The Election Process
The election process is seen by the people according to their perception of things as they should be. Politicians see an October date as the end of their three years-drought in the cold, most intelligentsia see the approaching date as impending doom. There is even talk of a 1971-like situation post October 2002. The business community is somewhat ambivalent, caught between the devil and the deep sea. The Amjad-NAB was focussed on big business, the Khalid Maqbool and Munir Hafeez-NABs follow different pursuits, taking the heat off the mercantile community. Leading to the question, would big business be comfortable with the Army’s continuing governance in some form or go back to the barracks? For the broad expanse of the public the impending Elections evokes mixed reaction, people do want elected representatives, but more than that they want bread on their tables and a roof over their heads. It would be nice also to have money to pay for electricity and other utilities.
Maj Gen Rashid Qureshi denied flatly that the military regime had any preferences among politicians, so what is the trio of political amateurs led by Tariq Aziz, Principal Staff Officer to the President, upto directing political traffic? They would be well advised not to enter where angels fear to tread, history has shown that bureaucratic manipulation is a short term solution which invariably boomerangs. While the military cannot be deaf, dumb and blind about those who will guide the nation’s destiny in the years to come, especially when politicians remained deaf, not-so-dumb but blind to the travails of the country and its people in the past, instead of manipulating an “acceptable result” by getting the “like-minded” elected surreptitiously, it would be far better to create a transparent level playing field.
A Time for Decision
The more endearing features of the Musharraf regime are its relative transparency and patience when compared to previous military and civilian regimes over the past 50 years and so. For a nation that is generally pessimistic about promises made, indeed cynical about the rhetoric that goes with it, someone actually keeping to the pledges made, is a novelty. Military regimes and a free press have never co-existed in history, the present Pakistani example of maintaining a honeymoon of sorts, is rather difficult to comprehend for most observers, friend and foe alike. As the clock winds down to October 2002, this liberalism on the part of the uniformed ones will be severely tested, particularly by the dual personalities who will have something to hide.
The President’s sincerity in unveiling a roadmap for a return to democracy has been tarnished somewhat by the conduct of the Local Bodies elections. The military regime’s detractors point to ham-handed manipulations as evidence of the military’s ill-intentions, to stage-manage a controlled democracy rather than seemingly allow the unfettered type that had brought us close to apocalypse. If ever “the doctrine of necessity” needed to be applied, “ground zero” was Pakistan in October 1999. One can understand the military’s apprehensions about returning to the bad old ways, but one cannot correct the system by imitating the perpetrators of wrongdoing and misconduct.
You Can Hide, You Cannot Run
The arrest of former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mansurul Haq from a select posh area in Texas, USA marks a significant step forward for the process of accountability in Pakistan. Substantial evidence is on record about the Admiral’s financial indiscretions, even the lavish abode and the manner of his living in the US was way beyond the means of a retired Naval officer. His incarceration, pending extradition to Pakistan, will act as a model to bring other fugitives to justice. The Chinese say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, to get the American system of justice to acknowledge that the evidence being presented from Pakistan was not tainted by prejudice is one very giant step. From the statement of witnesses it is apparent that the Admiral’s only salvation lies in becoming a prosecution witness, i.e. blowing the police whistle on his collaborators, among them politicians, bureaucrats, uniformed (and retired) colleagues, arms merchants, brokers, etc all those involved in skimming millions of dollars from purchases made by the Pakistan Armed Forces over the years.
The ruling military elite cannot be accused of bias against the Navy, this case was instituted by the political regime of Mian Nawaz Sharif, as against Air Marshal (Retd) Waqar Azim, jailed because of the PIA computers case. The Army has utilized the maximum portion of the Defence purchases, rumours abound of several hundreds of millions of dollars pocketed in commissions, ranging from helicopter gunships to artillery shells to tanks, etc why has no senior person ex-Army been prosecuted for corruption in arms trade? The perception of justice being seen to be fair and equitable is only when it is applied even-handedly, on friend and foe alike. The much vilified former Senator Saifur Rehman did yeoman’s work in going after the corrupt, unfortunately some cases were blatantly politically motivated, on the contrary very obvious evidence leading to logical conclusion of indictment and prosecution against PML’s politicians, friends and colleagues was conveniently ignored, this blatant partiality undermining his credibility and that of the entire accountability process during Mian Nawaz Sharif’s regime. The Supreme Court (SC) recognized this bias in setting aside verdict in the Bhutto-Zardari SGS/Cotecna, however on the basis of the evidence has ordered a re-trial. Having given the SC a clean bill of health it will be virtually impossible for Ms Benazir to tar and feather them the next time around if she is declared guilty, hence the overtures to the military regime. While blowing hot for the general public, she is busy trying to strike a pre-emptive equal to sustain her political longevity. As a political animal, Ms. Benazir has no living equal in Pakistan, at least at her level, except Abbaji, of course. She out-manoeuvred “master manipulator” Ghulam Ishaq Khan twice to become the PM, the second time she ensured he remained out in the cold never to return to power.