Adil Najam
I found this full page ad in Dawn very interesting. And also very democratic. Maybe a national conversation does need to be held on who (or what qualities) makes for a good prime Minister?
(click picture to see a larger, more readable, image)
Do you have any ideas? Lets try to do this not on the basis of who can win, but who (or what qualities) should we want as our Prime Minister. At least as an intellectual exercise, and a national conversation, we should be able to get out of Benazir Bhutto v. Nawaz Sharif v. Pervaiz Elahi type of ‘pragmatic’ discussion into a discussion of what we really would like to see in a Prime Minister. Dawn’s set of criteria is a very good place to start.
So, folks, give us your ideas but please please please do not again repeat the same old slogans and naaras about why you don’t like who you don’t like. Lets try to focus this on who you like, and why. And even this is someone who has no real chance of winning, lets at least think about what qualities makes you wish that this person would win.
The ad gives these criteria for the person we should be looking for:
- He should be bold in upholding the law without fear or favor, but his actions must be tempered by the heart.
- He must be learned in teh art of policy making, but not lacking in mobilizing popular support for his policies.
- He must be honest to a fault, but neither dull nor unimaginative as to be able to figure our white-collar crime.
- He must deal with civil servants with firmness and retain an unerring belief in teh rule of law. He must allow a sense of participation around him so the Pakistani electorate is able to guide his thinking. He must shepard a nation of activists - not police a fold of huddled sheep.
One should note that they clarify: “This man or indeed woman could be completely unknown. Or it could be that astute and honest politician who long deserves recognition for integrity, competence, or even an ability to perform a deft Machiavellian maneuver.“
if we can choose foreign nation, i will nominate
1. Clinton. (USA)
2. Man mohin Singh(India PM).
3. Mahateer Muhammad (Malaysia)
This choice is simple: Aitzaz Ahsan.
please watch the two victory speeches by sheikh nasrallah on youtube … he is a brilliant man
If a foreign national with impeccable credentials and strong connection with pakistan, its earliest history, then
(1) The Aga Khan
If we relax the requirement that the person be a pakistani national then
(1) Vladimir Putin
(2) Hugo Chavez
(3) Ahmad-e-nejad
(0) Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah
All these men have proven their mettle
Salamalikum
I hear Bush will be available in a year…we can have an interim PM for a year. We already listen to Bush…now, make it official.
If Abul Ala Moudoudi was alive, I would have gone with him even though I have differences with him. He was not the ideal/perfect candidate but still the best possible choice:
Learned: An academic; his works speak for themselves. Knew several languages.
Famous: Who did’t know JI and he was known all over the world.
Principled: Went to jail for his stand
Pragmatic: Supported Fatima Jinnah even though he didn’t agree with all her ideas but saw her as the best choice available with a chance to win.
Support among educated: At his time and even today JI (to a smaller degree) had good support among the edcuated middle class unlike ML (chaudharies/wadarays), PPP (wadarays/’saieeN’), MQM (educated middle class turned thugs), etc.
Anyone who fits this mold today, I’ll go for him. It’s sad that nobody after Moudoudi in his own party was like him.
If there is nobody who fits the mold, then the least evil of them all is Imran Khan, and I’ll go with him.
Please stop mentioning the Sharifs as the best guys for the top most. You are fooling yourself and insulting our intelligence. Were his first two terms not enough for him to loot our country?
Few things that should be added to the criteria would be
- Parties should be first democratic, in all major parties there is dictatorship, how can they demand democracy
- Party leader/chairman/chairwomen should be party head for a 3 year term and only twice in life time….thus allow new talent to groom and lead pakistan.
Pakistan Paidabad
- There are four major democratic posts
—-President
—-Prime minister
—-Chairman senate
—-Speaker national assembly
They should be rotational on provincial basis (domicile-not on cast) thus allowing for more variety and national contribution/unity
@Pervaiz Munir Alvi & others
Some of you pointed out that few points like
- Imran khan has lived all his life in punjab and still calls himself pathan
Anyone is Pathan/punjabi not is by the language its the family/cast etc so if you are punjabi your son would be punjabi even if he is born in US and lived there all his life
-Imran khan lean too much towards mullahs
he is not inclind towards mullah but mullah’s are… example is Imran buycot the elections first, the other parties follow him …not the other way round and secondly he is only agreeing on the things that are common ….
Thirdly, its time to reconcile and unite not point out who is Pathan, who is punjabi etc ….