State circus of the bizarre

Shireen M Mazari

Corruption, disrespect for the rule of law and nepotism have always been some of the more outstanding characteristics of our ruling elite – political and military. But never have these traits been displayed with such brazen abandon, as they are being done today. President Zardari’s pardoning of Rehman Malik’s conviction is just the most recent display of this brazenness and reflects a display of power not commensurate with a democratic system. Ironically, Malik and his supporters – including the President and Prime Minister, continue to maintain that he was politically victimised. But that appears a trifle odd since he was not a leading political figure at the time of his conviction! In any case, he could have appealed his sentences right up to the Supreme Court – if he really believed in his innocence. Instead, he used political means to thwart the course of justice. However, this is not the President’s first display of such behaviour. He also used his power to pardon Shaikh Riaz – another man found guilty of corruption and nepotism. In that case, a number of other criminals had also to be let loose.

So the message going out to the Pakistani citizen is that the rulers have no respect for the rule of law and actually believe that if you are in a position of power, you are above the law. And all the cronies around you are also beyond the reach of the law. So much for rules, regulations and most importantly, justice! The issue is not whether the President has the powers to pardon convicts or not; the issue is that that power needs to be exercised with discretion and certainly not in favour of people who have and continue to abuse the state and its interests. Even more critical, such constitutional powers are only used when all legal venues of redress have been exhausted – in other words after the alleged criminal has lost his appeal before the Supreme Court through a review petition. What was the haste in pardoning Malik? Clearly something is rotten in the state of Pakistan.

It is also not for the first time that rulers have protected their cronies and their own vested interests – only recently Mush-arraf handed the whole country effectively over to the US while the military and civil leadership acquiesced in this submission before a foreign interest and the new rulers have continued down the same path. It is interesting to note that just as Obama has continued with the Bush militarism in this region – in fact expanded upon it – the Zardari government has continued and intensified the Musharraf submission to the will of the US.

As for the power balance being shifted back to Parliament and the Prime Minister after the passage of the 18th Amendment, once again the nation was deceived. Whatever the formal distribution of power, the centre of gravity of power in Pakistan continues to reside in the Presidency. If there were any doubts, the Prime Minister constantly doing the Presidency’s bidding should be proof enough of where de facto political power resides in Pakistan today.
So today we stand at a juncture where the rule of law has been made a mockery of – with the pardon of Malik, perhaps the most brazen reflection, but other events also leading to this sorry state of affairs. From the pardoning of Shaikh Riaz to the fake degrees issue, it is apparent that rule of law is only for the powerless or those out of power at any given time!
But then the NRO is what effectively dealt a death blow to rule of law, accountability and justice. And the present rulers are primarily beneficiaries of the NRO – with a few notable exceptions who have seen the wisdom of going along with the corrupt for their own survival in power. It was amusing to hear Prime Minister Gilani talk of bringing the architect of the NRO to justice in Pakistan and then elaborating that this meant Musharraf. However, it seems the Prime Minister is suffering from a convenient amnesia since he has forgotten that amongst the main architects of the NRO were the US and Britain and that the Pakistani forces were brought into the loop by these two external forces. Also, amongst the Pakistani architects were Musharraf and BB’s men – ranging from the present COAS to Tariq Aziz from the Musharraf side and a number of PPP players from the other side including Rehman Malik! Musharraf is certainly guilty of many sins committed against Pakistan but on the NRO he is just one of a group of “architects”. So if PM Gilani is really sincere in bringing the architects of the NRO to justice he must begin with the US and UK. Now that would be interesting given how the state of Pakistan has already sold the country to the US at bargain basement prices! Also, what about Tariq Aziz who now enjoys a strange but powerful position still linked to the Presidency which allows him to exploit state resources, such as ministerial housing, security and vehicles. At least he does not lie about most of these privileges but what exactly is he doing for Pakistan presently? And what about the totally above the law Rehman Malik and his role in the NRO? Perhaps if the Prime Minister would spend less time, like his other ministers, shooting off statements and think more before doing so, they would create less confusion and need to backtrack a little less frequently.
Meanwhile, now that it has been proven that despite a democratic system and an independent judiciary, we are still witnessing rule by presidential proclamations and only the ordinary citizens are going to be subject to the law of the land and judicial process, perhaps we need to adjust our system to the Pakistani-style monarchical rule under the guise of democracy. As for due process and rule of law, it is now abundantly clear that the rulers have always seen themselves and their coteries as above the law. One wonders if this is what the nation’s struggle for an independent judiciary was meant to end in?
It is no wonder we are easy prey for external forces hell-bent on undermining us. It seems the West has never recovered from the trauma of having a Muslim state acquire nuclear capability. Nor have the citizens of the West gotten used to abiding by the law in Pakistan – after all, they feel if the native rulers can side step the rule of law, why shouldn’t those still carrying the White Man’s burden be above the law. So if a reporter becomes an illegal alien, why should she or he have to obey the law? It is no wonder that Americans and Europeans in Pakistan actually feel they can do what they like and be above the law of the land. Ask the police officials in Islamabad who have had to bear the brunt of this neo-colonialism thrust on us by our rulers.
It is only in this state circus of the bizarre that the lives of ordinary Pakistanis are of no value to the rulers but the lives of the corrupt coteries of sycophants and “partners in crime” are held above any rule of law and legal restrictions. So it is that a Dr Aafia and countless nameless citizens can be handed over to the US with no due legal process; or be killed by drones and aerial bombings, but a member of the ruling elite is held beyond the rule of law.

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