The president speaks

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

For the first time since the latest demands that he step down began to pour in, in the wake of the NRO fiasco, President Asif Ali Zardari has spoken out. He has, in a gesture obviously intended to demonstrate party unity, chosen the CEC of the PPP as the platform from which to do so, insisting that whatever critics may say the party will not cave in to pressure. Speeches made by key PPP leaders at the meeting in support of the president aim to counter reports of a growing split within the ruling party. The tactics adopted make it obvious that Mr Zardari is in no mood to call it a day. There had been conjecture that faced with the possibility of cases under the NRO being re-opened and growing opposition from those who include allies, he might opt, for the moment at least, to vanish quietly into the sunset – heading for Dubai or London. From there he could wait till a new possibility of leadership arose. The PPP meeting also discussed the NRO and other problems facing the party and agreed that the president should address gatherings over the telephone. This is an acknowledgement of the feeling that the president – as a man who rarely ventures beyond the presidency – has lost touch with the people. Despite this, the PPP appears to believe that dispensing with him is not easy given the lack of alternative leadership.

So what now? The fact is that the anger against the president and his team is not likely to abate. The Washington Post has recently carried an article about the rapid loss of sympathy for a man who, people feel, has offered them nothing. The perception of mass corruption and mismanagement, with many convinced that the president and indeed others in power are raking in billions, adds to the widespread contempt in which the ruling setup is held. When pitted against such public hostility, there must be some question over how long a government can survive. Any democratically elected set of leaders after all needs some goodwill to sustain it. There are also other potential complications. Some legal experts have questioned protection for the president now that the NRO has been scrapped. The Supreme Court may be asked to look into this matter. The twists and turns of the future are still difficult to predict. But it seems unlikely that they will lead towards the stability that Pakistan needs.


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Punjab Bank scam

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The National Accountability Bureau has notched up a major success by arresting the prime accused in the Bank of Punjab case from Malaysia with the support of Interpol. The return of the owners of Haris Steel Mills to the country could bring us nearer to unravelling the various matters that are still unclear in the case. It has been apparent for some time that powerful elements may be engaged in an effort to save themselves, by burying the details of a case involving the grants of loans worth millions. The head of the Bank of Punjab remains on the run and, in interviews from the US, has said that he had been threatened and forced into fleeing. But for all the drama that we see unfolding at the moment, the fact is that there is nothing new or striking about this case. Bankers have in the past doled out loans under political pressure. In return they have been permitted to pocket a share of the money. Such scandals have surfaced in almost every political era. Even as this is written, there is a possibility other loans are being handed over and then written off in much the same way.

The arrest of persons accused of corruption outside the country will send out a message. It may deter others from following down the same road. The efforts of NAB and other authorities in the case – even if they were motivated by political needs rather than a sense of duty – has helped highlight the fact that a flight for a foreign destination does not necessarily spell safety. But there is more that needs to be done. Regulations that govern the grant of loans need to be further tightened to avoid corruption of the kind we see now. It is important that the big players who may be involved in the matter be identified so that a message goes out to politicians for the future and banks are not misused quite so blatantly to make the already-rich even wealthier


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Target error?

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

As Peshawar picks itself up from daily bombing attacks, the toll of civilians rises. Although terrorists have attacked military and intelligence establishments and killed or injured numerous personnel in both, by far the greatest toll in the current wave has been civilian. Where we hear anything coherent from the bombers as to why it is that they are doing what it is that they do, it is invariably along the lines of…'We are fighting America. We want the Americans out of Pakistan.' We would not wish to inflame the bombers into yet further atrocity, against American or other foreign interests, why is it that the terrorists seem intent on harvesting the souls of their fellow Muslims, women and children, schools and mosques?

The answer lies in the dual identity of the war that is being fought – part of the Taliban's war is fought against the Americans but another and perhaps larger part of their war is fought against the state of Pakistan. One of the few identifiable goals that the Pakistani Taliban have is that they are seeking to establish a caliphate similar to that which was established in Afghanistan in the mid-90s. They wish to see their own interpretation of Sharia enforced nationwide and the disestablishment of democratic process. They are, in short, seeking to overthrow the state. One way of overthrowing any state is to destabilize government and reduce the reliance and sense of faith in it that resides in the population. For the moment, the populace appears to be behind the government. If the government can sustain the fight against those who seek to overthrow it on both the domestic and military fronts, then confidence may hold up even in the face of appalling civilian losses. Currently, the Taliban bombing campaign is acting as a negative reinforcer and public opinion is against them. Keeping it that way may just turn the tide in favour of modernity, the rule of law and our fledgling democracy .