Awan’s rise and fall unique by all means

Politicians normally take decades to become famous and if they succeed, they never look back. However, the rapid rise and fall of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Babar Awan in the recent weeks is unique in the country’s political history.
Soon after coming into power in year 2008, the PPP top brass turned a blind eye at Awan who was aspiring to become the governor of Punjab, as the then president General Pervez Musharraf appointed Salmaan Taseer to the coveted post with the consent of PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. However, Taseer’s sudden assassination rekindled hopes for Awan who, by the time, had become a close confidant of President Zardari. But to Awan’s utter disappointment, it was his archrival Latif Khosa who was named the successor to Taseer.
The next blow that Awan suffered was the appointment of Farooq H Naek as Senate chairman – a post Awan was eyeing for years. But it was the apex court’s decision on National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) which proved to be a catalyst in bridging the gap between Awan and Zardari who were on the same page throughout the discussions taking place on the proceedings of the case as Zardari himself was involved in the case.
Afterwards, Awan was appointed as Law Minister to tackle a hostile judiciary about which Awan used to claim to Zardari that he knew how to deal with. The first test case for the new law minister was to take the judiciary head-on. He floated the idea to divide the lawyers’ community to weaken the judiciary, and billions were literally thrown just to win the elections of various bar associations. The idea clicked and almost all elections were swept.
After that, Awan never looked back and soon became a permanent visitor of the presidency. As law minister, he engineered a confrontation between the presidency and the Supreme Court and used the media to ridicule the judiciary for “selective justice”.Besides, Awan also hatched a conspiracy in connivance with Taseer, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leadership, and others to topple the PMLN-led Punjab government. He was almost successful in imposing Governor’s Rule in the Punjab, but could not muster enough strength to form a PPP-led government in the province – an achievement Zardari has been dreaming of since 1988.
Later, Awan was instrumental in convincing Zardari to offer PML-Q leaders to join the PPP-led coalition government, despite the fact that both the parties had been at loggerheads against each other.
Awan did not end here and floated the idea to reopen the ZA Bhutto case. This proposal was welcomed by the president, whose party’s government was fast becoming unpopular. Awan also offered to resign as law minister and plead the case, winning hefty monetary and political benefits for himself.
The president allowed Awan to act as de facto law minister and all file work was done by Awan himself, as Law Secretary Masood Chishti, a close corny of Awan, used to sit at Awan’s home late at night and sought his directions, while Farooq Awan – his younger brother who is a failed lawyer – was made Advisor to the PM on Law.
In order to keep media at bay, the entry of journalists was strictly banned in the Law Ministry and nobody knew who was calling the shots. But it was Aitzaz Ahsen, a veteran jiyala, who turned the tables on Awan within weeks. Agreeing to represent Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the contempt of court case, Aitzaz torpedoed Awan’s every move to take up any legal or political assignment for the party and made sure that Awan was kept at bay from the presidency.
Under a well thought-out plan, Aitzaz took the position in the court that Gilani only acted on the advice of law minister, asking Awan and his crony Masood Chishti to appear as defence witnesses.
Already frustrated by the ongoing contempt of court proceedings against him, Awan thought it wise not to stand as witness for Gilani, who had opposed his oath-taking as law minister recently. This “no” proved to be the freefall for Awan as it caught Zardari’s ire who thought Gilani was defending him. The president sent his secretary Rukhsana Bangish to convince Awan to change his mind, but the latter refused to even meet the president’s emissary. The furious president decided to close doors on Awan. First his brother was shifted from law ministry and later the secretary was also removed. Few days later, Awan was removed from the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) and Qamar Zaman Kaira was named as his replacement. Awan is no more invited to the core committee meetings in the presidency, while the premier is already angry with him. After having been deprived of the status of practicing lawyer with the suspension of his license, Babar Awan has taken a U-turn and filed an unconditional apology before the apex court. After the suspension of his licence, Awan became irrelevant for the president as lawyer because he was unable to appear in courts, defending Zardari or his government.