Subversion of the state

Nawaz Sharif should resign and face the law

“Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad”

Prometheus in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow‘s poem “The Masque of Pandora”

The history of Pakistan is a potpourri of the worst that can be imagined in governance, but the manner in which some leaders have manoeuvred to subvert the state goes well beyond the realm of the imaginable. The crisis is that they have not only survived, they have continued to progress and prosper to the utter detriment of the state and its hapless people.

The politicians’ penchant to subvert the institutions of the state to advance their nefarious personal interests has been an open secret, but the Sharifs have perfected the heinous crime into an art form. Even after being in power for well over a year, the prime minister refuses to appoint heads of state institutions in accordance with the laid-down procedures in a transparent manner. Instead, he has anointed a battalion of the most corrupt individuals who masquerade as officiating heads of institutions so that they could forever remain under his illegitimate control and influence. This is in spite of repeated urgings by the Supreme Court and various high courts to proceed with appointing heads of institutions in accordance with law.

The Sharifs have repeatedly used the powers vested in their offices in an indiscreet and unconstitutional manner, thus reducing the administrative components of the state to becoming their servile handmaidens. The indiscriminate sacking of individuals at the slightest pretext has rendered the state institutions dysfunctional and their functionaries, senior and junior alike, are forced to, forever, ingratiate the whims of the chief executive.

The criminal politicisation of the bureaucracy and liquidation of the state assets to benefit their business partners have been old tricks in the Sharifs armoury, but, of late, this subversion has assumed a shape that hits out at the existence and survival of the state itself. Traditionally, in the context of forging a comparative evaluation, an illicit union between the politicians, the private business and the bureaucracy is construed as ‘grand corruption’ and a similar union between the bureaucracy and the private business to the (apparent) exclusion of the political leadership/s is reckoned as ‘petty corruption’. These illicit partnerships constitute explicit tools which are used by the political leaders to subvert the state and promote their personal fiefdoms.

The criminal politicisation of the bureaucracy and liquidation of the state assets to benefit their business partners have been old tricks in the Sharifs armoury, but, of late, this subversion has assumed a shape that hits out at the existence and survival of the state itself. Traditionally, in the context of forging a comparative evaluation, an illicit union between the politicians, the private business and the bureaucracy is construed as ‘grand corruption’ and a similar union between the bureaucracy and the private business to the (apparent) exclusion of the political leadership/s is reckoned as ‘petty corruption’. These illicit partnerships constitute explicit tools which are used by the political leaders to subvert the state and promote their personal fiefdoms. Under the Sharifs, Pakistan has suffered abysmally from the criminal effects of the former variety, but there is another ingredient of the potion of which they have been the absolute architects, owners and unremitting promoters.

The ghastly story allegedly begins the day a former president of the country was shown climbing the stairs of a flight to Quetta with a brief case in hand which was meant to be delivered to a judge of the Balochistan High Court who had been tasked with leading a rebellion to oust the then-chief justice (CJ) of the Supreme Court (SC) Justice Sajjad Ali Shah. This CJ was soon to adjudicate on a matter pertaining to a contempt of court case against the then-incumbent Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Allegedly also, the judge who had been commissioned to lead the revolt was, in due course of time, to become the CJ of the SC and for whose restoration Nawaz Sharif later led the famous long march that was called off a short distance out of Lahore when, on the intervention of the then-COAS, the PPP government agreed to restore the judiciary.

After assuming the office of the Prime Minister a third time around, the army and the ISI remained the Prime Minister’s principal targets. Not an opportunity was allowed to slip by that could belittle the relevance of the two key institutions of the state. From a botched attempt to put the ISI under the command of a ministry to clandestinely accusing it of hatching conspiracies to weaken the government and letting his ministers and paid cronies use the twin-tactic of threat and abuse, the Prime Minister employed just about every trick to force the two institutions into complete and unconditional submission.

Perpetuating his penchant of bribing the apex judiciary to do his bidding as a matter of routine, Nawaz Sharif did not hesitate from ordering his criminal cronies to attack the Supreme Court, forcing Justice Sajjad Ali Shah to adjourn the contempt proceedings. The attack was led by the goons of the Muslim League and its youth wing, Muslim Students’ Front (MSF). The unruly mob also damaged the portrait of the Quaid in the SC.

When the government launched the assault on the apex judiciary, the pending cases before the Supreme Court included the contempt of court proceedings against Nawaz Sharif and seven others and petitions regarding the unlawful allotment of thousands of plots by him when he was the chief minister of Punjab, the unlawful distribution by the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) of Rs140 million to him and others to lead the charge against the then-sitting government in the country, award of wheat transport contract by him to one of his cronies, gross misuse of power in pressurising the banks to settle loan cases against him and his family out of court, challenging his Anti-Terrorist Act 1997, and suspension of the 13^th and the 14^th amendments of the constitution.

The ghastly partnership has continued into present times and, allegedly, assumed the shape of an illicit partnership to subvert national elections held in the country in 2013 to help the PML-N emerge as the majority party. The manipulation was alleged by all mainstream political parties, but, strangely, and as part of a grand bargain to take turns at marauding the country, no one rejected the election results or called for re-polling.

