Weekly Article Published in Daily Pakistan Today on 07-09-2014 : The end game for PTI and PAT And bulls in Sharif’s china shop Perennial monsoon rains have literally thrown cold water on the spirits of the dwindling crowds at the Khan-Qadri sit-ins in front of the parliament. Now in its third week the participants of the dharna have shown enough resilience to weather it out in support of their demands. TUQ (Tahirul Qadri) supporters (more appropriately disciples) are more charged, belonging to different social strata than Imran Khan’s PTI supporters. But now is the time for both to start thinking about going home. The Khan has vowed that he would stay in his container even if left alone until his demand for resignation of the prime minister is met. Similarly the Canadian cleric is spewing fire and venom till he achieves his nirvana. But the stark reality is that both the leaders have achieved more than they could have hoped for as a result of their putsch. Now is the time to pack their bags instead of prolonging the agony of their supporters as well as of the rest of the nation. If they were given an indication that a helping hand from the ubiquitous establishment will ensure the exit of the Sharifs, in all likelihood it is not going to happen now. During the past two weeks there was many a tense moment when exit of the Sharifs looked inevitable. Notwithstanding their initial ham-handed, infantile and self-serving approach to the crisis, it is the parliamentary opposition that in the end analysis saved the day for them. Perhaps the conspirators in the ranks of the PTI and PAT oversold their contacts at some level within the intelligence community. These puppeteers, retired and perhaps some serving, led TUQ and Imran along the garden path. Would history judge Imran Khan as the fabled Pied Piper of Hamelin, who led a great number of children who followed him blindly to death, as saviour? Only time will tell. The ‘Captain’ — who somehow cannot outgrow his stint as a cricketing hero — heads the third largest party in the parliament and also the government in KPK (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). And as such is a big stakeholder in the system. However, in the process of the dharna it will be most unfortunate if he makes good his decision to resign from the parliament as well as the provincial assemblies. This will not be fair to the constituents that voted for PTI. The party’s vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, while addressing the joint session of the parliament, paid rich tributes to the institution he belonged to. He did not even hint at resigning during the course of his speech. When push comes to shove there are others who would be loath to resign. Ironically PTI’s Javed Hashmi, who is being accused of compromising the party in cahoots with the PML-N, has actually resigned. Despite protestations to the contrary, Imran Khan was certainly misled by some self-proclaimed insiders in his coterie that his march would prove to be the final nail in PML-N’s coffin. That he went along is a strong denouement of his lack of democratic credentials. Qureshi in his speech at the joint session said that politics was the art of the possible and not painting oneself in a corner. Perhaps his advice was meant for his leader who assiduously has been asking for Nawaz Sharif’s resignation, ad nauseum. Thankfully the drafts being exchanged between the PTI and PML-N negotiating teams do not front-load the prime minister’s resignation. No one in the parliament wants it. However, when finally a deal is cut it would hopefully be a precursor to a transparent elections process and an independent and powerful election commission. If it is proven beyond doubt as a result of the findings of an empowered Supreme Judicial Commission that the May 2013 general elections were predominately fraudulent, then Sharif should be left with no option but to resign. Unfortunately the much promised and awaited “third umpire” did passively intervene but only to facilitate a political settlement, not to declare Sharif ‘out’ as Imran had been made to understand. Nonetheless it is no mean achievement that that in the process of jolting the system the Sharifs have been given a wakeup call. Their regal style of ruling through a coterie of close advisors including family landed them in the current impasse only just a little over a year after being elected. Nawaz Sharif and his brother’s impervious style inevitably permeated into the rank and file of their kitchen cabinet. In the end analysis it was leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Shah, and leader of the opposition in the Senate, Aitzaz Ahsan, who saved the day for the PML-N by proposing the summoning of the joint session. Perhaps it is for the first time in Pakistan’s checkered political history that the political opposition has thrown its weight behind democracy and democratic institutions. In the past politics has remained a zero sum game in which the political opposition had no qualms in inviting and welcoming military interventions. Although not their intention, Imran and Qadri should be credited for unwittingly bringing into sharp relief the resilience of our incipient constitutional democracy. It is being claimed that the coup has already happened, the military being able to extract its pound of flesh in the process. Stable civilian-military relations and civilian control over the armed forces is a sine qua non for democracy. However, Sharif and some of his adventurous advisors must have realised that it is only the art of the possible. Unnecessarily baiting the military has not promoted his cause. If Musharraf’s trial is a bête noir for the army Sharif should let go of him. For the time being the prime minister has stood his ground albeit with a lot of collateral damage. But have any lessons being learnt? The spat between Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan and Aitzaz Ahsan was most unfortunate, to say the least. Nisar betraying his assiduously arrogant mindset unnecessarily attacked Ahsan who has been consistently opposing dharnapolitics of Imran and Qadri, not as any favour to the PML-N leadership but for the sake of the system. Sharif apologised for the remarks of his minister on the floor of the house. However this is not enough. As Aitzaz said in his response to the interior minister’s allegations, the prime minister should beware of more than a few bulls in his china shop. Former president Asif Ali Zardari — who has emerged as the saviour of democracy not only by completing his term in office but also by bailing out the Sharifs — has rightly demanded that an apology from Nisar is in order. Ahsan Iqbal, the planning minister, unnecessarily vitiated the atmosphere while also negotiating with PTI and PAT by viciously attacking them on the floor of the house. It is high time Sharif should get rid of such charlatans within his ranks. But for that to happen he and his brother need to outgrow their own sanctimonious and arrogant demeanour that inevitably permeates downwards. Will they? Judging from the past, it is highly unlikely.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 09:20:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015