Democracy, MQM & military by Saleem Safi

Muser · #1 Saturday, September 04, 2010

Democracy, MQM & military

How can a political party like the MQM invite martial law? This call is meant to settle scores with the PPP, which is covertly supporting political forces challenging the MQM. The MQM thinks that a section of the powerful establishment is also supporting the ANP against it. So it has given the message to the establishment that the MQM is a more valuable partner than others. Similarly, for the past few years, the MQM has been trying to extend its influence to interior Sindh and Punjab, but Sindhi landlords and Punjabi feudal lords and industrialists have been offering stiff resistance. So the calamity caused by the floods offered the MQM an opportunity both to attract Sindhi haris and hit back at Punjabi rulers.

Mr Altaf Hussain's call for military intervention does not seem to be inspired by signals from Rawalpindi. It is crystal clear that Rawalpindi does not seem interested in direct intervention, as it is still in charge of foreign, defence and internal security matters despite a democratic setup in Islamabad. And it knows better about the threats facing the country nowadays.

The current residents of the GHQ are more adept at politics than most of our politicians. They are intelligent enough to understand the fact that the country cannot afford another round of military government. They know that the media, although it is currently applauding the army's role, would not support any such move. The media may rightly be angry at the blunders committed by both larger political parties, the PPP and the PML-N, but it has the sense to oppose military rule.

Similarly, the judiciary is not ready to become a rubberstamp for Rawalpindi anymore. Further, this time it does not have the option to use the PML-N to do the army's work to get rid of the PPP. After the 1999 coup, compared with the PPP, the PML-N has emerged a stronger and more vociferous opponent to martial law. For fear of destabilisation of the democratic system, which would result in military intervention in politics, the current PML-N leadership is not even ready to play its due role of opposition. Interestingly, despite cynicism among the masses and disenchantment with the current political regime, all the important political parties are part of a "national government" at the centre and in the provinces. So there is no political force in the field to voice the people's feelings and challenge the government on issues of importance to the masses. The media has tried to fill this vacuum by playing the role of a real opposition.

The present setup suits the PML-N and other political parties more than it suits the PPP. This is the first government in which the ANP is sharing power in three provinces and at the centre. Maulana Fazlur Rahman has claimed his own share of the booty and keeps company with Zardari. The PML-Q increases contacts with the Presidency when it is threatened by the PML-N in Punjab. If they are cold-shouldered in the Presidency, it readily turns toward Raiwind.

The MQM is a partner with the PPP and the ANP in the Sindh and federal cabinets, while the PPP and the PML-N are coalition partners in Punjab. The political parties' statements and counterstatements against each other are eyewash for the consumption of the masses alone. In this whole drama, the masses and the political leaders who boycotted the elections of February 2008 are depressed and disenchanted spectators. But there is no political party to come out in the open and give voice to people's grievances.

Instead of learning from mistakes and trying to come up to people's expectations, Zardari and company are following a course that causes heartburn among the masses, the media, the judiciary and sometimes the army as well. Analysts have attributed it to the fact that since the current arrangement is more suitable for Nawaz Sharif than to Zardari, the latter is hell-bent upon destroying it once and for all. Zardari does not need the arrangement anymore since he has largely been successful in achieving his objectives through the system. He knows that with the current image problem the PPP will hardly win in the next elections. So he wishes to gain political martyrdom for his government to pave the way for Bilawal Zardari and his politics.

Nawaz Sharif is least interested in extra-constitutional intervention by the military. In such a case, any extra-constitutional step will be a favour to Zardari, and not to Nawaz Sharif and to the country. Certainly, the people in the GHQ do understand this phenomenon.

If martial law is not possible and the military leadership is not thinking about such a move, how will Mr Hussain's call get noticed in Rawalpindi? Probably the military would now abandon its neutral posture and come to play the same role in internal political and governance matters that it has been playing in the arena of national security and foreign policy for so many years. It seems that the judiciary will adopt a more activist posture and may hand out independent decisions against the government and its members. The judiciary will be assured that its decisions will get implemented. The media will side with the judiciary and will not be left alone to be targeted by the government. The commoners and people like us would be silent spectators praying for the survival of democracy and stern action against corruption and bad governance.

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khuhro (Saturday, September 04, 2010)