The Merchants of Disinformation
A spate of advertisements from both the major political groupings, the PPP and the PML (N) have started to appear in the newspapers. A list of promises are contained in the messages being beamed at the citizens, the constant refrain of the pledges made are that they will be fulfilled. Nawaz Sharif delivers, Ms Benazir also delivers! Negative advertising has still to make its appearance but what is appearing in the media is more eloquent, a titanic struggle at spreading disinformation about each other. Notwithstanding the electoral battle, the stakes are enormous for those engaged in the business of it, if their principal candidates win they will be in line to roam the corridors of powers as Senators, Federal Ministers, Special Assistants, Advisors etc.
Hussain Haqqani may not have invented the phrase, “good guys finish last” he certainly subscribes to the fact that in politics good guys (like old soldiers) simply fade away. Hussain perfected the “Dirty Tricks” campaign launched against Ms Benazir in 1988 and 1990. Recognizing his nuisance value, Ms Benazir accepted him into her fold (and by all accounts into her inner circle) and he now trains his guns on his old mentor, Mian Nawaz Sharif, though surprisingly not as successfully as he did against Ms Benazir. There are still a few days to go before the polls and one supposes that he is probably reserving some surprise much for the fag end of the election campaign. If negative ads were allowed in Pakistan, Bush’s “Willie Horton” campaign against Michael Dukakis in 1988 would seem to be a Sunday Church sermon in comparison to what Haqqani is capable of. Furthermore no amount of personal vilification disturbs Haqqani, dirt is his business and he has a Teflon-like hide. He is effective because morality and conscience do not deter his purpose. If he would take it up as a profession on a commercial basis, Haqqani is in a position to parley his potential into a profitable business in a more formal corporate manner as is done in the western world.
On the other side of the divide sits Mushahid Hussain, formerly Editor of the MUSLIM and lately Special Assistant to the former PM, Mian Nawaz Sharif, with the Status of Minister of State. As intelligent as Haqqani, if not more, and certainly much more well read than him, this is Mushahid’s first crack at electioneering and the lack of experience is showing. As a practicing gentleman and a cerebral scholar, Mushahid is rumoured to be Mian Nawaz Sharif’s first choice of future Foreign Minister, in the rough and tumble of street politics he is not in the same league of effectiveness as Hussain Haqqani. Belatedly Mushahid is getting his act together and his statement on the muck being raised about the death of the late COAS was a masterly exposition. Unfortunately that is the problem, Mushahid has to initiate dirty stuff to counter what Haqqani & Co are dishing out by the hour, not just react to it. He probably does not have the “killer instinct” to become a one-man demolition squad a la Haqqani but Haqqani has an Achilles Heel in the form of dynastic (born to rule) clients who give enough ammunition for even the Pope to exploit for political profit. Mushahid Hussain should come out of his corner with both arms swinging. A few blows under the belt to obtain a “knockout” may not be entirely kosher, it is the requirement of the hour and the day. Mushahid’s client has a certain political groundswell that is commendable, Haqqani and Co are managing to divert it to an extent by their shenanigans. This election is not Ms Benazir’s to win like was the position in 1988, with the momentum that Mian Nawaz Sharif has built up since April 1993, it is his to lose if things do not get cracking.
In this respect who better for PML to turn to for advice than people like Mairaj Mohammad Khan, the former loyal Lieutenant and “heir designate” of the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The first real political campaigning in Pakistan was done by the Late Mr Bhutto. By holding forth the drama of mysterious unfounded conspiracy theories galore, Tashkent being prominent among them, the political maestro extraordinary turned politics upside down in Pakistan on the strength of issues (Roti, Kapra aur Makan) rather than the choosing of personalities through smoke-filled backroom intrigues of yesteryear. For the first time the masses felt like participants whose views were considered important rather than being used only as instruments of manipulation, discarded thereafter. Whether Bhutto really felt what he propagated and whether he adhered to his promises is immaterial, he managed to convince the masses that he did. In effect Bhutto inflicted guerrilla warfare on the body politics of Pakistan and came out trumps, Ms Benazir’s PPP has never been able to match that virtuoso performance. Bhutto used the oratory of people like Mairaj and Tariq Aziz to back him up to extremely good effect, the posters of misleading intent that used to sprout all over the place days before he addressed any public meeting was something else. In effect, winning at any cost was everything to Bhutto in politics and that was virtually his undoing. His lieutenants (and detractors) of that time are still spread all over the political map of Pakistan, they still imitate his (political) art. Since Mairaj, Wali Khan, Asghar Khan, Ajmal Khattak, etc represent the progressive bureaucratic forces and are on the Nawaz Sharif platform rather than those now on the Ms Benazir one, using them intelligently will have the PPP on the defensive as regards their socialist credentials. If PML is to win they have to fight PPP in the language that the PPP understands, a smattering of facts mixed with plenty of distortion, as articulated by the leading expert of that art, Hussain Haqqani.
Till now the PML response has been pathetic. Lt Gen (Retd) Mujibur Rahman, former Secretary Information of late Zia’s decade came out of the closet to render advice. Gen Mujib has the unique distinction of shoving religion down the throats of the masses for over a decade in such a crude manner that he turned a beautiful religion into an ugly semblance of itself, in effect driving Cinderella from a fairytale Princess back to the kitchen soot. Gen Mujib is more responsible for the present-day vile image of Ziaul Haq than anyone else, he did to Zia what Altaf Gauhar did to President Ayub with his “decade of reforms”, the kiss of political and historical death. The PPP is not without its aberrations, Salman Taseer was thought to be an intelligent, well-educated sort. His rendering of myriad reams of figures would render anyone half-mad, he is now almost as unbelievable as that paragon of virtue, Mian Zahid Sarfraz. Whether PML (N) may say, one still believes that this Zahid Sarfraz was a Nawaz Sharif mole in the GIK camp, every time he fulminated against Mian Sahib on Caretaker prime time TV, Mian Sahib got more support in his vote bank.
This will be a close election, marginal seats may go either way depending upon the public mood on the last few days of the election. As it is the voting public is notoriously indecisive, mostly comprise the great silent majority. While a fair number are committed PPP and PML voters, the PPP voters are more prone to exercise their right of adult franchise than the PML voters who are more apathetic and lethargic. PML workers are more likely than the PPP ones to stay at home. Therefore the PML media campaign has to be directed towards getting the vote out, the greater the voting percentage, the greater will be the likelihood of a PML victory. The PML strategic planners will have to use their human assets wisely and well-spread over the countryside, targeted to the vulnerable swing vote if they have to have any hope of blocking the solid PPP constituency. At the moment Mian Nawaz Sharif is carrying the whole brunt of the campaign on his shoulders, even Zulfikar Ali Bhutto could not do that by himself. The practical side of political campaigning is in the hands of brother Shahbaz who is doing an excellent job, simply because he is a no-nonsense figure. Some of that no-nonsense stuff must be used to stiffen the spine and commitment of the PML media team. Shahbaz should get his whip out and get cracking if PML is to win the endgame, this world has no time for losers.
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