Adil Najam
Given all the political maneuvering, convulsions, rearrangements, revelations and rearrangements of recent days and weeks, maybe it is time, once more, to request our readers to please grade the performance of the key figures in Pakistan politics. We had asked you to do so in October 2010 and in April 2010 and earlier in 2009 (here and here). We had presented the comparison between the first two results here. Now, as another tumultuous year in Pakistan politics draws to a close seems to be a good time to get a fourth data point.
Can you please grade for us the performance of the six power centers in Pakistan: the President, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, the Chief of Army, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Media. The focus, once again, is on how you think they have performed in these roles. In this 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. Once again, we have included the Media (as a whole and as an institution) since they also influence Pakistan’s power balance.
I know I am repeating myself (both in this post and from the previous ones), and I also realize that at some level this appeal may be ignored, but do let me say again 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, even though this is just a fun exercise, use your vote justly.
Do also comment on how you think they have been performing, and what aspects of their performance influenced your vote.
These may not be great leaders, but the arrogance of some of the commenters is even worse.
You think YOU can do a better job? Go do it!
There should have been a Grade I” for “Idiot/Incompetent”, which they all are!
A punjabi poem. Poet unknown.
Kikli kaleer dee
Pant meray veer dee,
Shirt bha Bashir dee,
Tay tie chaachay Naseer dee,
Coat vadday Bhai da,
Landay toun leyaai da,
Fit shit karaa kay,
Dhobi toun dhowaayi da,
Scent shent laayi da,
Shauq naal paayi da,
Bus 200 rupayye vich
Babu ban jaayi da,
Fittay moonh mehngaai da,
Tay Bhutto day jawaai da…
I wish people would put a little more though in their responses. Seems they either put an A or an F.
Imagine if you were graded in life teh same way!
My opinion for the readers:
Zardari : Grade F. A do-nothing President.
Gillani: Grade F. A do-nothing Prime Minister. Since this joker and his boss Zardari have come into government I have not see any policies at all for Pakistan or leadership. Only policies that benefit their party such as BISP are being implemented.
Chaudhry : Grade D. Pakistani judiciary remains as corrupt, useless and politicized as before. Only difference is that judges have now got the same chuska of interfering in politics as the generals. Proves to me that all the fuss during Musharraf era was just politics.
Nawaz Sharif: Grade F. He is not playing the role of democratic opposition, just enjoying the perks of sitting in opposition and around the house.
Kayani : Grade C. Huge disappointment for me is that Pakistani establishment still believes in nonsense of “good militant bad militant” and “strategic depth”, even though these policies have delivered no benefit since they were initiated in 1980.
Media : Grade C. Some journalists do a good job while others are sellouts. Media is same everywhere and Pakistanis massive expectations of media are unreasonable.
thank you for reading so far :)