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?
Zardari will be pulling all the strings no matter who is the PM!
no body can say who will be the PM coz screen is not clear yet. let the time come but hidden politics is going on which is very dangerious and no body know what will happen , who is sincere and who is not. what new gov will do or main thing is that new gov will ever come or not . . . . forces are going to take place in cites rather dn da bordrs , what can we expect. i am doubtfullllllllllllllllll that we are going back …………… going to have BARYSAGHEER again under USA this time.
Seeing the election HOCUS POCUS n PEHLAY AP PEHLAY AP mantra fizzling out pretty quickly between PPP and PMLN (Shabaj Phajja has already started showing his vengeful side, blocking postings left right and center, to become the Punjab CM) and the showings of the internal rifts within PPP ranks on whether to have the PM from Sind or Punjab and with Amin Fahim and Ahmed Mukhtar head-on vying for the PM job……….all I could hum………is……………as Adil Najam’s favourite tune…………hum dekhay gay! Lazim Hai K hum b dekhay gay! Hum dekhay gay!
(for the less educated lot here………….dekhda janda reh jamoray dekhda janda reh!)
Atzaz Hasan’s Long march calls for only one issue. If he starts long march on the issues below I will support him in those even if they go against Musharraf. But the Agenda of Atzaz Hasan is different not the interest of Pakistan but personal grudges against Musharraf.
Below are the issues for whom long march is due since the birth of Pakistan.May be now opposition should start those long marches?
No Long March for Atta Issue
No Long March on Mahngai Issue
No Long March on abuse to women in Pakistan
No Long March on electricity issues
No Long March on terrorism and extremism.
No Long March on kids bagging on the streets of Pakistan.
No Long March against child labor.
No Long March health coverage for all Pakistanis. No Long March on education for all in Pakistan.
No Long March on domestic violence.
No Long March on corruption in Police.
No Long March on corruption in Government.
No Long March on Clean water and clean food for all.
No Long March on the fact that Pakistan is under attack and suicide bombers.
Atzaz Hasan Plays with the emotions of the people of Pakistan and tells us all about Law. Then He calls Asif Ali Zardari his leader. I challenge TV Media of Pakistan to clear Asif Zardari’s name and bring the accuser in surface as one of them deserves punishment.
In my opinion, the new PM should be from small province, may be Balochistan, so that the people in those provinces would feel that they have been not been alienated from the political system.
But in reality, I think Amin Fahim should be given chance to become the PM, as we have tested or know the corrupt lot already that includes NawazSharif, Zardari etc… need some new blood in our political system.
At the same time, I would really like to see a PM from smaller province as Jamali was selected by Musharraf. His intentions were good but it sadly didnot work out.
Without going into commentary, I can safely say that Makhdoom Ameen Faheem’s chances of becoming PM are brighter than the others. But question is that will he be able to lead our country in a dynamic manner, keeping in mind that we have as a nation missed all the buses and trains to the destination and at the moment our survival is on hitch hiking.
Eidee man:
“Aqil, despite the issues you pointed out, the PPP seems to win or at least come in very strong in every election….there must be something there.”
If some people still vote for the party, it’s their choice, may be they find arguments from the past appealing enough, or may be there is something relevant to the local constituency dynamics that makes PPP a prefered choice for them, congratulations to them that it got reelected back into power. But you can’t criticise the anti-PPP section of the middle class for disliking the party when it can not even come up with a coherent argument about any of the current issues that the middle class cares about.
“Also, I think you’re wrong on the class issue; the business community does not like the PPP…at least not Benazir’s and definitely not ZAB’s PPP. They’ve nationalized businesses in the past, and just compare this government’s privatization policies.”
The business class certainly dislikes Zardari, but despite much effort, I am unable to see how his reputation of getting 10% from everything qualifies as a policy that threatens the status quo by reducing the gap between the rich and poor.
The nationalization of businesses is a thing of the past (what did I say about continuing to rely on the past) and your mention of Zardari along with ZAB in the above manner must be making Bhutto turn in his grave with agony.
Agar aap ka yahi trend raha to soon you will claim that Zardari was fleecing the businessmen only to play the role of Mr. Robinhood in keeping with the PPP’s core principles.
In response to
“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. ”
you wrote:
“How so? The non-rich seem to voting for them in droves.”
Looks like you haven’t ever socialized with people belonging to the anti-PPP lower middle class section to be aware that there exists a large non-rich anti-PPP segment too.
In response to
“The other thing is that the PPP is stuck in the past.”
You threw the following tantrum:
“What does this statement mean? Not like futuristic Musharraf who struck the clock back another 20 years with his dictatorship? Or like Nawaz who took us back to God knows when by ATTACKING the supreme court chief justice….but I guess that was okay, after all, he was a sindhi PPP crony anyway…now he’s the pro-judiciary party….how times have changed….Nawaz is certainly not stuck in the past.”
This is a typical pro-PPP ’saval gandum javab chana’ type of angry response.
Very few people have forgotten what NS did to Sajjad Ali Shah or suffer from any illusions that the PPP would not have done something similar if a court had threatened the premiereship of BB or ZAB. Both PML-N and the PPP have a shameful past and one can give examples to justifiably blast either party. Ironically enough, one of the 3 judges who gave a not-guilty verdict in favour of Bhutto had been removed by none other than Bhutto himself when in power (he was brought back by Zia assuming that he would be looking for revenge).
When comparing PPP and PML-N, only someone living in wonderland will think that he is not choosing between two pretty bad parties with very shameful histories. However, my point was that the PPP tries to rely more on slogans about the past instead of offering clearer positions on present issues. Your angry rants containing a reference to the ten year old example of the supreme court attack by NS still does not take away the fact that he took a clearer stance in favour of the deposed judiciary in the present crisis.
