The Wages of Truth
Horses for Courses
Pakistanis savoured a special delight in the cricket team winning both their fixtures in the first round of the Carlton-United one-day World Series in Brisbane, Australia. That it happened on Eid (and the day immediately after) made the holidays that much sweeter, that the victories came against the rampaging World Champions Australia and arch-rival India, the latter a virtual impossibility contrived by Saqlain Mushtaq and Waqar Yunus on the last ball, made it much more enjoyable. Memories of Miandad’s last ball six at Sharjah came floating back. To round off a good beginning to the year, the century and the millennium (give or take a year), the much-awaited rains finally came to Pakistan (in place of the severe drought that threatened our already fragile and reeling economy), in time to ensure a possible bumper wheat crop. On cue, the Karachi Stock Exchange Index went up 70-80 points in one heady day (12 Jan 2000), the next day their computers went bust. In the general euphoria of nothing-succeeds-like-success, we ignored the obvious failings of our beloved cricket team, namely the constant failure of our front-line batsmen in a record six back-to-back one-day matches.
To put it bluntly, Pakistan’s batting problems stem partly from Aamer Sohail’s non-inclusion (1) mainly because of his attitude problem (2) a mutual aversion with Wasim Akram and (3) the Selection Committee putting personal egos, likes and dislikes ahead of the national interest. Aamer Sohail has also to put the national interest (and his own career) ahead of his over-developed ego, in the national interest some accommodation and compromise must be made in the knowledge that prima donnas all over tend to behave in like fashion. Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) did well convincing the ICC Chairman to have the outrageous decision to suspend Shoaib Akhtar put in abeyance, Lt Gen Tauqir Zia has now to ensure merit in selection, that only the best in Pakistan walk into any international cricket field. The tremendous pressure on Saeed Anwar to not only score every time he dons his pads but to hold down one end, has had disastrous results. If anyone expects Ijaz, given his sorry scores over of the last 2 years, to perform more than once every 10 matches or even more, he (or she) is really optimistic. To quote Humayun Gauhar in a recent article, a person who bought a Rolls Royce discovered after a mile or so that the Rolls had no engine. On return to the Showroom he asked the salesman how the Rolls had managed to go a mile without an engine, he was told, “on pure reputation, sir, on pure reputation”. Unfortunately, reputation will only take you so far, beyond one needs capability, not simply good wishes and hoping against hope.
Striking Out
The Opposition put on a very public display why they have failed to unite by themselves for over two years; it took the Government of Mian Nawaz Sharif a combination of a series of blunders and mis-governance to bring the Opposition’s act together. Having staged a successful strike on Saturday 4 Sept and a moderately successful one next Saturday on 11 Sept they had nothing to show for it except for a rush of adrenaline in playing hide-and-seek with the police near the Quaid’s Mazar in Karachi. On the shaky foundations of the protest against the GST by traders they decided that they had achieved omnipotence and grandly announced that the succeeding Sunday and Monday would see a continuation of their political protest by strikes. Except for Hyderabad the result was embarrassing, bad enough for us to keep hoping that in the face of a lack of credible alternates with any sense at all if not common sense, Mian Nawaz Sharif will at the very least feel sorry for the country he rules over as a virtual monarch and decide to govern it properly as per his promise and the mandate given to him, all 16% out of a voting populace of 50 million, 6% if one takes the whole population of 130 million.
Incurable optimists like me see silver linings even in the darkest of moments. The fact that MQM had to depend upon PPP and other allied Opposition parties to embark upon a strike call in Karachi is very significant. That it completely failed on subsequent days except in District Central should be of concern to the MQM. This is the same city which lived on the word of one man and his whims. The reality that Karachi as a whole belonged to the MQM has now become the subject of myth. One has no doubt about the MQM stamp on District Central but Malir District and District South are definitely out of the MQM camp, Districts East and West being marginal at best. While Altaf Hussain’s once dominant party continues to command the greatest majority in the city, its days of total control over the city are over. With sought-after (by the law enforcement agencies) MQM stalwarts surfacing in UK at frequent intervals, one expects that the coming Altaf initiative will be meant to be detrimental to the interests of Pakistan, however one believes we should welcome this now as we are far better equipped to deal with separatism rather than the early 90s, moreover Altaf Hussain is now increasingly out of sync with the mood of the vast mass of Mohajirs who remain patriotic mainstream Pakistanis. Leadership by remote control seldom succeeds particularly when the leader lives in luxury in contrast to those whom he professes to lead. Karachi is in for interesting times if any attempt is made to turn this city hostage to the anarchy we witnessed for a decade or so at the hands of MQM militants.
