Adil Najam
Back in September 2006 we had asked our readers to grade the performance of Gen. Musharraf (he was graded B-/C+). In this latest installment of ATP Polls we would like to find out how you grade the performance of those holding key offices in Pakistan: President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kiani, and Opposition Leader Nawaf Sharif.
As someone who grades people for a living, let me just say that the purpose of this exercise is not to see whether you like these people or not, it is to see what how you think they have been performing in the offices they now hold. It is perfectly possible to not particularly like someone but come to the conclusion that they are doing a decent job in what they have been assigned to do, or vice versa. So, please, eventhough this is just a fun exercise, use your vote justly.
Do please also leave a comment and let us know what you think of their performance.
Good poll.
A few points;
1. I voted good for Kiani because he is NOT trying to interfere in politics and running a good military operation. If he even thought of politics or interfering there is an F there. So, my vote is AGAINST military in politics, not for it.
2. To earlier comment, I think Nawaz Sharif has to be here because in a democracy the opposition is very important. I voted good for him because he is NOT trying to destabilize the government and trying to keep them honest.
3. I do not like Zardari at all I I gave him a B because he is actually doing quite well in keeping govt together, having real operation in Swat, and there are no current corruption scandals and this poll is only about now.
4. Finally, I don’t think Imran needs to be in the poll. Nawaz Sharif is there as the leader of the main opposition party and that is what I and others are grading him on.
Nawaz Sharif shouldn’t really be part of this poll since he currently does not hold an official position in the government. The rest are responsible for specific institutions which can be judged in terms of recent performance.
As a prime minister, Gillani doesn’t have the power within his own party to take important decisions. The president is supposed to provide a national vision, which Zardari does not have; nor does he have the power to implement anything.
These two cannot do anything on the foreign policy/security front since that is controlled entirely by the military. However, they can certainly make an impact on the local scene with respect to the economy, infrastructure development, education, health, etc and I haven’t seen any clear plans or ministerial appointments that would earn confidence.
Here, Kayani comes out on top. In recent combined polls, Musharraf has the highest approval rating, followed by Nawaz Sharif, with Zardari being dead last. This would suggest that Pakistanis have a natural affinity for military rule. However, I think this is only due to the fact that democratic governments have never been allowed to complete their tenures without intervention. The military is a disciplined institution and has a long stable history (internally of course). It’ll take several iterations of democratic governments for parties to clean their own houses, and for strong, national leaders to emerge.
I am not a fan of right wing political parties but have to admit Nawaz Sharif is playing a positive role in current Pakistani politics.May be he has learnt from past mistakes.
Zardari on the other hand is still embracing his past.He should step down and PPP should let some new faces come forward.
My take:
General Kiyani is showing leadership, enacting policies to improve morale and counter-insurgency, and improving the image of the Army. He is doing an excellent job.
Gillani and Zardari are just enjoying perks and issuing statements. No national leadership or policies from them.
Nawaz Sharif is playing politics with every issue and looking at next general elections. No national leadership or policies from him either.
Imran Khan and mullah parties made a blunder of boycotting elections and are now following a policy of opposing everything the government does, which keeps PTI/mullah parties in the news.
Baloch nationalist parties are busy trying to remove the restrictions Musharraf placed on their power, whether it is Local Government system or replacing tribal Levies with police that operate outside of cities, as well as trying to suspend/rollback development projects such as Gwadar.
Overall I only see the military performing much better. The political parties are performing abysmally, but are still able to get away with it by playing “virsa siyasat”.
y not imran khan is in this poll tht nt fair he should be here “`