Adil Najam
UPDATE: The picture on the left, published in Daily Times, comes with the caption:
“Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, PML-Q President Shujaat Hussain and MNAs react to an announcement by the Election Commissioner (unseen), at Parliament on Saturday. President Pervez Musharraf won a landslide victory in the election but the official results will be declared after the Supreme Court verdict on his eligibility.“
Maybe our readers can suggest what some of the people here are thinking as they clap. Suggestively, some, you will note, are making too much of an effort to clap, and others too little! The picture is also a good compliment to an earlier one we had posted here.
ORIGINAL POST: It is neither a surprise nor really news that Gen. Musharraf just got himself elected. It was always clear that he would get himself elected by hook or crook; eventually it took a bit of both. The way it had to be done is sad – pathetic really – and no one has come out of this mess looking good. Gen. Musharraf got the votes he needed, but neither he nor anyone else is a winner.
Gen. Musharraf lost whatever little credibility he might have had as someone interested in Pakistan’s development or people’s aspirations. He also lost the ability to make the claim that he was any different or any less p
ower-hungry than his political predecessors. He is now, clearly, one of them and has lost the one thing that had given him a support base. Benazir Bhutto lost the principles her party and father might once have stood for. PML(Q) had little to loose and yet lost big, they may even loose the government. Nawaz Sharif had already lost out some weeks ago. Maulana Fazlur Rehman had already lost all credibility but now they can’t even pretend to have any left. The Supreme Court lost at least some of the public goodwill they had gained as an institution with last minute shenanigans. America lost too because instead of backing one bad bet (Musharraf) they are now backing two (Musharraf + Benazir Bhutto).
But the biggest loser here may be the people of Pakistan who – once again – lost big time. But, then, I guess we are used to it.
Frankly, there is little need or point in commenting on the sham elections today. This was not a news event, this was a scripted stage drama. The real question remains what will happen next. There, it seems, that all of the losers – including Gen. Musharraf – may be confronted with some unexpected turn of events. There, one continues to hope, the people of Pakistan may yet emerge as winners eventually. Whenever ‘eventually’ comes!
Adil,
Here i agree with you and feel that all the losers (opportunists) are together in the same camp. Apparently, they are winner but the turn of the events, as happened in case of CJ, will definitely bring the victory of people. But with this optimism, I am scared that what cost people would be paying to defeat this ruling elite. This elite can do anything fair and foul to remain in power as it happened in Karachi on May 12.
We need to give credit to this sham election, at least, it has exposed the pseudo custodians of democracy.
God Bless our Nation !!!
Mistri ji
Bhutto stood for that “common sense” for the time being,
her agenda is not as muqadass as Harisa or Nihari, u forgot
siri paaiy, as their taste is longerlasting, satisfactory for all
and well established every day reality, the khabays are the
truth not hidden !!!!!!
Just in recent times, “Bhutto” has stood for common sense. NS, high on harrisa and nihari doses, overestimated his popularity by 5 orders of magnitude, resulting in his behind to be shipped back to his gadda in Jeddah. Benazir understands that the current shor-o-ghul is just skin deep, if even that. Buying a black coat and setting 4 second-hand tires on a street does not a revolution make.
And oh by the way, we don’t need no revolution… KSE charhta ja, charhta ja, basant pay killer patang ki tarha charhta ja!
The people of Pakistan will remain losers until they collectively show the will to shun the political families and their scions that have been voted by the people for 2 generations or 60 years of our existence. Whether illiterate or not, our masses in general are no inqilabi people. The common platforms needed for an inqilab are there, infact several of them but the people dont seem to care. Poverty, illiteracy, hunger, lack of basic amenities , infrastructure and law & order are all reasons why inqilabs have taken place in history and by inqilab I dont mean overthrow and anarchy but the will and desire to make a collective change. Histories of France, Russia, China and Iran all show us that the will of the people is stronger than guns, tanks, men in uniform and their lackeys. More recently our lawyer community has shown what results can be achieved if stands are taken on important issues…and I am simply at a loss and cannot recall if the tyrannical and self serving Bhuttos (who the wretched Pakistani nation cannot seem to get rid of) ever stood for anything good.
No need to be so negative. No one has lost. We needed a balanced transition and an orderly move to civilian rule WITHOUT somebody being blown up in the sky or hung at the gallows. That will now happen over the next few weeks.
The issue is not how you reprogram our politicians’ DNA to make them honest, God-fearing servants of the country, but how you put in place a system that makes it very difficult for them to go too far with their wayward, corrupt ways. The NSC is such an instrument. Some level of financial corruption will happen, as it does even in the US where Cheney benefits from Halliburton, but we need to put a stop to events like Nawaz Sharif freezing forex reserves and gobbling up billions of dollars and then negotiating a deal to retire in a palace for 10 years.
Pakistan has a good future, if for no other reason (and there ARE other reasons) because the alternative is not something anyone on the planet can afford. Whether it be the US, China, any of our neighbours or pretty much anyone else. There is just too much negativity in the press these days because a 500-man protest and some khirki-smashing accompanied by well-practiced breathless narration makes for good video on GeoTV. Rise above the superficial, dear author of this article, and see the forest, not just the trees.
Tension na lo…