The Opposition Unites
Mian Nawaz Sharif has done for the Opposition a favour the lately lamented Opposition could not do for themselves, he has united them and given them a fresh lease of life. Only the Jamaat-e-Islami remains outside “the Alliance”, determined to go solo in trying to remove the government in power. As everyone knows, only the religious parties and the regional ones like ANP and MQM have cadres that can face off administrative power in the streets. Qazi Hussain Ahmed is a good tactical leader but has a history of wrong strategic decisions and JI’s remaining aloof may mean success or failure on the part of forces inimical to the PM, particularly in stage-managing strikes in the urban cities of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and the twin cities of Rawalpindi-Islamabad.
How has the “heavy mandate” like the one Mian Nawaz Sharif obtained in 1997 (approximately 8 million votes out of a population of 130 million, registered voters being 50 million it comes to 16% only) come to grief in less than 18 months? Why has the print media that had united to decry Ms. Benazir and support his cause now almost united against him? Why are people who believed in his sincerity now doubting even his credibility? Why are people who used to believe that with a businessmen background he was most suited to re-invigorating the economy, now shudder at such economic initiatives that have brought this country close to flirting with economic doom? Enemies of Mian Nawaz Sharif can easily do a hatchet job on him, only a person who remains a friend of his can do an objective study of his predicament and how he has single-handedly managed to bring it about. Whatever crisis the PM now faces is of his own making. One can blame the economic ills the country faces on previous governments, notably that of Ms Bhutto who in good eastern tradition let her husband Asif Zardari run riot, the fact remains that inconsistent policies and lack of real commitment has further eroded our economic infrastructure so that we now have to thank our parallel economy for remaining financially afloat.
Political Agendas
None of the manifestoes floated by the many political parties in Pakistan contain anything that is radically different from each other. At most priorities differ as does the language spelling them out. Certainly emphasis on many issues may be wide apart, yet ideologically they remain similar. Most agendas are nationalist in nature with “caring” capitalism posing as a soft form of socialism. The two prominent political parties in Pakistan are the PML(N) and the PPP, followed by the regional MQM and ANP, yet a number of other parties have come up to join Air Marshal Asghar Khan’s Tehreek-e-Istiqlal (TI), among them Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) of Imran Khan and former President Farooq Leghari’s Millat Party. A strong minority is formed of a group of religious parties with the Jamaat-e-Islami prominent among them nationally, yet it is the factions of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) and Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP), along with other religious parties, that are stronger in terms of voting power that translate into seats in certain regions. As we approach the new millennium, we must first define and implement the macro issues that are a must for good governance and structure them to the benefit of the country, setting in place positive micro-management.
The Wages of Truth
As the Najam Sethis and Hussain Haqqanis of this world discovered to their discomfort, there is a price to be paid for writing the truth. Pakistan and other third world countries notwithstanding, this is intermittently true even in US of A, the bastion of freedom of expression and of speech, there being always elements who will militate against facts being presented as they are instead of being what they would like it to be. The moment you talk about accountability a personal smear operations goes into full swing. Others are now coming on the firing line, they include Khushnood of Sahafat, one of the really brave, outstanding newspapermen of Pakistan. That a “dirty tricks” campaign would be sanctioned by those who are holding high office and are supposed to be mature and responsible, is reprehensible. Unfortunately more loyal-than-the king underlings particularly those striving for stars, have often a way of convincing powers-that-be that their best interests are served by concocting smears, it can backfire to the detriment of the perpetrator. Two can play the same game and what has emanated from one source and gone unsolicited to various newspapers and magazines will not be as sensational if the muck-raking is entered to in earnest. After all this is an Islamic country and there are laws against rank un-Islamic behaviour, particularly in public. However, there are two reasons to hold one’s fire, viz (1) if others are stooping in the gutter one should not react the same way and (2) there is always the chance that a third party has got into the act to stoke the fire for their own motivation.
Correcting Wapda’s Mechanism
First of all let us accept that Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) is in a holy mess, its running expenditures running far more than its receivables, its future commitments far exceeding its expectations. As far back as 1990 I had written in THE NATION, in “ENERGISING THE PRIVATE SECTOR”, quote “Over the years disparate fiefdoms have been carved out within WAPDA, down the line malfeasance of varying degree has become routine, from kickbacks in big projects at the higher levels to the connivance of the linemen in the stealing of electricity, residential or commercial. The revenue loss has ensured that WAPDA gives the impression in the public mind of an unmanageable loss-making colossus”. Unquote. While WAPDA has many ills, prime among them being corruption and inefficiency, the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back were the rather one-sided agreements in favour of the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) that were concluded during the last PPP regime. However, all the governments since 1985 are to blame to some extent for one reason or the other. The present Nawaz Sharif government inherited the cumulative mess of the Benazir era. After months of wrangling, the Government of Pakistan (GOP) had come to an arrangement about reduction of tariffs, it transpired later that we would end up paying far more than the agreement we were scrapping, the IPPs were laughing themselves sick to the bank. Faced with such a situation Lt Gen Zulfikar, on deputation from the Pakistan Army’s Corps of Engineers, is believed to have prepared a Summary for the PM opposing the deal which was mid-wifed by the Ehtesab Bureau and then forced down the throat of the Ministry of Water and Power.
