The First Cracks
Those of us who were inclined to believe that this is a new PPP regime, chastened by its first experience at bad governance, determined to do good by their country, now see the first tell-tale signs appear on the edifice. While it is too early to render dire predictions of things likely to happen, there are certain indications in that direction which cannot go unnoticed and which seem to build up into a comprehensive design of wheels within a wheel, not divorced from the making of a quick buck. One does not see the blatant and ham-handed modus operandi of the first tenure, the perception of a hungry child wolfing down too much all at once, this time around the operating procedure seems to be much more suave and sophisticated. This is very much in keeping with the cunning of the brilliant election campaign against Mian Nawaz Sharif, a battle of the PPP’s organisation machine against the raw popularity among the masses of a basically untested political entity, where a dead heat in the number of votes cast (with a slight edge to the PML(N) and its allies) among the popular vote has been subsequently (and superbly) transformed into an electoral rout. While it does not reflect the political reality on the ground and does call into question the credibility of the democratic process as is being practiced in this country, it is now very much a fait accompli.
Governments are made or unmade on the policies that it annunciates and the way it goes about implementing them. However, what matters above all is the choice of individuals who will carry the torch. For the record, based on their respective manifestos, there is no fundamental disagreement in the policies of the Government and the Opposition, the difference would be more in form of execution of these policies and the level of emphasis thereof rather than the substance. To implement its policies, the government has to employ people that it trusts and has confidence in, at the same time they should have a reputation for honesty and integrity. Above all, they must be free from controversies that are likely to hamper the intentions and objectives of the government. One important thing to note is that wrongdoing can only be attempted when key players are motivated by rampant greed or owe loyalty to individuals over and above the loyalty that they should owe to the institution that they are responsible for.
In this respect, there exist a list of a dozen or so individuals in the PPP stable that act as clear indicators that the bad old days may come back with a vengeance. This perception is shared quite vocally by no less a person than first brother Mir Murtaza Bhutto. These persons are likely to be slipped into the system along with deserving individuals. Safdar Zaidi as a Banker could never be faulted for his competence or efficiency. The problems started with his rather cosy relationship with the PPP’s inner hierarchy when he was President Habib Bank. While never proven in court (and such things are hard to prove given that nobody would be stupid to put such things down in writing), there remains the lingering perception that many major loans were made in the period of his incumbency without merit. To make him Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Investment Board (PIB) does raise eyebrows, to say the least. On the other hand, Syed Mohibullah Shah, a career bureaucrat, now appointed as Secretary to the PIB, an institution that he helped to create, is also a Bhutto-Zardari loyalist, but he does not arouse similar controversy because he has a proven competence on the job without the element of chicanery that seems to be manifest in the Zaidi appointment. If Safdar Zaidi has made it back, can others be far behind?. The spectre of Younus Habib lurks somewhere in the background getting himself ready for a possible comeback in one of the NCBs or the DFIs. Similarly the appointment of Mr Mohammad Ahsan as Chairman PBC could have been avoided, if only on grounds of being over 60. On the issue of age, there is also the matter of double standards.
Similarly Dr. Maleeha Lodhi is a very able individual with an extremely impressive CV. She is articulate and a proven media personality. However, as a single person without either a political or foreign affairs background, her presence in Washington as Pakistan’s Ambassador is bound to excite controversy in Pakistan among both conservative and knowledgeable circles. The competence and merit of Ms Lodhi notwithstanding, does Ms Bhutto need this as a problem in the prime capital of the world? Mrs Abida Hussain, the previous Ambassador, is a politician of longstanding, her overall record did not show any great plus points for the Mian Nawaz Sharif government while at home she was dogged by the conservative lobby. One feels that a sensitive post like that of the country’s plenipotentiary in Washington could have been fulfilled either by a senior Foreign Affairs specialist or any number of the abundant competent politicos which belong to the PPP.
