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Old Wednesday, February 24, 2010
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Post Will you listen, Mr President?by Saleem Safi

Pakistani politics is never all that it seems to be. Ostensibly, the current crisis was precipitated by allegations of corruption. However, it is not the complete picture and behind the scenes, numerous factors and stories are in play. The establishment did nothing to impede Mr Zardari's path to the presidency despite the stigma of benefits from the NRO; and the media was no less supportive.

Once in power, we can now see that Mr Zardari wants to be an absolute autocrat. For him, democracy is a means to achieving that end, while for his opponents, the mantra of corruption and lip service to the rule of law are sticks to beat him with. The whole drama is defined by a wish for institutional and individual supremacy by all the actors including Mr Zardari who, in pursuit of power, has always taken the lead in tackling his opponents, no matter who.

Nawaz Sharif, the establishment, the judiciary, the media and the PPP had all accepted Zardari as president by more by force of circumstance than anything else; and this unusually sympathetic atmosphere offered him an opportunity to improve his image and make himself acceptable to other players.

In the cases of Justice Saqib Nisar and Justice Khawaja Sharif, his spokesman talked about the principle of seniority, but when it came to his own party, Mr Zardari never followed this principle. Seniority became the undoing of his party's senior leadership, and a curse in the sense that all such people were ignored and sidelined. Similarly, his unnecessary delay in the re-instatement of judges not only became a cause of public protest, but also invited the ire of leaders of the movement for independent judiciary.

It would be a blessing if he had stopped at that. Without any proper preparation or an established track record in important foreign policy issues with India, the US and Afghanistan, Mr Zardari opted to take a different line from that of the establishment. He tried to bring the ISI under the control of Rehman Malik who is a suspect in the eyes of the establishment as he is not 'one of their own' and has been allowed to intrude into sensitive areas and regions. As a consequence President Zardari became a burden for the establishment.

In this situation, sanity should have guided his decisions after annoying the establishment, the party and the judiciary – but it did not. He should have sought a closer relationship with Nawaz Sharif but true to his nature President Zardari deceived Mr Sharif as well. Furthermore, instead of implementing the Charter of Democracy and the Bhurban pact to meet public demands and silence Nawaz Sharif, he tried to pressurise him via the tirades of Salmaan Taseer. Inevitably, the media did not remain silent and raised pinching questions regarding various blunders and excesses. Instead of offering satisfactory answers to their questions, he chose to oppress the media by resorting to traditional strong-arm tactics.

Many individuals and institutions reacted to Zardari's excesses and blunders. The issue of corruption was raised by many and it has become both his weakness and his undoing. The senior but ignored leaders and victims of Zardari's politics within the PPP are now paying him back by leaking stories of governmental corruption. Though the reasons behind the establishment's differences with Zardari were different, it also took to using this weapon against him. The mainstay of media's response and Nawaz Sharif's counter-attack also revolve round this weakness.

Against this background, the judiciary shot down the NRO. It was obvious that all the aforementioned actors had unanimously decided to oust Zardari. On the basis of this perception, Zardari cried foul over the imaginary conspiracies pointing fingers at different institutions at different times. Some of our media friends started counting Zardari's days in power. But Nawaz Sharif offered a helping hand. Against the wishes of Chaudhry Nisar Ali and Shahbaz Sharif to strengthen the establishment's hands, Nawaz Sharif chose to help Zardari and wait for his turn. On the other hand, due to rising pressure of the NRO decision's critics, the judiciary took up the matter of the 'missing persons' case and again revealed the establishment's traditional obstinate behaviour. Confronted with this reality, the judges were thus reminded of the Musharraf regime and as such voiced support for the democratic process despite insisting on giving judgments on merit.

The media's position was that despite standing for Mr Zardari's accountability, it does not wish to derail the democratic process. These voices saved President Zardari. After this episode, one might have expected him to have revisited his past mistakes and learned from them. But sadly, once again Zardari's bravado added to his misplaced confidence. Instead of thinking that he was saved because of the other players' compulsions, he thought that he won because of his 'skills' and shrewd politics. As a victor he first attacked the Jang group, slapping it with a ban of official advertisements.

With a new vigour and lust for revenge, he again took on the judiciary by starting with issuance of notifications of appointment regarding Justice Khwaja Sharif and Justice Saqib Nisar against the advice of the chief justice of Pakistan. I am certain that after this ill-advised move, his cronies would be admiring him. But this time he is badly entrapped. Detractors are no doubt sanguine, but Zardari's unnecessary bravado smacks of his wish for 'political martyrdom'. As a Pashto adage goes, a clever bird is seldom trapped, but when it does, both its feet are tied. In the present circumstances, this adage holds true for President Zardari. He may feel that he has once again gotten away from the trap but this will be a false sense of security. This recent crisis was his last chance. It has brought all his foes onto a common platform with a single agenda. He should not test the camel's back with the last straw.



The writer works for Geo TV. Email: saleem. safi@janggroup.com.pk
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