Ms Bhutto's options

Faryal Shah · #1 Thursday, November 08, 2007

Ms Bhutto's options

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Like General Pervez Musharraf, PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto has also tied herself into political knots. In the name of pragmatism and seeking a smooth transition to democracy she has, by acts of omission and commission, isolated herself and her party from the mainstream opposition and has not been able to get, as yet, what she wanted from Musharraf. If her latest news conference in Islamabad is any indication, she has raised the pressure on the general by threatening to launch street protests. PPP leaders who were, like Musharraf's cronies, hiding their faces after the perverted National Reconciliation Ordinance, have now started breathing again as Benazir Bhutto reaches out to her old opposition colleagues for a joint front against the general's latest draconian actions.

It is unfortunate when a politician of her stature does not seize the moment when the time is ripe. If Ms Bhutto had not broken ranks and dismantled the opposition ARD in London, the face of the country's political spectrum would have been different. She and her party ditched everyone -- which in turn was a boon for Musharraf and his regime because it created disarray in the opposition ranks -- got a few personal concessions under the NRO, made her soft return to Pakistan possible and assumed a central role through backchannel negotiations. However, now she has reached the point where she has to publicly blackmail the regime by threatening to launch a street agitation and a boycott of parliament. On a personal scorecard she may have gained a lot but the national polity has been damaged. The general was able to get away with his preposterous re-election by the same existing assemblies while still in uniform, a position Ms Bhutto had all along said she and her party would never accept. With her support he felt so confident he defied the Supreme Court repeatedly on Nawaz Sharif's exile issue. Had Ms Bhutto taken a firm stand for the rights of her political colleague, the institution of politics would have been much stronger and respected in the eyes of civil society.

Ms Bhutto's reaction to the emergency and virtual martial law, with no PPP leader seen protesting on the streets, has again raised questions about the role and strength of the political parties and their real agendas. She has to ponder the unavoidable question: who is responsible for this state of affairs and why is it that today the political parties are seen as so helpless and impotent -- especially at a time when they should be the ones out on the streets mobilising people against an unabashed military dictator? However, all is not lost yet. Ms Bhutto enjoys widespread support nationwide and in crucial western capitals as well. With a massive rally scheduled for Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi today (for which the Punjab government has, as expected, denied permission), she holds most of the cards in this grim moment of national despair. Instead of propping up a military dictator who seems to have already dug such a big hole for himself that it would be next to impossible for him to get out of it -- at least this time -- it is about time that Ms Bhutto made the right choices. Her latest aggressive posture can still force the dictator's hand to return the country to sanity and stability. But this can come about only if such a stand were sincere and made in all honesty and not as a pretext to gain more concessions for herself and her party. There is no need for her, as is being rumoured, to be in the hunt as head of a national government when her party, provided free and transparent elections are held, can do well at the hustings. It would be good if Ms Bhutto were to realise that her strength, support and weight could change the country's destiny if it was used wisely and in favour of safeguarding the rights of civil society and democracy. Her secret parleys with emissaries of the general should end and she must take a public position, taking all political forces on board, to fight for restoration of the constitution, an independent judiciary, free elections and a swift return to democratic rule.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=79435

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