Adil Najam
Before the elections Dawn News had done a series on who should become the next Prime Minister of Pakistan. I am not sure what the result there was. But I do know that the question is real again. Much more real.
Speculation is rife. Theories about. The more we talk about it, the more confused we get. The game is interesting, but is it just a game?
There are too many questions, and too few answers.
- Will we get a grand ‘coalition of [nearly] the whole, which will have 3/4th majority and could replace the President and rehabilitate the Constitution?
- Will PPP and PML-N part ways - either because PML-N will choose to be the ‘friendly’ opposition or because they both realize they cannot work together?
- What about the PML-Q? They are also talking to the PPP. Is a PPP-PML-Q coalition on teh cards?
- They say Amin Fahim is over, is he?
- Will we get a PM from the Punjab - Gillani, Qureshi or Mukhtar - to highlight that PPP is not just a ‘Sindhi’ party? If so, will this is permanent or temporary while the party waits for Asif Zardari to be elected from somewhere?
- With Maulana Fazlur Rahman doing his ‘meetings’, is he still in the game?
- What about the ANP? Could we see a consensus candidate emerging from there in the ruling coalition?
- And what about the provinces. It seemed that things were clear - PML-N in the Punjab, PPP in Sindh, ANP in NWFP and PML-Q in Balochistan. Will that actually be?
And you could answer any of them in the affirmative depending on what you already think and which news reports you have been reading. Any ideas what might actually happen?
In a recent post on ATP ‘temporal‘ had asked who should become the next president of Pakistan. We ask a similar question today but the intent this time is not normative, but practical. The question, this time, is not who should become the next President, but who you think will become the next Prime Minister, given the way the cards have been dealt with the last elections.
so, Koun Baney Ga Wazeer-i-Aazm? Any thoughts?
After analyzing the elections result very carefully, I have come up to this concluusion that, in my opinion, Punjab will have a CM from PML-N, Sindh’s CM will be from PPP, Balouchistan’s CM will be from PML-Q, NWFP’s CM will be from ANP and PPP will also have a PM in NA.
The best person I think for this job is Amin Fahim, as he is diplomatic, he does not seems to be unrealistic, unlike the PML-N leadership, who are beleiving in agitation and confrontational politics.
Right now, we need a person who can become the bridge between the presidency and the parlianment, as this only will work for the betterment of the country.
P.S Writer wrote: Will we get a grand ‘coalition of [nearly] the whole, which will have 3/4th majority and could replace the President and rehabilitate the Constitution?
Actually, it needs 2/3 majority to impeach the president or amend the constitution.
Also, webmaster did a good job by now posting the comments in reverse order, LIFO (Last In First Out).
Well as far as the elections are concerned, the signs all the way up to Feb 18 were that there would be massive rigging. So there were some people who wanted a full agitation against the Musharraf regime to force a change of govt and then have elections under a new election commission and the restored judiciary. This group was not against elections by itself but had a different opinion on how to get there. Whether this view was justified or naive is a different matter; I still don’t know what to make of it if I try to remove the element of hind sight after Feb 18. If General Kayani had not kept the army out, we would most probably have had very different results.
As far as the middle class’s opposition to the PPP is concerned, I don’t think it’s about feeling threatened that this party will change the status quo and deprive the educated elite of its status. The PPP no longer has any such radicle program. Besides, the middle class opposition to the PPP comes not only from the upper elite, but also from the lower middle class in northern punjab, which usually votes for PML-N. Members of this lower middle class can’t really be worried about a loss of privilleged status coming from more egalitarian policies.
One reason for the disliking for the PPP has to do with the fact that the PPP does not reflect middle class values at all. The other thing is that the PPP is stuck in the past. Whenever you press a jiala on the PPP’s recent past or stance on a current issue, you seldom get a relevant answer. Instead, they rely more on emotional blackmail by mentioning the ’sacrifices’ of the Bhutto family or the party’s history of opposing military rule in the 1980s. If you question the party’s present commitment to democracy, you get an angry tantrum. How dare you question the party that has done so much for democracy? The only problem is that they can’t continue to run on slogans from the past like that. Some people may be more interested in clear positions on current issues and less in what the party used to stand for 20 years back.