Rumours abound about changes in PIA, WAPDA and other such lucrative appointments. One hopes that people who have not been drawn into any major controversy with respect to corruption are put in these slots. If public perception about being “clever” about such appointments is created, it is likely to snowball into quite a substantial crisis that may be embarrassing for the Bhutto regime. Why not go the correct route as is apparent in the appointment of MNA Naveed Qamar as Chairman Privatisation Commission. The young legislator from Sindh is known for his honesty and ability, he creates the type of confidence that Ms Bhutto needs to inculcate and sustain for the integrity of her regime. On the privatisation issue, the Thatcher model that Ms Bhutto has chosen, the divesting of shares to the general public, is at once a better modus operandi and controversy-free in contrast to handing over units to such vested interests as may arouse charges of nepotism. Case in point, a nationally productive unit like Metropolitan Steel Corporation, was sold without adequate safeguards to a businessman rather than an industrialist and was in imminent danger of collapse having been stripped of its assets and stored raw material. It has now been saved, but just, from the unscrupulous raider by a management buy-out.
The appointment of Aftab Shaban Mirani as the Defence Minister creates an element of doubt. A good, honest man with impeccable manners, he is a tested Bhutto-Zardari loyalist. As Chief Minister Sindh, he performed admirably when he was allowed to. His effectiveness was compromised because he was only a front-man and almost his whole cabinet took their cues from another direction. Nobody doubts his competence but will he end up being a proxy for other more sinister interests? At the moment, the public stance is of non-interference in the military’s internal affairs, particularly postings and promotions but one cannot get away from the feeling that a dual-track policy could come into existence at short notice. After all, the Bhutto comeback has been possible due to a brilliantly planned political strategy followed to perfection, best seen in the alliance of and later dumping of GIK at the right moment, having used him to the hilt. The blatant approach has been abandoned this time around for the more sophisticated one, the hidden hand of duplicity being considered more effective. There is an eerie feeling here, the same feeling that gripped a lot of interested observers, in predicting that Mian Nawaz Sharif would lose fair and square even if he had won fair and square, a self-fulfilling prophecy. That is a Rubik’s Magic Cube that will be solved, eventually.
To the victor goes the spoils, but Ms Bhutto must be governed in her crucial appointments by the greater national interest. She has an abundance of professionally and politically competent people within the PPP who can be drawn upon. In the case of Naveed Qamar, Mohibullah Shah, etc, these are good selections. It is accepted that she has to reward some people who may be deserving because of their loyalty and hard work but this cannot be done at the cost of the country. Above all she cannot afford that her appointees seem suspiciously like frontmen for a more nefarious agenda. That perception, if it begins to take hold, will be fatal for the continuance of her rule because it will mean that none of the lessons of the past have been learnt, rather some of them are being unlearnt albeit in a more sophisticated manner.
Ms Bhutto is the Prime Minister of Pakistan for the next five years or as she had stated repeatedly in her pre-election list of promises, for four more years. The national interest requires that all and sundry support her fully on all national issues and there must not be any move to destabilise her regime. Democracy can only be sustained in the country if she is allowed smooth governance without artificial restraints. In return she has to abide by the parameters of responsibility that the high office of the executive head of the country imposes upon her, a basic honesty about the country’s interests over that of a more personal agenda. She cannot be blind to this or be blindsided. She has taken very firm and confident steps in the first month of governance, the nagging doubts have just begun to surface from the woodwork because of the emergence of a number of corrupt gremlins best consigned to the dustbin of history. One hopes, for her sake and that of the country, that she will pay heed to the sound of the distant drums that she spoke so eloquently about in her campaign speech on TV. My precocious nine year old said, “as Prime Minister she has to solve mistakes, not make them”, or words to that effect. That innocence is out of the mouth of babes. One hopes that the distant drums will herald in the era of honest government that her potential as a national leader has repeatedly promised and for which we have looked forward to all these years. If not, then we are in trouble because the drums may become more rhythmic and despite all the Queen’s horses, the sound of boots will not be far behind.
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