Zardari Is The Smartest Of All The Politicians: Pakistan's Rapacious Feudal Lords
28 March 2011By Saeed Qureshi
Contrary to the cacophonic battle cries and ominous
forebodings of pandemonium from his political
adversaries, the peaceful manner with which he managed
to deliver his annual ceremonial address to Pakistan's
parliament, is a testament to the ingenuity and
dexterous wheeling dealing of the president of
Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari.
This was the fourth time that his address was serene
and listened with poise and visible calm by the
politicians, the parliamentarians, the senators and
the visitors alike. The drab and silent walk-out by
the dissident political parties was a plus for the
president as this tranquil show of protest was in
sharp contrast to the street despising and clamorous
reviling jargon by his opponents.
He has been able to rein in and woo back the riotous
and perennially rebellious MQM that wants to be
counted as the national level party by expanding its
tentacles in every province. For the fourth time,
despite their irrevocable announcements to abandon the
PPP, they once again, recanted, have given in before
the disarming smiles of Asif Ali Zardari. Of late they
look and behave like a pet cat.
Each time there were loud and unambiguous pledges
thrown out by the PPP stalwarts including the
president himself and that inimitable compulsive
pledge broker Rehman Malik with regard to curbing
crime in Karachi. Each time the solemn commitments
have been audaciously broken and watered down. Each
time, the chum of Mr. Zardari, the violent and
presumptuous Doctor Zulfikar Mirza never ceased
throwing vicious and threatening gauntlets to MQM, a
party like an indispensable albatross around the neck
of PPP and more pointedly that of maverick Zardari.
MQM's slogan of waging a revolutionary epic war
against the rapacious feudal lords, the ruthless
Sardars of Baluchistan, the bellicose easy-to-buy
Khans of the NWFP, the mercantile robber barons, and
all the villains in every costumes and brands is
losing its luster for this party's unpredictable and
sudden compromises with the PPP.
I was amused by an ear to ear grin of Asif Ali Zardari
when he met with the MQM heavy weight the governor of
Sindh Ishratul Ibad Khan after the latest proclamation
of the MQM that they were finally parting company with
the PPP and would withdraw their support even in the
national assembly.
All of sudden they were again with the PPP and their
categorical separation from the PPP went up in the air
and the MQM top notches making lame excuses and
offering phony arguments for a docile and pro PPP
conduct out and inside the parliament. Zardari has
proven himself to be an exorcist of unrivalled
excellence and each time he carried the day to bridle
the recalcitrant MQM by using his magic and political
acumen.
There is a kind of disarray and strident panic among
the opposition parties that keep blowing hot and cold
at the same time, knowing not how to counter the
unconquerable political moves and skills of Zardari.
The United Front that should have been built to brace
against the chronic bad governance, unparalleled
corruption, anti-judiciary demeanor, colossal
lawlessness, the power outages, the Karachi revenge
killing, the mishandling of the Raymond Davis case,
the ineffectual response to the persistent drone
attacks and so on, remains a far cry.
The PPP government is unmoved, unconcerned and rather
putting up a studied silence on high profile murders
including that of GEO reporter Wali Khan Babar and the
minority federal minister Shabaz Bhatti. Even it is
delivering no progress on their prominent leader
Salman Taseer's cold blooded murder.
Despite an incessant and an all embracing turmoil in
Pakistan, the PPP's main penchant seems to be to hang
on to the power by pleasing the coalition partners and
somehow complete its five year tenure. All conspicuous
cases of corruption adjudicated by the superior courts
have been put in a limbo because of the
administration's non compliance of the follow up
actions. Most of these corruption cases involve the
close friends and family members of the prime
minister, the president and other luminaries of the
ruling party.
The government is still in place because Zardari
possesses the extraordinary and spectacular faculties
to outsmart his political rivals. The separation of
JUI and the mysteriously neutral conduct of the second
largest party; the PMLN has not been able to make any
dents in the PPP"s hold on power. Discernibly, the
PMLN is a paranoia victim of the army resurgence in
power that is favorable to PPP.
The PMLN's docility and mere loud talk without any
anti government move for the people of Pakistan is a
huge savior, by default, for the sitting PPP
government. Perhaps they do not want to kick the
hornet's nest so aggressively lest their Punjab
government suffers the consequences. It is a sort of a
tacit, unholy and unwritten quid pro quo that serves
the respective parties' interests but not that the
country or the people of Pakistan.
Zardari has managed to keep political outfits and
politicians pegged to their respective places so as
not to pounce upon the government with damaging
uproars or rallies. There is no way that the
politicians from the opposition can whip up a vigorous
street agitation or in-house protests to shake up the
felonious government.
The opposition ranks are all in disarray and paralyzed
for any coordinated or orchestrated campaigning aimed
at the ouster of the government through street
agitations or via constitutional means. Zardari has
the unmatched traits of pulling his tricks and punches
with dazzling accuracy and profound effectiveness at
the right time
Does it not speak for the sagacity and amazing
political skills of Zardari that the army despite a
surfeit of provocations and right or wrong pretexts,
has by its own volition, remained unconcerned even
without uttering a despising or disapproving statement
against the PPP government? He has also succeeded in
keeping the army at bay although there has always been
a lurking possibility of takeover by the military due
to total governmental malfunctioning and corruption
mayhem let loose by the PPP regime without any fear of
being knocked out of the power arena.
So let us unbraid and denounce the tribe of
politicians starting from Imran Khan, to Maulana
Fazalur Rehman, to Nawaz Sharif to, Ch. Shujaat
Hussain to Altaf Hussain for receiving relentless
battering and discreditable defeats at the hands of a
person who was and still being considered a novice in
the corridors of politics and an individual notorious
for his insatiable malfeasance by billions of earth
inhabitants. Nothing succeeds like success.
I am therefore, in favor of raising a banner and lofty
monument for Zardari to honor him for scoring victory
after victory by smacking and stampeding the legions
of politicians who are also no angels and frankly are
chips of the same bloc.
It would hardly make any difference whether Zardari or
Nawaz Sharif or anyone else grabs power unless God
lowers down from heavens some angels to set the all
embracing rot in order and stem the surging tide of
decay and degeneration eating into the vitals of our
beloved Pakistan.
The writer is a senior journalist and a former
diplomat
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EsinIslam.Com
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