I Do Not Believe! Contrary To The
Belief Of A Select Crowd - Zardar And The Atomic
Secrets Of Pakistan
26 June 2012
By Saeed Qureshi
Contrary to the belief of a select crowd, I doubt that
Asif Ali Zardari, the sitting president of Pakistan,
could have conspired the murder of his brother in law;
Mir Murtaza Bhutto. I do not believe that he was
instrumental in the assassination of his wife and the
chairperson of the Pakistan People's Party; Mohtrama
Benazir Bhutto. I have no evidence to conjecture that
he forged his late wife's will. There is no
incontrovertible evidence that he stashed millions of
dollars of ill-gotten money in the Swiss banks or in
offshore accounts.
I consider it merely hearsay that he was liable to
sell the atomic secrets of Pakistan as was alleged by
the ousted Foreign minister of Pakistan Shah Mahmood
Qureshi. All these allegations have remained unproven.
If he has been successful in concealing all the
evidence, then let us acknowledge that he is a
maverick and a genius.
On the positive side, it is an astonishing
accomplishment on his part that despite an unrelenting
rain of multiple accusations, he has managed to keep
in place the PPP government for all these four years.
The opposition stalwarts who talk of accountability, a
genuine democracy, a people's revolution, structural
changes, the rule of law, the redress of public woes
like power shortage, poverty, lawlessness; could not
force or trigger a no confidence in the parliament to
oust a sleazy, most corrupt, inefficient and
dysfunctional regime.
President Zardari outwitted the PMNL after getting
himself and his prime minister elected with
unprecedented mandate. This is what happens in
politics. Politics is not essentially moral; it is a
game of wits and brinkmanship. If president Zardari is
not moral or sincere or clean handed, then tell me who
else is?
Do we prefer to forget what happened during the
previous regimes, starting from the earlier domino
governments to that of Ayub Khan's military
dispensation, to the latter day establishments down to
PMLN and finally that of Musharraf?
Someone should point out if there ever were absolutely
upright, honest, righteous, selfless leaders who
served the country with total dedication and with a
passionate nationalism and abiding patriotism. All of
them had selfish motives behind capturing power.
They settled scores with their political rivals, tried
to cripple or debilitate the national institutions,
corner the judiciary, hijack the establishment and
bureaucracy and let loose reigns of terror and
intimidation on their opponents to stick to power. No
leader has an unblemished record of service to the
cause of the country barring green patches here and
there. Name a man whose life is rich in unselfish
service.
Granted that Mr. Zardari, his prime minister and
legion of ministers are corrupt and are exploiting
their unassailable offices for amassing wealth and
fortune, but truthfully, there has been no exception
to these abominable pursuits by other leaders as well.
But let us see the salubrious side of the present
political outfit in Pakistan. The most sparking
hallmark of this government is that it has stepped
into power through the popular vote. It is functioning
in line with the democratic traditions.
In order to let the democratic tradition flourish, the
present government ought to be allowed to complete its
constitutional tenure of five years. Thereafter, there
would be constitutional and democratic opportunity
available to all the political contenders to compete
for power and leadership. The next general elections
are far away by a few months. By waiting for these
elections, a healthy and democratic tradition would be
established.
If there is a short cut to hold new elections let that
option be resorted to. But primarily the removal of
government and its replacement should be exercised in
a democratic fashion. If the opposition can force the
government to resign immediately, it should not be
done through extra constitutional intrigues which is
to invite the third force understandably army to take
over.
The Supreme Court's rulings and adjudication apart,
the best and most desirable way should be to give a
chance for the democratic option to prevail. The
present ludicrous situation is that all the judgments
of the supreme courts have been thrown in a limbo.
The executive is adamant on non compliance of the apex
court's verdict because it thinks; it was like
committing a political suicide. Self preservation is
natural and that is what the incumbent government was
resorting to. That has created a stalemate catapulting
the judiciary and the executive as belligerents
towards each other.
Thus far neither the government could be sacked
through a no confidence motion or by fomenting an
anti-government nationwide agitation, nor soliciting
the army's intervention. It means notwithstanding the
government's poor credentials, it was still
constitutional and legitimate.
The long marches and rallies open a backdoor for the
extra constitutional and anti-democratic forces to
step in and freeze the democratic process for a few
years as has been happening intermittently since the
inception of Pakistan. A countrywide agitation or
movement against a visibly democratically elected
government would be neither useful for the government
nor for the opposition.
Granted there are yawning problems crippling and
undermining the lives of the people, but what was the
guarantee that any power that short-circuits the
constitutional life of the present coalition
government, would be composed of pious and honest
people. It never happened during the past military
authoritarian regimes.
Notwithstanding, the debatable personal conduct of
president Zardari , that of his prime minister and
other members of the ruling clique, there have been
some watershed, vital reforms brought into being by
the ongoing government. The 18th, 19th and 20th
amendments in Pakistan's constitution are monumental.
The allocation of more powers and independence to
Gilgit- Balochistan region is decidedly a giant step.
The empowerment of women folk through a surfeit of
reforms (24) makes the weaker vessel more strident and
respectable in a conservative and taboos-ridden
society of Pakistan.
The 19 amendment makes judiciary significantly
independent in appointment of judges and benches. The
comprehensive package of incentives approved by the
joint sitting of the parliament titled
‘Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan (AHB) grants far
reaching fiscal leverage and independence to a
hitherto neglected province. The 7th NFC award is a
landmark breakthrough that ensures fair and agreed
resources distribution among the provinces.
So the tendency to summarily reject and decry the
present government as being run by a bench of crooks,
looters and outlaws, is flawed and does not hold
water.
There has been a lurking specter of Pakistan army
taking over after the Osama Ben laden's assassination
and on some other occasions. But it goes to the credit
of the incumbent government that it blocked the routes
of military dictatorship returning to Pakistan after10
years of authoritarian rule by General Pervez
Musharraf.
Despite all the shortcomings of the PPP coalition
government its democratic image augurs well for the
democratic future of Pakistan. Gen Kiani has been
prudent by not committing the blunder of barging into
political arena and capturing power at the cost of a
democratic genre that would be further refined after
the next elections.
Finally, to allege that president Zardari would sell
Pakistan's nuclear assets for a price cannot be
possible as in November 2009; Zardari ceded to Prime
Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, the chairmanship of the
National Command Authority: the Pakistan's nuclear
arsenal oversight agency.
©
EsinIslam.Com
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