Having taken charge in the wake of a fake and fraudulent election, Nawaz Sharif did not waste time to show his dictatorial instinct and his disdain for allowing other state institutions to work within their respective constitutional domains. Understandably, his principal target was the army and the ISI. This scribe vividly remembers the occasions when his face would go red at the mere mention of the army or the ISI and his rather unabashed urgings to the ones gathered around him of the danger that these institutions posed to the country (read the ‘Sharif fiefdom’). On many occasions, the vituperative sentiments would come pouring forth and one would shudder at the possible consequences of this messianic preoccupation with the cause of revenge. If one would even erringly mention the name Musharraf, there would be a verbal blast which would later be conveniently washed away in a contrived boisterous laughter.

In spite of delaying the operation inordinately, the Prime Minister remained reluctant to accord his approval until the army command decided to proceed, nevertheless, thus leaving him with the option to embrace it post haste, or cry foul. Faced with the prospect of political protest in the coming days, the Prime Minister deceptively espoused the fight against militancy with the evil intent of using it to overwhelm the burgeoning challenge to his empire. That does not appear to have worked as per the original script put together by his criminal cohorts and, subsequently, the passion behind extending voluble support to the war against militancy that was so visible at the beginning of the operation seems to have waned palpably.

After assuming the office of the prime minister a third time around, the army and the ISI remained the prime minister’s principal targets. Not an opportunity was allowed to slip by that could belittle the relevance of the two key institutions of the state. From a botched attempt to put the ISI under the command of a ministry to clandestinely accusing it of hatching conspiracies to weaken the government and letting his ministers and paid cronies use the twin-tactic of threat and abuse, the prime minister employed just about every trick to force the two institutions into complete and unconditional submission. The fact that, in spite of repeated and intense provocations, the two institutions and their leaderships remained focussed on confronting the existential challenges faced by the state speaks volumes of their infallible courage and enormous resilience as also of their refusal to be dragged into politics in spite of their awareness of the gross Machiavellian tricks that are unleashed without a break to assume ascendance over the perceived rivals in the annals of statecraft.

The perfidious and duplicitous role played by the prime minister and his criminal coterie of advisors in the matter of the negative projection of the ISI, the state’s first line of defence, and its leadership by one of the prime television channels, precipitated by an inordinate delay in coming to grips with the issue, in fact allowing it to simmer and breed discontent and disaffection among the state institutions with the criminal intent of using the divide to their political advantage, could hardly be hidden. Yet again, the prime minister malevolently manoeuvred to intervene in the working of another key state institution, PEMRA, thus adversely impacting its legitimacy, viability and capacity in addressing the dispute. While other prime ministers and state officials may have been corrupt, yet what distinguishes Nawaz Sharif from the pack of hounds is his eagerness to corrupt others so that they could become his paid pawns to be tossed around as he may please.

His alleged complicity with the judiciary, or at least some of its functionaries, is now a foregone conclusion. The threat that now looms on the horizon is his intention of using this illicit partnership to subvert the institution of the judiciary and render it toothless and irrelevant in his endeavour to assuming total and dictatorial control of the state. If that may ever happen, it would effectively sound the death knell for the continued survival of the state of Pakistan in its present dispensation, shape and size.

His Machiavellian double-role in the matter of the fight against terror would require volumes to explain, but his traditional and passionate espousal of the sectarian and militant organisations for petty political gains has been the key reason behind his hedging the idea of moving quickly to eliminate the scourge from the country. His gambit of involving other political parties behind the smokescreen of ‘giving peace a chance’ was nothing better than that: a petty gambit. While many other parties were able to see through the political veneer immediately after signing on the dotted line, Nawaz Sharif and his co-conspirators persisted in prolonging the agony of negotiations, thus allowing the militants precious time to flee the impending charge and move either across the border into Afghanistan or filter into the urban slums of the country.

By building and promoting illicit partnerships, the Prime Minister has corrupted the edifice of the state and weakened its foundations, reducing it to becoming a weak and wobbly structure that could disintegrate. This is the logical culmination of pursuing policies of systematic subversion of the state from within. It is time for the Prime Minister to resign voluntarily and face the law. A failure to do that may expedite a corrective intervention.

In spite of delaying the operation inordinately, the prime minister remained reluctant to accord his approval until the army command decided to proceed, nevertheless, thus leaving him with the option to embrace it post haste, or cry foul. Faced with the prospect of political protest in the coming days, the prime minister deceptively espoused the fight against militancy with the evil intent of using it to overwhelm the burgeoning challenge to his empire. That does not appear to have worked as per the original script put together by his criminal cohorts and, subsequently, the passion behind extending voluble support to the war against militancy that was so visible at the beginning of the operation seems to have waned palpably.

But the conspiracies refuse to go away. Having been thwarted in his illicit bid to subjugate other state institutions, particularly the ones that he hates with such overpowering venom, and with the popularity ratings of the army and the ISI having soared to unprecedented new heights, he is left with little to choose between. His most engaging recent preoccupation is reported to be photographed in the company of the COAS and other military commanders, pasted with the eternal inscription of ‘on the same page’. In actual effect, he would be eager to proceed to the General Headquarters on a short notice, seek formal forgiveness for his most recent excesses, get the necessary reprieve, and plan on starting all over again in his deceitful pursuits.

By building and promoting illicit partnerships, the prime minister has corrupted the edifice of the state and weakened its foundations, reducing it to becoming a weak and wobbly structure that could disintegrate. This is the logical culmination of pursuing policies of systematic subversion of the state from within.

It is time for the prime minister to resign voluntarily and face the law. A failure to do that may expedite a corrective intervention.