Selecting a dream team
In the matter of changes in the Army, the Chief Executive has shown surefootedness in making promotions and appointments, which has been nothing short of brilliant, almost immediately after his tenure started in Oct 1998. More important than the present configuration is that it augers well for the future because those promoted on merit and merit alone would ensure the same when they reach the top. That was very much on display on Oct 12 when Gen Musharraf’s “young Turks” carried out their precision-perfect bloodless counter-coup. In his moves in the civilian sphere he has also done very well except that in a couple of places he seems to have compromised in the sense that the appointees may be good in their relative fields but below the expectations of public perception which expected a higher quality.
Let us start with the National Security Council (NSC). Mr. Sharifuddin Pirzada is certainly one of the outstanding constitutional lawyers of his time and that extends for almost the whole of Pakistan’s existence. However, he is better known for his regular stints with military regimes. Military rule and Constitution should not go together as a matter of conscience and principle for legal eagles. While Mr. Pirzada may have given excellent legal advice to military men over the years, each of the military regimes was a failure in the ultimate analysis. My late father would remind me ad nauseam, “never reinforce failure”. In the individual context Mr. Pirzada may be the perfect recipe for legalising the issues but, as much as Pakistan needs a break, the Chief Executive needs to make a clean break from the past.
As one of Dr. Mohammad Yaqub Khan’s constant admirers, one has personally seen him under stress when he had the courage to stand up to what constituted constitutional authority but was remained intent in running not without economic logic in the financial sphere. He has single handedly kept monetary supply under check and Pakistan’s credibility with the IMF and World Bank going in the face of very severe adverse and negative reports. A man of great integrity and honesty, he nonetheless is associated with the failed policies of yesteryears as well as political governments of both sides of the divide during both his tenures. He has been tough on financial institutions but occasionally not strict enough from saving them from going under. In his defence, he was kept on being second-guessed by political appointees but the business community in general feels he has a penchant for the public sector whereas the need of the hour is to shore up the private sector. One hates to say it because of my personal liking for him but he brings an element of controversy in his baggage, not the least in his direct involvement of the May 28, 1998 foreign exchange ban and the spate of SBP circulars thereafter that confused all and sundry and made the Rupee run riot against the US Dollar for quite some time before it was brought back from a free fall.
Both Dr Attiya Inayatullah and Mr Imtiaz Sahibzada are personalities of some stature that bring no hiccups to the sanctity of the NSC. Gen Musharraf has shown sagacity by including a woman in this high forum, particularly someone who has experience both internationally and domestically on matters of social importance. Mr. Imtiaz Sahibzada has been a man of great integrity and honesty, a bureaucrat far above par.
No question that the Governors of the Provinces are all rock solid. One will not expect them to be blazing great trails but on the other hand as symbols of the Federation all of them get high marks. One wishes the type of good governance that Lt. Gen Moinuddin Haider set as Sindh Governor is emulated, in fact why he is not in the “A Team” as yet is a matter of some conjecture. This man set standards that should be an example for others. In that sense, all the Governors are men of good standing that reflect the will of the military regime to provide the citizens of Pakistan with an administration that is fair and just. Similarly the Chief Secretaries and Inspectors General of Police are excellent choices to back up the Governors in running the Provincial administrations.
Both the members of the cabinet announced so far, Shaukat Aziz as Finance Minister and Abdul Sattar as Foreign Minister are outstanding. Shaukat Aziz could have had the post for the asking three or four political/caretaker regimes ago but he has chosen his moment of association with the rulers with care. He is one of Pakistan’s success stories in the international business arena, well respected not only in the private sector but also among the technocrats of the important world institutions. Similarly Sattar Sahib brings experience, intellectual honesty and commitment to his post as Foreign Minister. As spokesman of Imran Khan’s Tehrik-i-Insaaf he was articulate and credible, two very important criteria in the CE’s search for talent. Which brings us to Ms Maleeha Lodhi’s return to Washington as Pakistan’s Ambassador, another outstanding selection. She was easily the best Ambassador we ever had in the US Capital and at this crucial time Pakistan needs someone like her to not only blunt the propaganda of an autocratic regime that is sure to be articulated by our many enemies, particularly India, but also to explain credibly in democracy’s capital why drastic measures were necessary to make sure Pakistan went into the next millennium as a sovereign independent country with a meaningful democracy in place and not end up in anarchy as in Somalia, Afghanistan, etc. The Accountability Cell has newly appointed Lt. Gen. Syed Mohammad Amjad, a man of fine reputation, to run it. To assist him the Chief Executive has brought Maj. Gen (Retd) Inayatullah Khan Niazi, an unbending person of outstanding integrity and character.
Overall the selection of individuals has been very much on the plus side, an “A” for effort and perspicacity. It also spells out the fact that the motives are sincere and in line with the pledges made by the Chief Executive. What we need is simply the best, we need A-plus all the time. We cannot afford “B” standards. Having reached rock bottom, in the CE’s words, we have nowhere but to go up. In that we need all the help we can get from the outstanding talent that is available and that is in the form of a “dream team” that can perform. There will be many people who push themselves forward, to paraphrase John Kennedy, asking not what they can do for Pakistan but what Pakistan can do for them, the CE has to watch out for such job-seekers full time. The selection mechanism has to be smart enough to sift paper tigers and self-servers from the “right stuff”. The CE has shown that he could do it in the Army, let him now replicate it in choosing the right people to help him govern Pakistan as Pakistan should be governed, with sincerity aiming for the amelioration of the economic miseries of the people and towards the ultimate purpose of making the country great.
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