Rumors Galore: Benazir’s Return? Musharraf’s Departure?

Posted on April 5, 2007
Filed Under >Adil Najam, People, Politics
82 Comments
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Adil Najam

Abro's Political Art at Flickr.comBack in July, we had written that “change may be brewing in Pakistani politics.” Over the last many months the themes of change and the indicators of change have been a frequent subject of discussion here. Our ATP Poll on the key events of 2006 seemed to validate the sense that 2007 may, in fact, be the year of change that many anticipate it to be; but possibly in ways that we do not anticipate.

We at ATP are a patient lot. We did not assume then, and do not assume now, that change awaits around the corner. In some ways, important change has already come. Slowly it has crept upon us and the political calculus in Pakistan today is markedly different from what it was a year ago.

The fiasco with Chief Justice Iftikhar’s removal, the flexing of the muscles by the religious extreme, the posturing by the politicos (including their relative silence at the beginning of the CJ debacle and now the macho statement from Chaudhry Shujaat) are all indicators that add to the indicators we had pointed out back in July. The result, of course, is a constant buildup of the popular fatigue and the democratic desire.

For weeks there has been (increasingly credible) chatter about a possible deal between Benazir Bhutto and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on the one hand and the Musharraf regime on the other. What that would mean for Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz or the Qaaf-League that the Chaudhries put together remains an important unknown.

For days now there has also been (more intriguing but less credible) chatter about some impending change in Gen. Musharraf’s status; within and without the Army. With the military top brass meeting right now there are rumors of the possibility that he just might be persuaded to hand over the Chief of Army Staff position to someone else but remain as President, possibly with the return of BB.

All of this is in the realm of rumors and of the most speculative variety at that. I would not wish to dignify it to be anything more than just that. However, the rumors have now become intense enough and persistent enough that one should at least keep a keen and close eye on them.

The most important new piece in the puzzle may be the abolishment of the ‘Special Operations Division’ of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which was the lead player in pursuing the legal cases against Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari. Excerpts from The News story on this:

The federal government on Wednesday abolished the Special Operation Division (SOD), a subsidiary of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which was investigating matters related to illegal foreign assets and offshore bank accounts of politicians, including Benazir Bhutto. The federal government closed down the SOD office in Lahore, and the files of the cases of illegal wealth and foreign assets of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari were being shifted to Islamabad.

A senior officer of the management group, Hassan Waseem Afzal, who had been appointed as the head of this division, was investigating the cases of Benazir and other politicians. He had carried out investigations against Benazir and had been awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz by the government of Pakistan. The division was established to probe into the illegal assets acquired by politicians in foreign countries and the ill-gotten money stashed in offshore accounts. Cases against several politicians, including Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari, were being investigated by the Special Operation Division…

More telling than this report was a news report on GEO News where host Kamran Khan talks about this in terms of a major indicator of change. More importantly, listen carefully to the views of former information minister Shiekh Rashid on this video clip. He talks, quite candidly, about how some change is certainly coming, suggests that this is bigger than just a cooling down, and even seems to hint that this could change the political equation for everyone including Gen. Musharraf and Chaudhry Shujaat.

Deal between the Gov. and Benazir Bhutto – Geo Tv
10:46


Of course, the current information, Senator Durrani, is saying that nobody should confuse “dheel (relief) with deal,” but then people have long since stopped taking him seriously.

So, is Benazir returning? Is Gen. Musharraf leaving?

Eventually, both things will happen one way or the other. At this point these are just rumors. But whether the rumors are correct or not, change is on its way and the essence of the game has already changed.

82 responses to “Rumors Galore: Benazir’s Return? Musharraf’s Departure?”

  1. lubna says:

    Even BB comes and do corruption,it would be far less what current rulers are doing.I.Transpancy ORG REPORTS VALIDATEwhere we do dtsnd now as far as corruption is concrned. These records are unbeatable and probably she would not be able to do it

  2. Ikram Ullah says:

    I can tell you one thing for sure. There is certainly NO University in the US who would pay Benazir Bhutto or anyone else $50,000 for a speech!

    This does not mean she is or is not corrupt, but lets not insult each other’s intelligence by such absurd statements.

  3. Wasiq Ali says:

    For Moeen Bhatti: Benazir Bhutto gets paid for speeches at institutions and universities in the United States. Each speech can earn upto $ 50,000 and she gives at least 20 speeches a year. plus, it is not like she was born in a poor household.

    For Sharmeen Obaid: Ms Bhutto does not only charm the west. The people of Pakistan have twice voted for her into government by the millions and she was never voted out only booted out, so please do not forget that.

    Also, being an administrator is not the only quality needed in a political leader. Politicians need the people’s support more than anything else. They can (and should) hire good administrators to work for them.

    The obsession of highly educated Pakistanis with administration as being a substitute for politics is as bad as the tendency of our politicians to think that they should be able to rule without professional administrators by their side.

    Pakistan needs a good politician (which Benazir Bhutto is) as well as many good administrators and experts in their respective fields.

  4. Riaz Hussain Bhutto says:

    people say that pakistan is islamic republic country i ask from them how. no rule regulation no law here a job person as like parvez musharaf sahib when he want take control over country selected gov and arrest PM CM and many leaders and when he need than he want to sit with them some days ago our political leaders mohtarma benazeer bhutto and nawazsharif was crimnals and now gov wants to talk them what is this please wakeup

  5. Riaz Hussain Bhutto says:

    i want to tell all that fatima bhutto’s aim is not to fight in elections or get a seat. we only want best future of our people and i advice fatima bhutto that it time is not to take part in election plz work to strong your party and shaheed bhutto mision. and some one say about khandan thay are phool.

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