I am not PPP fan generally due to party’s performance in govt in past, but Zardari is best choice for PM if he was MNA, the new man deserves credit for change, it may sound odd, but he sounds real, convincing, and is better than most leaders in his newly acquired skills, specially, Urdu and English speech skills, if PPP Govt performs well , PPP has potential to become main party in Punjab in future elections.
Zardari Zindabad !!!
Aqil, what I meant is that I fail to understand why our educated betters seem to be vehemently opposed to what the people of Pakistan want. My recent comments may have lead some to believe that I am a diehard fan of the PPP (or God forbid Asif Zardari), or that I think that the recent elections were spotless; both are very incorrect.
What has made me somewhat angry in recent weeks is that the people who were against having elections in the first place (talk about enthusiasm for democracy), are now saying who *should* be president or prime minister….I personally think that if you did not vote, you have no right to be part of this debate.
We need to have a broader debate on why our educated classes are anti-PPP, and keep hurling the ‘Sindhi’ accusation. The fact that the PPP is wildly popular in Sindh is something it should be proud of! What’s amazing is that you can apply the ethnic-lines argument to every party BUT the PPP, simply because it is the most widespread. PML (pick your flavor) doesn’t have any support outside the Punjab, the common man doesn’t even know that the ANP exists, the MMA is lost in its own little world, etc.
In most countries, educated people tend to be liberal, at the very least in the economic sense. However, it makes sense why our elite hate the PPP; because they see it as a threat to their the status quo which supports them and perpetuates the gaping hole between the rich and the poor. I don’t know how Zardari’s influence (he being very “interested” in business) will change the PPP, but I sure hope it sticks by its core principles.
Aitzaz Ahsan is too important of a figure to be left out…and I’d be very surprised if he’s not at least a minister in less than 6 months or so.
“I am personally disappointed that they are even considering 3 nobodies from Punjab in place of Fahim. If it was about choosing someone purely on merit, it ought to have been Aitezaz Ahsan who is genuine prime ministerial material. But if the provincial background is the primary consideration, then having a Punjabi in place of Amin Fahim makes absolutely no sense”.
@Aqil,
It all makes perfect sense if you consider that AZ may have Prime Ministerial ambitions. Naturally, having Amin Fahim as the cndidate and expecting him to keep the seat warm for AZ is ludicrous. Hence a way must be found to shunt him out and to have a “nobody” from Punjab in that role; that is the obvious choice.
Someone asked if the PM were not to be from Sindh, why not someone from Balochistan or NWFP? That too is simple enough. That Maulana diesel covets the position is well known. But he is no Shuj of Guj to dutifully vacate it after 45 days. Nor would Asfandyar Wali, who would find such an offer justifiably insulting.
If Amin Fahim is not the nominee, it is bad news for Pakistan whichever way you look at it. PPPP would be opening the door for Mush to play his game, and he will. You can count on it.
Eidee Man:
While the author can explain his statement better, I hope you wouldn’t take personal offense if I said that that your recent posts are showing that you might be getting a bit overly touchy about the PPP.
The idea that a Punjabi PM might be picked to ‘highlight that the party is not just a Sindhi party’ did not originate in this post. It came from a PPP person himself who was quoted by a prominent newspaper. Absurd? Yes. But it’s the PPP that is to blame for its absurdity and not Adil Najam, who was merely stating some questions in light of recent news reports.
I am personally disappointed that they are even considering 3 nobodies from Punjab in place of Fahim. If it was about choosing someone purely on merit, it ought to have been Aitezaz Ahsan who is genuine prime ministerial material. But if the provincial background is the primary consideration, then having a Punjabi in place of Amin Fahim makes absolutely no sense.
The PPP is living in fantasy land if it really thinks having a Punjabi PM will somehow improve its standing in Punjab.
I wonder if people purposely twist things to suit their own narrow prejudices or they just don’t know how to read?
You seem to be on a trivial pursuit with the sole purpose of making your blog popular. The mention of the word ’sindhi’ with the PPP smacks of deep seated prejudice