Significant Events
As much as one admired Ms Benazir Bhutto for many leadership qualities that escape lesser beings, in the matter of corruption she has been a major disappointment. As much as one thought that the BJP ultra-nationalism militated against Pakistan, one had to concede that they at least had coalesced a political mandate to effect meaningful changes in India’s policies. For the moment both are derailed, albeit probably temporarily, but the manner of their leaving may leave behind festering wounds that may never heal.
Ms Benazir Bhutto has led the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for over 20 years. She has effectively carried the baggage of the legacy of her father, late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who had his own extreme moments, contributing significantly to the break-up of Pakistan in 1971 but then almost single-handedly consolidating the western wing as an independent entity. Giving the country a workable constitution in 1973, he emasculated it simultaneously by a number of amendments. His tinkering with the growth-oriented economy by nationalising everything in sight put us back two or three decades at a crucial time with respect to our place in the world economy. In short, he beggared us, put us in a hole that every successive government since then has put us deeper into. Maybe because of her youth, maybe because of her courage, certainly because she was educated and articulate and certainly because she had charisma, a number of us forgave her the sins of her father and looked at her as a national leader having international standing and instant name recognition. The crowning moment of her glory came when she came to Lahore in 1986. The accolades of the mass population were well deserved. Even when she went and married Asif Zardari, one gave her the benefit of the doubt. To almost anyone but Karachiites who knew him far better, Asif Zardari was a good match. The fact of the matter was that his family was in hock to the banks. A scion from a landed family fallen on hard times, one could forgive AZ his ham-handed attempts to play the rich dilettante, a playboy. Playboys have money, by the time he met up with Benazir, AZ (and his father) needed a golden goose badly to stay financially afloat. AZ wanted money alright, and tons of it, but to Benazir’s (and PPP’s) detriment he hankered after power more. After a few ham-handed attempts at petty extortion during Benazir’s first term, AZ came into his own post-1993 i.e. during her second term. As much as people say that he ran a government within a government, he actually ran the government and everyone and sundry paid homage and obeisance to him. These included politicians, industrialists, businessmen, bankers, generals and senior bureaucrats, etc, some of whom became “specialist advisors” in guiding him in milking the Pakistani cow. This was not an open secret, it was good public knowledge and anybody who denies this is a liar. Throughout this period, we gave Benazir the benefit of doubt. We were ready to believe anything but the obvious, we wanted to believe that she knew nothing of what was going on and even if she knew, she was not a willing party but was being emotionally blackmailed by her husband.
The SGS-Cotecna case has removed that doubt. However, the trial may have been conducted, whatever the antecedents of the judges and their credibility thereof, the evidence on record is damning. The fact remains Boomer Finance, an off-shore company, was owned directly/indirectly by AZ and Benazir was a recipient of funds from SGS through this conduit. No doubt she says the truth when she says the government of the day is victimizing her to remove her from politics. What is also true is that while she may fight on technical grounds, she is as guilty as her husband is, whether in all his “enterprises” one does not know but certainly SGS is a “smoking gun” she cannot escape. As PM Ms Benazir advises all those targeted by her regime to seek justice from a court of law, surely she will appeal but if the verdict goes against her in the Supreme Court (SC), will she abide by it?
A Juma Janjh Naal!
To the credit of Former President Sardar Farooq Leghari, instead of waiting at the sidelines till the present government succumbs to the consequences of attempting Hari-Kari every fortnight or so, he has adopted the legitimate route of political activism to try and come to power. On 14 August 1998 he launched his much propagated Millat Party, long on rhetoric but seemingly short of new ideas and/or a cohesive framework for political action from a still to be unveiled manifesto. Except for a handful of persons who one can label as electable or technocrats, a majority of those who attended the Convention do not inspire much confidence for the future. However that is the start of any Party, PPP began on Edwards Road Lahore in the late 60s with very few human assets. One agrees that the idea is right, fresh faces must be encouraged to come and clean up the political scene in the country. This will be an uphill task. In the sub-continent Moghul Emperor Akbar the Great set the trend of bucking the system when he tried to set up a parallel religion to amalgamate all those existing then. His “Din-e-Elahi” ultimately became the butt of jokes through history, Farooq Leghari will have to work really hard politically to avoid the “Zillat Party” tag that people have already started to label his new found political grouping with.
