Driving home the point
It was no easy thing to compose the President’s sixth address. Normally the speech at the advent of the parliamentary year is drafted by government in power. The speech explains the prevailing situation and shares with the lawmakers the policies the administration intends to pursue during the ensuing year. During the last five years, Zardari was both the President of the country and the de facto chief of the ruling PPP. Zardari could very well defend before the House the policies formulated under his own guidance. This time, though, the government is being run by Mian Nawaz Sharif whose PML-N was the strongest critic of the PPP and has only recently defeated the latter in the elections. Some of the PPP’s critics had suggested that this time it would be embarrassing for the president to read out a highly critical address prepared by the PML-N administration. They had failed to realise that while one may go to the extremes to run down the government during the election campaign, one has to speak and act responsibly when one comes to power. This is all the more needed in the critical situation being faced by the new government. To redeem its promise of ending the power shortages, resuscitating the national economy and putting an end to terrorism, the government needs all the help it can get from all political parties, particularly from a party which has 39 Senators in the 104-member Upper House of the Parliament.
The outline of the president’s address was presumably discussed between, and approved by, the PPP and PML-N. The speech focuses on the middle ground that still exists between the PPP and the PML-N i.e., a strong commitment to democracy. It also however underlines the concerns that PPP does not fully share with the PML-N and which include commitment to the empowerment of women, security and equal rights for minorities and the need to stop the misuse of blasphemy laws for personal gains. There were other things in the speech also which some in the opposition might have found difficult to digest. These were however put in a way which was inoffensive. For instance, Zardari gave credit to the Parliament, the PPP Speaker and former PM Gilani for passing historic amendments and laws. While recounting sacrifices for democracy he noted that Benazir, Nawaz Sharif and he himself had undergone imprisonment and suffered exile. Zardari also took credit for being the first elected civilian in the history of Pakistan to oversee the transfer of power in a democratic manner.
The speech will be discussed in both Houses of Parliament for weeks. Those unhappy with parts of the address will have a field day criticising them in the president’s absence. While Zardari delivered the address, there was peace and calm in the parliamentary sitting. This is what he needed to conduct parliamentary business in an orderly way.
