If the boss gets angry, just play it cool. Hamid Yar Hirajs appointment as Chairman ERRA was greeted with confusion and consternation by the Q-League. But he didnt react when Ch Shujaat Hussain expressed shock at his decision or when he was accused of having lied to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani that he was accepting the offer with the consent of his party leadership. And when he got what he wanted, theres no point in ruffling any more feathers!
In realpolitik you do what suits you. Expediency takes precedence over principles. The only thing which might have surprised the Q-leadership was that Hiraj was pretty quick to take advantage of the deal it was negotiating with the PPP. But then looking after the self-interest also remains the fundamental principle of Chaudhrys own politics. They ditched their parent party and agreed to lead Musharrafs handpicked quislings, almost simultaneously with Hiraj and his fellow comrades, switching over to the Patriots to serve the military regime. They had no moral ideals to follow. The only concern they had while in power was loyalty to Musharraf which they repeatedly demonstrated by pledging to elect him president in uniform over and over again.
It was only after their partys rout in the last general election that they realized they would have to pay a heavy political price for supporting the most repressive regime the country has ever had. They simply looked the other way when innocent people were being picked up by the intelligence sleuths on the mere suspicion of their links with terrorist organizations and handed over to the Americans for interrogation. They never protested against the atrocities committed by our sacred saviours in the tribal areas.
During his brief stint as prime minister, Ch Shujaat never objected to the Parliament having been turned into a rubberstamp to endorse the decisions taken by the military-dominated National Security Council. The only time the National Assembly heard his angry outbursts was when he accused the intelligence agencies of creating roadblocks in the process of negotiations with the Baloch nationalists. But he did not have the courage to ask Musharraf why he was assigned the troubleshooting task when the decision had already been taken to kill Nawab Akbar Bugti in a military action. The Patriots didnt act differently. This whole motley collection of the soldiers of fortune was too spineless to argue with their patron saint.
After a long spell of hibernation, the Q-League is now trying to draw political mileage from the situation where the PPP desperately needs its support to meet its international commitments. By staging a walkout from the Senate during the voting on the Finance and Revenue Committees report, it turned an overwhelming opposition to the RGST into minority. Senator Wasim Sajjads weird logic failed to dispel the impression that it was a pre-planned move backed by an understanding between the Q-League and the PPP. It was a first clear signal from the Chaudhrys to cooperate with the PPP and they would now wait to see how the other side reciprocates. More than anything else, they would be looking for some sort of power-sharing with the PPP in the Punjab which they might consider to be the only way to bring the members of the Forward Bloc back to their fold. The new alignment suits both the parties.
Meanwhile, the PPPs typical policy of keeping its smaller allies to its side through political bribery is in progress. The ANP has given up its opposition to the proposed legislation, ostensibly voluntarily. The JUI(F) wants to eat the cake and have it too, Maulana Muhammad Khan Sheernai might now be satisfied with the Chairmanship of the Council of Islamic Ideology after the government notified his appointment for three years. But thats for the Party. What about Maulana Fazlur Rehman? Wasnt he better off during the Musharraf days when the MMA was playing the role of a friendly opposition? Now, as an ally he would definitely be looking for more. Why cant his brother be given the portfolio of Religious Affairs? Give Azam Swati a free hand and Hamid Saeed Kazmi would start assisting the government to find his own successor.
There would not be many to disagree with the perception that Parliament today appears to be a theatre where the guardians of democracy are not conducting themselves with that dignity which they are required to show in this hour of national crises. The way the report of the Senates Finance Committee was bulldozed through the Upper House and the way the government and opposition leaders tried to play to the galley in their speeches before the media clearly showed that not only are they least concerned about public welfare but they also lacked the sincerity to carry out the economic reform the country needs to achieve self reliance.
The writer is Executive Editor, Pakistan Today.
