Adil Najam
We know that Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari prefer Dubai as a ‘neutral’ meeting ground. Last week Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani and his entourage, including Information Minister Sherry Rehman, made a very public stop-over in Dubai to meet Asif Ali Zardari and family and (presumably) discuss important policy issues. Now, one reads that national security chief and de facto Interior Minister, Rahman Malik, is rushing to Dubai to discuss even more important policy matters.
One doubts that these are just “routine” meetings. One expects that there are many other important political meetings that one does not even hear about. Deservedly or not, this leaves one wondering whether Dubai, and not Islamabad, is the new center of Pakistan politics.
Dubai has long been central to all things Pakistani (!). And not just because of the large and increasingly influential Pakistani diaspora that resides there.
Economically, more and more Pakistani ‘transactions’ now happen in Dubai. Its just a short flight away (short enough to feel like a domestic flight), foreigners who feel more comfortable meeting in Dubai, economic transactions are easier and safer to make, and more and more Pakistani companies (and, actually, Western companies) are setting up shop in Dubai.
Politically, it has been home to key political exiles from Pakistan and it seems that even politicians not (yet) in exile set up home there… just in case! It is also a convenient and comfortable “negotiating ground”, whether it be for Musharraf-Benazir negotiations or Zardari-Sharif ones. Indeed, Dubai is a major ‘Pakistani’ news center, not just because our important TV channels are located there, but because so much actual political news happens there!
Yet, while the PPP, as a party, being run out of Dubai was understandable while Benazir Bhutto was alive and unable to be in Pakistan, it feels distinctly odd when it seems that the PPP is running the government of Pakistan from Dubai.
I am quite convinced that this is, in fact, not the case. I sympathize with the fact that Mr. Zardari is in Dubai for personal, and reportedly health, reasons. He has as much right to do so as any other Pakistani. More, maybe, because he has homes in Dubai. I can also appreciate his wanting to be near his children over their summer break and can understand a fatherly concern about not wanting his children to be in Islamabad in the midst of the political limelight, intrigue, pressures, and insecurity that would be lavished on them. There is plenty of good reason for him to be in Dubai, even for long periods. Especially, since as Party co-Chairman, he is not really compelled to sit in a government office in Islamabad.
Having said that, however, the frequent and very public visits of those of his party colleagues who are now public servants (e.g., the Prime Minister, the Information Minister, etc.) to meet him in Dubai to discuss matters of political urgency leaves a bad taste and a palpable impression that matters of importance to the Pakistani public are far removed not only from the people, but even from the country’s Capital.
Whatever else it may be, it is not good politics. For that reason alone, it should be avoided.
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Tina said: The UAE currency will almost certainly be unhooked from the dollar by the beginning of next year. Know what’s going to happen to the dollar and by extension, the Pakistani rupee then?
Let’s keep some perspective. We’re talking about the UAE unhooking its currency from the USD - not China or Japan. Size does matter.
The U.S. has been propping Islamabad up since the 1980s in its Holy War against all things Soviet, and now that the U.S. is tanking, Pakistan and its beholden military leadership is too. It’s that simple really. Anybody with a skill set and any brains has either already decamped to Dubai or is doing so.
P.S. The UAE currency will almost certainly be unhooked from the dollar by the beginning of next year. Know what’s going to happen to the dollar and by extension, the Pakistani rupee then? Throw your hands in the air and scream yeeeh-haah, that’s right…….it’s a long way down.
Well, its not just politics, its everything. Speak to any important businessman and they will tell you that they do all their important business meetings in Dubai. Some of it is because Dubai makes life so much easier and some of it is that life in Pakistan is just so hard.
So, I am not surprised nor worried by this trend, this is just how things are.
Adil: Politically, it has been home to key political exiles from Pakistan and it seems that even politicians not (yet) in exile set up home there… just in case!
Not a coincidence that Sharif’s in London and Zardari’s in Dubai/London. Preparation for near-future exile. Look at the facts: Gillani and Sherry Rehman fiddling in Malaysia/Dubai while Pakistan burns; nut-job Rehman Malik in charge(!) - shades of Baghdad Bob(?); Mullen’s warlike; Boucher’s warlike; Narayanan’s surprisingly warlike (”destroy the ISI”); US deaths in Afghanistan higher than Iraq 2 months running; draw-down in Iraq moved way up (this September). Look for deployment of up to 20000 US troops in Afghanistan. If Petraeus gets shifted to Afghanistan, the writing’s on the wall. If that’s the game, Musharraf and Kayani will be the go to guys. Zardari and Sharif are toast - might as well get back to “exile”. Sharif’s toast anyway for his love for the Taliban.
@ Adil Najam,
arsa-e-daraz say Ham apki koi khatir-o-madarat ne
karsakey, hazer-e-khidmat hey, Mulaheza ho :
Bhagorey, apni mehfil sajanaey keliay,
Bhag’watey kisiko, ya bhaga’ey jatey hein
Kabhi London, Dubai, ya phir Adiyalah,
Qismat mien inki goya daurtey rehna hey
Koi mauzoo, Ya pechiddegi-e-rozgar faqatt,
Har mauqey pay, bhagna inko hi parta hey
Ghar sey be-ghar, becharra Chaur kiun ho,
Chaurri to her bhukaa, piyassah hi karta hey
Channay ki daal, chaawal, tamater aur atta,
Yehan nehien, to wahan par wafar milta hey
Ye raunaq-e-jehan, ya ke hey unki Khaslat,
Yun hi baithey baithey, utth bhagtey hein
Illaj inka yeh hey Rafay, keh har rozz inhein,
Isabghol ka chilka, nehla kay khilaya jaeiy
Well Our Country is going to its death .politics is in crises,no one is seeking countr’s progress and no one feels the pain oftheir awaam (people) that how many problem they are facing everyone is making their accounts . Bangladesh had pound rate (1 GPB) 130 2 years ago and pak had 112 hardly now Bdesh has 136 and pak 142 hit record on 8th july. Their is no need of any foreighn govenmaet attack. we are on a worse condition but our uneducated people who voted for those who already had huge swiss accounts so it s alright people instead choosed them now face what ever the goverment gives the problem .Problem is notin our political partiers problem lies within our own people.
“Pakistan’s New Political Center?”
Pakistan’s new capital more like.
You are right. I have also been struck by just how much Dubai plays a role in everything about Pakistan now.