The vagaries of playing politics in the Islamic Republic
Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, the scion of former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, has stirred up a hornets’ nest. The PTI, in a tit for tat move, has filed an application with the ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) for disqualification of the prime minister for not being ‘sadiq’ or ‘ameen’ under article 62 and 63 of the constitution.
Of course, the PTI reckons that the maverick Arsalan Iftikhar went to town about Imran Khan having a love child from an American socialite before his marriage to Jemima Goldsmith, and not declaring it in his nomination papers, as a fit case for his disqualification.
The CJP’s son’s simple grouse is that he was forced to resign soon after becoming Balochistan’s investment czar as a result of the Khan raising a hue and cry that the son is being rewarded by the Sharifs for his father allegedly manipulating the May 11, 2013, General Elections.
Unfortunately the charges against Sharif — moving the ECP to disqualify him — are mostly frivolous in nature and cannot stand the scrutiny of the courts. So far as Imran’s so called love child, it’s an old story. And in this sense a closed chapter.
Imran, after initially denying having a love child from American socialite Sita White in the nineties, and consistently refusing to take paternity tests, finally admitted to have fathered Tiara White as a result of a one night stand. According to his biographer, London based Frank Huzur, Imran told him that as a most sought after bachelor ‘with ladies falling at his feet wherever he would go’, it was an indiscretion, to say the least.
The CJP’s initial tiff with Musharraf started not on legal or constitutional principles, but on the question of out of turn favours for his son in the police service.
In the end analysis, his wife at that time, Jemima, stood behind him like a rock solid companion. According to the biographer, it was Jemima who turned out to be an affectionate surrogate mother to Tyrian Jade White after her mother died in July 2004 as a result of drug overdose.
After the father, who as CJP destabilised a civilian government to satisfy his inflated ego in the name of rule of law, the son has embarked upon a similar path. Whether he is a lone ranger in his quest to destabilise the system or is being guided by his father is not known.
The person who has gone to town — being propped up by the news hungry media — to get Imran Khan disqualified in the name of suspect and discriminatory clauses in the constitution has no legs to stand on. Incidentally, the so-called Islamic clauses were inserted by the late dictator General Ziaul Haq in the name of Islam.
Had he not been the CJP’s son, he might have ended up as a middle ranking police officer or a mediocre medical doctor. His meteoric rise is solely owing to his father bending the rules for the prodigal.
The CJP’s initial tiff with Musharraf started not on legal or constitutional principles, but on the question of out of turn favours for his son in the police service. Arsalan’s phenomenal rise can be judged from the fact that by his own admission he became the owner of a Rs900 million business within a year.
After enjoying hospitality and all expenses paid sojourns to Monte Carlo and the rest of Europe courtesy property tycoon Malik Riaz, Arsalan complaining about Imran’s morality sounds like a cruel joke.
As such these are the vagaries of playing politics in the Islamic Republic. Perhaps we are the best living example of the truism that politicians by definition are amoral.
After all, there are few democratic countries apart from Pakistan where people change loyalties and parties sooner than they change their seasonal wardrobes. Take the example of the Chaudhrys of Gujrat.
Shujaat and Pervaiz Elahi were PML-N stalwarts. As soon as Musharraf sent the Sharifs into exile they became the moving spirit behind the quisling Muslim League christened as PML-Q. Ironically, Q stands for Quaid-e-Azam here. However, soon after Musharraf’s exit they hitched their wagon with the ruling PPP coalition.
And now, after ditching Zardari, the firebrand cleric Tahirul Qadri is being wooed day and night in order to stitch out a grand alliance to oust the Sharifs. Their actual goal is to bring Imran Khan on board. He is the only one in the political opposition capable of providing tail wind to out of job politicians to oust a sitting government through street agitation.
Ironically, by design or by default, most of Imran’s demands have been met more than half way. A parliamentary committee has already been formed to look into election reforms. Even the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Khurshid Shah, thinks that electoral reforms are badly needed.
Despite having little justification to launch a movement against the government at this juncture, the PTI chief is adamant to pursue his 14 August tsunami march to Islamabad.
For example, his proposal that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) should not be a retired or serving judge of the Supreme Court or the High Courts makes a lot of sense. The CEC should be a powerful entity, rather than being toothless. It is necessary to obviate the possibility of some powerful members of the commission playing footsie at the expense of the CEC.
Imran Khan has been alleging, albeit without any evidence, that the son of a former judge of the Supreme Court from Punjab, who was appointed as advocate general as a reward for services rendered by him to manipulate elections, has been made to resign. Similarly Najam Sethi’s position as PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) chairman has become a joke, after being dismissed and restored numerous times.
Despite having little justification to launch a movement against the government at this juncture, the PTI chief is adamant to pursue his 14 August tsunami march to Islamabad. If Imran and Qadri are expecting some backing from the military and its intelligence apparatus in their endeavours, in the present circumstances, it will be difficult to come by.
The military is heavily committed to flushing out the terrorists and dealing with the blow back of almost a million IDPs (internally displaced persons), mostly from N Waziristan.
The change in leadership in Afghanistan can have additional complications for Islamabad. Ironically, apart from terrorism, the tendency not to accept election results by the losers seems to be another negative symmetry between the two neighbours.
Even more than the days of former COAS General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the incumbent military leadership is holding sway in most matters. Why should it take the flak of leading from the front in matters civilian, when it can manage to mostly have its way remaining behind the scenes?