Democracy Needs an Opposition
Without check and balance, even a democracy can become a dictatorship. For too long, we have had total rule unfettered by an opposition strong enough to effectively counter the totalitarian urges of the rulers, elected and unelected. The result has been that those who are mandated by the people to enforce the rule of law have invariably become the major violators of law in the land. Other than an extremely faulty system of democracy that enjoins “the first past the post” system rather than an actual majority of the votes cast, thereby giving a minority a rule over a majority, the practice in South Asia is to centre “democracy” around personalities, with only lip-service given to ideology and constitutional mores. The result has been voter apathy as more and more people are frustrated in the democratic process, with progress denied to the masses and confined to a privileged few or those whom they choose to associate with them.
In Pakistan the present Opposition lacks credibility. As much as Ms Benazir may try and charm foreign audiences to deny her corrupt governance, this is now a documented fact of life. She and her husband can invent any number of technicalities to escape the process of law, there is a pretty open and shut evidence against their corruption on scores of counts. What is amazing is that despite her known indiscretions, she continues to be blatant about her denials. This leads to a more serious charge, of brazen faced misrepresentation of the truth on a daily basis — and this is the stuff of leadership she has provided to the people of Pakistani! And she does not stop at that, having subjected the people of Pakistan to economic misery to accumulate illegal wealth, she is actively engaged in activity that is detrimental to the interests of Pakistan. And she is not alone, party workers mesmerised by her charisma one can understand but mature party leaders who privately acknowledge her and her husband’s corruption should only have contempt for her instead of publicly defending her. These include party colleagues as well as the smattering of allied leaders like Nawabzada Nasrullah, Hamid Nasir Chattha, etc, etc, who are guilty of abetment, having turned a glazed eye to the Zardari shenanigans. They have put the person (and their own selfish interests) before the national interest and any person who does that does not deserve to be called a leader. Leaders must have credibility and in the face of facts all those who are still supporting Ms Benazir lack the moral responsibility they owe to the people they profess to lead. That leaves only erstwhile ally ANP in the opposition and while one may disagree with them on any number of counts, the fact remains that they are at least credible and not prone to tell outright lies repeatedly as some of their colleagues in the Parliamentary Opposition do. The MQM, which despite being in the government, oppose their colleagues on most counts, has also lost its credibility over the years. A once-fine movement, founded on the rightful need to give the Mohajir community a rightful say under the sun, has now degenerated into corruption. When a leader is away in self-exile far away as is Altaf Hussain it is difficult to control the party’s militant cohorts who have made collection of “protection money” or “Bhatta” into a fine art, or for that matter their white-collar leaders who have mastered the art of siphoning off big money in Karachi’s mega-projects. As such their once-vaunted simplicity and credibility have been rather shot as they have descended into “business as usual”.
Imperfect Democracy, Insoluble Problems
Any exercise in democracy without the participation of the people at the grassroots level is an exercise in futility. Democracy enjoins the continuous freedoms of expression and action, the process does not end by simply exercising the right to vote and giving away a mandate for the leaders to administer. Above all, only the absolute majority formed by that vote in any entity, may it be a constituency or the entire country, have a right to exercise that mandate. When a mandate is exercised by a minority faction having a majority due to an imperfect system as is usually the case, problems not only proliferate they multiply. The inter-action of insoluble problems in turn leads to disunity as each minority faction bands together in a bid for power and when they cannot get that power then out of sheer frustration, they try to secede from the union.
While nothing in life can really be perfect, unless we try and make our exercise in democracy close to near perfect, at least at the grassroots level, we may cease to exist as a nation. The aspiration for excellence can happen as an evolution of the present mandate i.e. if the rulers set about their task in a concerted manner and not spend their entire energies in seeking longevity. For the existence of the nation a period of authoritarian rule may well be necessary, it is better to have that rule than cease to exist as a national entity. There is a dire need to reform the system, particularly the electoral process. The idea should be to ensure that every individual in the country must feel that his or her participation is important and constant, that after exercising the vote once every four years, he or she does not become meaningless, at least till the next elections come around. This can only be done by making a pragmatic nation-structure that does not give lip-service only to democracy but inculcates the modicum of accountability that democracy enjoins along a broad spectrum at the very base of the system.