Guess who said this: (1) President Pervez Musharraf is a national asset and they would work jointly with him; (2) President Musharraf’s role can be of great help in the fight against terrorism and in ensuring the country’s security; (3) President Musharraf is a cashable product and can help bring money to the country.
The person who uttered these pearls of wisdom is neither Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi nor Dr Sher Afgan Khan nor Wasi Zafar. It is our new defence minister, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, a veteran PPP leader. He claims he was quoting Benazir Bhutto. According to Mr Mukhtar, Benazir had a broad vision and the PPP must utilise Musharraf’s role in accordance with her assessment.
This is exactly the line of the Americans, who have been teaching us that President Musharraf is indispensable in the fight against terrorism. They have also made it clear that their support to the PPP is linked to Musharraf’s continuation as president. No Musharraf, no aid. The PPP apparently has acquiesced in this idea with one minor change: Musharraf listened to the American demands and then agreed to them. The PPP, on the other hand, agrees with US demands even before the United States speaks.
It is ironic that on the 29th death anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the PPP has taken a deep plunge to compromise the sovereignty of Pakistan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the founder of the PPP, was never afraid of the United States. He dealt with it on equal terms. The US successfully pressured France into cancelling the deal of a reprocessing plant with Pakistan. Bhutto was not cowed down by US strong-arm tactics. He could not be frightened by covert and overt American threats that he would be made a horrible example if he did not abandon Pakistan’s nuclear programme. On the contrary, he discovered Dr AQ Khan, who took Pakistan’s nuclear programme to its logical end.
“We will eat grass, but we will make the atom bomb,” he was quoted as saying. Until the Kashmir issue was still unresolved the possibilities of Indian aggressive designs could not be ruled out. Therefore, he went ahead with the nuclear programme despite threats to his life, which he eventually lost for following an independent policy.
The efforts of PPP co-chairperson Asif Zardari to make friends and influence people are bearing fruit. In fact, he is not content with making friends; he is making brothers. It is not a bad idea to win the loyalties of adversaries by making them brothers, but it is a self-defeating process. It is mockery of democracy if everybody of any consequence becomes Zardari’s brother and joins the coalition government which is already bursting at the seams. Mr Zardari should encourage some parties to act as opposition. That will give the government an aura of democracy.
Perhaps the need may not arise to carve out a parliamentary opposition that would challenge government policies and actions. Some recent political developments give strong indications that a formidable opposition may take shape sooner than later. The political paths of the biggest coalition partners, the PPP and the PML-N, are slowly but perceptibly diverging from each other. There are clear signs that on some important issues they are following different courses of action. Such an attitude, which seems to aggravate with each day, would force the PPP and PML-N to say bye-bye to coalition.
When the cabinet took oath in the President’s House, the ministers belonging to the PML-N were wearing black armbands to protest against President Musharraf whom they do not recognise as a legally elected president. They did not shake hands with the president, nor did they partake in the elaborate lunch served after the ceremony. It was a depressing spectacle and is bound to be repeated again and again.
PML-N MNA Javed Hashmi has publicly stated that if offered the position he would not even become prime minister because he did not want a dictator to administer him the oath of office. He told a gathering of lawyers that if the judges were not restored within 30 days, he would be the first to raise the banner of rebellion.
The statements of PPP leaders indicate, and most analysts believe, that the PPP has no intention to restore the judges at once because that may jeopardise the position of President Musharraf, which is the last thing the PPP would want. The PPP is also not keen to repeal Article 58 (2b) because such a step may create confrontation between the President House’s and Parliament.
The proposed entry of the MQM in the federal cabinet has not pleased Nawaz Sharif. That may prove the last straw that broke the camel’s back. As things are moving now, the PPP may take up the role of the PML-Q vis-à-vis the president and the PML-N may go for the creation of grand opposition.
Courtesy: The News, 5/4/2008
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.