careful not to discuss her travel arrangements. However, she declares that she is not afraid of death. She says that death has to come. She doesn’t feel that there’s anything like immortality.
The Times writes, “Like most of people, Benazir Bhutto is full of contradictions and for all her intelligence and determination, she definitely has her fragile side. You don’t expect such a fierce spirit to quote Dale Carnegie as a fount of wisdom or to say that she reads self-help books “to try to cope with stress and anxiety.”
It would be interesting to note that Benazir these days is studying a book “secrets about Men that Women should know,” reveals The Times.
When Benazir was a little girl, her father used to say: “Well, if Nehru’s daughter can become prime minister of India, my daughter can become prime minister of Pakistan.” He was always telling her about women leaders, and that was where her radicalisation began: “Of course, I come from a region that has produced women leaders, and so he would talk to me about Indira Gandhi and Mrs Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, Golda Meir and also Joan of Arc.” These were remote figures for her as a girl and it was Margaret Thatcher’s rise to power, which Bhutto was in England to witness, that really inspired her.
It was her father who chose to call his first-born daughter Benazir, which means “without comparison”. “I think he would feel that she is living up to his name,â€Â? the reporter says.
An interesting article on the differences in priorities, attitudes and lifestyles of different groups/class of Pakistanis.
Unreal
By Dr Farrukh Saleem
The News, April 29, 2007
On April 20, Islamabad-based newspapers and magazines got some unexpected mail. A letter in the mail read: “Pakistan is an Islamic state and all media organisations have to follow Islamic rules and regulations. If they do not stop carrying vulgar and un-Islamic content every possible step shall be taken to put an end to such practices.� The author: Judge, jury and executioner all in one.
Two hundred and sixty kilometres from Islamabad is Lahore. As if on a different planet, Lahore is now home to Porsche Centre. Porsche, the German sports car maker, had projected to sell thirty of their six million rupee, high-performance vehicles in their first year of operation. On April 20, Porsche Lahore announced that they had already sold eighty.
On April 5, Bismillah Khan had also received an unexpected letter. As he opened up, an Rs500 note fell out. The letter read: “You are not living your life as per the prescriptions of Islam. The money is for your heirs to give you a decent burial.� On April 8, Mohabat Khan, Bismillah’s eldest son, found his father’s dead body. There have been Bismillah Khan episodes in Kohat, Mardan, Darra Adam Khel, Tank, Bannu, Lachi, Charsadda and Sherkot.
Lahore, a mere five-hour drive from Kohat, must be on another plant. Lahore is now home to Royal Palm Golf and Country Club, a 140-acre “expanse of rolling greens and stately old trees.� On April 8, while Mohabat Khan was dumping his murdered father into a hole, the elite of Lahore’s elites, were also chasing holes. In pursuit of their golf-playing pleasures, they sat in Royal Palm’s comfy Club House watching the final competitive round of The 2007 Masters. Unreal, isn’t it?
On March 9, the Chief Justice of Pakistan was made ‘non-functional’. On March 19, Justice Jawad Khawaja of the Lahore High Court resigned. The other ninety-eight judges of Pakistan’s superior courts stayed put. Obviously, the system designed by the masters of our state is working just fine; only one of the ninety-nine slipped through the filter. Surely, this isn’t a ‘judicial crisis’ because ninety-eight judges haven’t moved, not even an inch.
On March 26, the prime minister of Pakistan met a delegation of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI). At the PM House, the prime minister told FPCCI: “Government believes in the supremacy of law.� On March 27, girl students of Jamia Hafsa, a mere three kilometres from the PM House, kidnapped Shamim Akhtar, a 65-year old lady, her daughter, her daughter-in-law and a sixth-month old baby. While the kidnapping ordeal was taking place in Islamabad, Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid were addressing a public rally at Liaquat Bagh. They said: “Rawalpindi was a stronghold of the Pakistan Muslim League.�
On April 6, Friday’s sermon at Lal Masjid threatened “suicide attacks if the government did not enact Islamic law.� While the sermon was being delivered President-General Musharraf addressed ladies gathered to celebrate the World Health Day. The president said: “Healthcare targets under Millennium Development Goals would be achieved ahead of 2015 deadline.�
On April 20, Friday’s sermon at Lal Masjid stated: “We will not wait more … it will now be Sharia or shahadat.� On that day, the President of Pakistan told Al Arabiya Television: “I am willing to travel to Israel to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.�
Unreal. Isn’t it?
Correction above: I was (1) NOT educated at Aitchison College, Grammar School, or any of the American Schools;
I think it is clear that the English-speaking elite represented here is divided on Musharraf and united against BB. The people of Pakistan, on the other hand, are most likely less hostile to BB otherwise Musharraf wouldn’t even need to talk to her.
Zak is generally right in his/her arguments about why the deal won’t work.
I might add that if BB had been willing to do a deal that would amount to a capitulation to Mush, she would have done it without spending 8 years in exile. Asif zardari could have avoided at least five-and-a-half years in prison.
Just as BB was alleged to have done a deal with Ghulam Ishaq Khan but never did, this time too the Bhutto-haters are letting loose their anger and emotion. GIK never got what he wanted but BB got an opening in a constricted political situation. The Mush-lovers should be prepared for similar treatment for the object of their affection.
Personally, I think that will be good for Pakistan but then I was (1) educated at Aitchison College, Grammar School, or any of the American Schools; (2) do not belong to a family that lives in Gulberg, Model Town, Clifton, Defense Society or Islamabad; (3) Do not have a parent who was a senior civil servant, world bank official, military officer or executive in a multinational corporation.
It is my experience that any combination of these attributes is usually a major factor in the froth-at-the-mouth-on-the-mention-of-a-Bhutto disease widely found among the affluent sections of Pakistani society.
Some people are showing their hatred for BB while pretending that they only want a “purer solution” in the form of BB returning without a deal with the army. These folks are most likely the type of apolitical folks who support Imran Khan.
Statements describing the current political crisis back home as a “popular uprising” betray the naivete of the apolitical crowd. Never having seen a popular uprising, some people consider a crowd of 3-5000 as enough to unseat a military dictator.
Just to put things into context, the MRD campaign against Zia drew even larger crowds in 1983 and BB returned to massive reception in 1986 but Zia didn’t go until 1988 and that too only with the help of a crate of mangoes.
The movement against Ayub Khan lasted 5 months and succeeded mainly after East Pakistan beacme ungovernable.
The point is, it is easy to say high-sounding things like, “come back without a deal and lead the uprising already happening.”
The real uprising will start after BB comes back, which is why the regime is talking of a deal. Now when large crowds come out to receive her, the regime will be able to make at least some of us wonder whether that is the result of the deal.
Given that IK is polling below 5 percent back home, I recommend that they not waste their energy on blogs and go give the poor kaptaan ji a helping hand. Otherwise, he will have to seek Qazi Hussain’s support once again to win his solitary seat from Mianwali.
I liked BB’s statement that a new arrangement is needed to ensure the exclusion of the army and ISI from politics and that she is willing to negotiate on how to achieve that.
FROM THE NEWS: BB SPEAKS
“I plan to go back to Pakistan by the end of the year whether Mr Musharraf would like it or whether he would not like it,” she said calling for corruption cases against her and family members to be dropped.
“There have been ‘back-channel’ contacts with Musharraf for some time (but) they have not led to an understanding. “And so all this talk of an ‘understanding’ I find very confusing.”
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Yeah sure. She really thinks people will beleiev this!