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.
Mr. Najam,
I am really disappointed to read your views. In fact I have always been. It seems it is urban educated like you and me, with their habit of making non-issues the core issues, have turned Pakistan into a mess that it is.
To me knowing how Pakistani establishment has operated and taped even the phones of prime ministers, it makes sense for leaders to have meetings outside Pakistan. Democracy in Pakistan is pitted against the most ruthless bunch of power maniacs and so every act to outsmart maniacs is justified.
Idealism is a good thing, but we reach their gradually not overnight. If educated urban Pakistanis cannot help democracy, at least they should show some patience not to let it be hurt. Answer me honestly, how long did it take you to be such ruthless griller of Musharraf.
Reality is that we urban educated, with all our talk of democracy and idealism and naya savera, fear democracy. Because we fear that in democracy the poor, uneducated villagers and katchiabadi wala will threaten our social dominance. And we find refuge in our pseudo-idealism and all the pep talk of inept politicians and ignorant masses following them.
May Allah be our guide.
If it’s not Dubai, it’s London or a Murree resort. They sure know how to have a good time, waste money, and get nothing done. Keep it up gang. This is exactly what’s expected out of you.
Imagine all the money that gets spent on these trips when the travel with their entourages. Airline tickets, lavish hotels and other reimbursements. And they hardly get anything useful done. So ridiculous and so sad.
Tina said: The UAE currency will almost certainly be unhooked from the dollar by the beginning of next year. Know what
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.