For anyone taking positions on personalities or party affiliations, it is possible to make selective and distorted references to the past. For those trying to take positions on issues rather than personalities, the current stance of various parties on those issues counts more and the past is relevant only if it is really relevant.
With regards to the ’sacrifices’ and the quotes, lets see.
ZAB: possibly, though there are also some question marks. In either case, its too old a thing for us to make it a major determinent of our current position on today’s PPP without looking a bit silly. That is, unless we somehow think that the PPP still represents the same core values and that the business community hates Zardari because he was trying to upset the status quo by bridging the gap between the rich and poor.
Shahnawaz Bhutto: he clearly did not die sacrificing his life for the country, and there are serious questions about his involvement in terrorism.
Murtaza: similar to his brother.
BB: again, not clear whether it was for the country or her personal pursuit for power.
Sorry mate, but if the PPP is going to constantly seek sympathy votes, then it must also be ready for people to question whether the Bhuttos really sacrificed their lives for the love of the country. They can’t eat their cake and have it too and must grow up and learn to take criticism.
As for your statement about ZAB not giving in and NS running off to Saudi Arabia, how does it help us in reference to today’s issues?
Instead of refuting the point about PPP sympathisers being stuck in the past, you have only provided more support to it by basing the majority of your points on the past. And the angry tone and mannerism of your post only endorses my point about the way people with a soft cornor for PPP behave when confronted about the party’s present actions or recent track record.
So thank you for substantiating what I said.
Eidee man:
“Aqil, despite the issues you pointed out, the PPP seems to win or at least come in very strong in every election….there must be something there.”
If some people still vote for the party, it’s their choice, may be they find arguments from the past appealing enough, or may be there is something relevant to the local constituency dynamics that makes PPP a prefered choice for them, congratulations to them that it got reelected back into power. But you can’t criticise the anti-PPP section of the middle class for disliking the party when it can not even come up with a coherent argument about any of the current issues that the middle class cares about.
“Also, I think you’re wrong on the class issue; the business community does not like the PPP…at least not Benazir’s and definitely not ZAB’s PPP. They’ve nationalized businesses in the past, and just compare this government’s privatization policies.”
The business class certainly dislikes Zardari, but despite much effort, I am unable to see how his reputation of getting 10% from everything qualifies as a policy that threatens the status quo by reducing the gap between the rich and poor.
The nationalization of businesses is a thing of the past (what did I say about continuing to rely on the past) and your mention of Zardari along with ZAB in the above manner must be making Bhutto turn in his grave with agony.
Agar aap ka yahi trend raha to soon you will claim that Zardari was fleecing the businessmen only to play the role of Mr. Robinhood in keeping with the PPP’s core principles.
In response to
“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. ”
you wrote:
“How so? The non-rich seem to voting for them in droves.”
Looks like you haven’t ever socialized with people belonging to the anti-PPP lower middle class section to be aware that there exists a large non-rich anti-PPP segment too.
In response to
“The other thing is that the PPP is stuck in the past.”
You threw the following tantrum:
“What does this statement mean? Not like futuristic Musharraf who struck the clock back another 20 years with his dictatorship? Or like Nawaz who took us back to God knows when by ATTACKING the supreme court chief justice….but I guess that was okay, after all, he was a sindhi PPP crony anyway…now he’s the pro-judiciary party….how times have changed….Nawaz is certainly not stuck in the past.”
This is a typical pro-PPP ’saval gandum javab chana’ type of bud tameezi.
Very few people have forgotten what NS did to Sajjad Ali Shah or suffer from any illusions that the PPP would not have done something similar if a court had threatened the premiereship of BB or ZAB. Both PML-N and the PPP have a shameful past and one can give examples to justifiably blast either party. Ironically enough, one of the 3 judges who gave a not-guilty verdict in favour of Bhutto had been removed by none other than Bhutto himself when in power (he was brought back by Zia assuming that he would be looking for revenge).
When comparing PPP and PML-N, only someone living in wonderland will think that he is not choosing between two pretty bad parties with very shameful histories. However, my point was that the PPP tries to rely more on slogans about the past instead of offering clearer positions on present issues. Your angry rants containing a reference to the ten year old example of the supreme court attack by NS still does not take away the fact that he took a clearer stance in favour of the deposed judiciary in the present crisis.
For anyone taking positions on personalities or party affiliations, it is possible to make selective and distorted references to the past. For those trying to take positions on issues, the current stance of various parties on those issues counts more and the past is relevant only if it is really relevant.
With regards to the ’sacrifices’ and the quotes, lets see.
ZAB: possibly, though there are also some question marks. In either case, its too old a thing for us to make it a major determinent of our current position on today’s PPP without looking a bit silly. That is, unless we somehow think that the PPP still represents the same core values and that the business community hates Zardari because he was trying to upset the status quo by bridging the gap between the rich and poor.
Shahnawaz Bhutto: he clearly did not die sacrificing his life for the country, and there are serious questions about his involvement in terrorism.
Murtaza: similar to his brother.
BB: again, not clear whether it was for the country or her personal pursuit for power.
Sorry mate, but if the PPP is going to constantly seek sympathy votes, then it must also be ready for people to question whether the Bhuttos really sacrificed their lives for the love of the country. They can’t eat their cake and have it too and must grow up and learn to take criticism.
As for your statement about ZAB not giving in and NS running off to Saudi Arabia, how does it help us in reference to today’s issues?
Instead of refuting the point about PPP sympathisers being stuck in the past, you have only provided more support to it by basing the majority of your points on the past.
So thank you.