Adil Najam
Speaking of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani’s upcoming trip to USA and meeting with President George Bush a politically astute and well-connected friend in Pakistan said, “Its going to be a meeting of two lame ducks. George Bush is a lame duck because his tenure is about to end, and Yousuf Raza Gillani is a lame duck because his tenure never really started!”
For those who wish to see real democracy in Pakistan such comments instill a certain sadness. Yet, as a recent The News editorial highlighted, there is an increasing, palpable, and disturbing concern amongst Pakistanis about exactly who, if anyone, in in control of the government in Pakistan.
We thought maybe we should put exactly that question to our readers in this ATP Poll: Who do you think calls the shots? Who is really in-charge of Pakistan’s government today?
Of course, one could make this broader and more abstract by adding the Allah, Umreeka or Army responses. But our interest right now is on the daily governance of the country and who is calling the shots there.We woudl appreciate if the responses and comments also focus on that.
I chose ‘All of the Above’ option. I think the power politics in Pakistan is changing since the (to Musharraf’s supporters) unexpected outcome of the Feb. 2008 elections. All major players are waiting to see where the proverbial camel is going to turn. Add in the American influence (do you kids know that how much Pakistanis economy is dependent on American-backed Western economies?) till at least the new administration in Washington takes power in January 2009 and so things are likely to stay in status quo mode until the pillars of power (Nawaz, Musharraf, Zardari, and even Kiani–the rest are just noises) make a move.
Musharraf is relevent because of his 58-B. Nawaz can pinprick enough to create ‘conditions’ for sacking of the entire new setup. Zardari can turn Sindh into fire-and that will stay his ace card.
Quit blaming the new govt! It is in a ‘power-sharing’ mode because of the ‘committments’ made during Sept/Oct 2007. But the PPP will never really sit in the lap of a dictator–and hence Musharraf’s increased anger against Zardari.
Gillani is even worse than Shaukat Aziz. At least Shaukat was in charge of the economy and had an important position in policy making in that regard. Gillani is just a clerk for all practical purpose; Zardari makes the decisions and Gillani just does the paper work.
How sad that a country full of talented people and these are the leaders we get-Musharraf, Zardari, Sharif, Fazlur Rahman. We really should be able to do better than this.
Hail mighty English linguist Mr Rasheed. However there are more important aspects to YRG’s visit & the questions surrounding our “sovereignty” (I hope I spelled correctly :D) that need our attention. It is because of this mentality that we still don’t have Urdu versions of professional disciplines’ syllabi or even an Urdu MS Windows. “Sovereign.i.ty”…..!! God help us…
@ MZ,
What shall I say ? interesting, between the lines !!
@
The Jiyalah Pir Minister is to return, proving that he is
not in-charge at all.
“Khair se buddhu ghar ko lotey” ! reminds me of a beautiful
punjabi muhawara !
Hath puraney khoseray, Basantey auri aie !!
Just listen to the TV tabsirahs and tajzias, discussing many
ways, how to ” beg” money from a lover.