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.
Quoting Ali Dada: “I mean, who am I to protest or howl or be angry? These are the things Pakistanis wanted and got – congratulations.”
Makes you wonder if democracy has its limits. The two Bush terms in the US and the three terms of Nawaz Sharif and Zardari/PPP seem to suggest people can be content with, what I would consider, horrible leaders and are not willing to look beyond them.
I guess Dubai is new stomping ground for Pakistan’s elite, be it the politicians, the businessmen, the well-known activists, the high-profile protesters, the celebrities, the rich and famous. It’s only a short hop from major Pakistani cities and offers all the luxuries and “ayyashi” of the first world. I hear it’s also the new destination for “flight of capital” from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan now being run by a newly elected “democratic” government.
It is really sad that our own politician go to other countries for meeting of Pakistan political matters, yes we can expect this from Mr. 10% (zardari) and Mr. Hijacker (former PM Sharif). I wander what will happen to our believed country. They say we don
Musharraf and Shaukst Aziz remain the kings of foreign junkets on taxpayer money. These new guys have a long long way to go before they get even close to the Mush-Shokey junket machine
The writer is being too soft and polite in criticizing the overseas activities of the politicians.I have never heard of any other poor country`s politicians holding regular meetings in a country other then their own country .The top politicians of Pakistan have made too much money, while the common man of the country will think twice before even traveling between Lahore and Karachi, these politicians dance across the globe as if it is their backyard. They love the life of luxury , having a good time and enjoying life.Too make things worst these meetings have not solved any damn problems the country is facing.