Who is hunting for whom?
The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. —HP Lovecraft
Mian Nawaz Sharif believes someone is planning to replace him. Zardari thinks knives are out for him. Both are worried and feel helpless.
Nawaz Sharif enjoys majority in the National Assembly. The PML-N is fully under his control. Besides, he enjoys the support of a number of other parties in the National Assembly. Despite recently arising differences, the PPP also supports the government’s right to complete its tenure. So where does the threat come from? Is it from Imran Khan or the army or both?
Left to himself, Imran Khan is in no position to bring about a government change. He has tried it once and failed despite full support from Tahirul Qadri’s fanatical band of followers and the Third Umpire bucking him up from outside the ring. Is Imran Khan once again being egged on by those waiting in the wings to act as a battering ram to break down the castle’s gate?
Nawaz Sharif’s mega projects have failed to generate enthusiasm among the common people. The PML-N has almost consumed half of its tenure without providing relief to the common man who wants end to load-shedding and gas shortages, jobs for the unemployed and control over prices of commodities of everyday use. The man in the street is being asked to wait for a couple of years more for load-shedding to end and investors to return to create jobs and the trickle down to start. The pie in the sky leaves the common man cold.
The government’s efforts to bring the trading community, pampered by the PML-N for years, in the income tax net has led to defiance
The government’s efforts to bring the trading community, pampered by the PML-N for years, in the income tax net has led to defiance. A significant section of PML-N’s constituency is thus arrayed against it now. “The lion has turned into a man-eater and can be dealt with only by a party that carries guns,” remarked one of the leaders of the trading community. Is this what worries a conspiracy conscious Nawaz Sharif?
Imran Khan has called Nandipur Power Project and LNG mega scams of the PML-N government. Tahirul Qadri’s PAT wants those responsible for the Model Town killings brought to justice. Meanwhile, the NAB has announced it is going to initiate enquiries against the PML-N leaders also.
Many among Nawaz Sharif’s voters would like the PML-N to complete its tenure. Few would however care to protest if the PML-N is made to leave prematurely.
Zardari too has reasons to be worried. Corruption cases are again being opened against him. Enjoying presidential immunity no more, he feels vulnerable. Former bureaucrat Hassan Waseem Afzal, a missing key witness in graft cases against the PPP leader, has suddenly surfaced and says he is available to testify in the cases.
The PPP’s five-year tenure benefitted the corrupt among the PPP leadership and their coalition allies. The people suffered due to load-shedding, gas shortages and terrorists attacks. The party’s economic policies, which were no different from those under Musharraf, increased the gulf between the richest and the poorest. The people in Sindh suffered the most as corruption, inefficiency and cronyism ruled supreme.
A number of people close to the PPP leadership have been arrested in Sindh on charges of financing terrorists. Some have managed to leave the country. The multi-billion-rupee nexus between politics and crime could be devastating for the party. The arrests and interrogations are being conducted by three federal bodies, Rangers, NAB and FIA. This was necessitated as the PPP government in Sindh would have created hurdles in the investigations instead of facilitating them.
The use of federal agencies has led Asif Ali Zardari to cry foul. He says it is against the norms of “true democracy.” The first and foremost requirement of true democracy, he argues, is that all the state institutions respect the limits imposed on them by the Constitution. It is not a good sign if powerful institutions are seen to be overstepping their constitutional limits and treading into the domain of other institutions. This needs to be addressed urgently and meaningfully, he advises. Pakistan has seen democratic setups assaulted by devices such as the doctrine of necessity, the so called Legal Frame Work Order (LFO) and Provisional Constitution Orders (PCOs).
The army however has to distance itself from the accountability. It would turn villains into heroes if he army was seen to be a party to the affair
The arguments might carry weight with the PPP loyalists who benefited under its rule. For a common Pakistani “true democracy” has to be responsive, caring and honest. The PPP brand of democracy was however characterised by cronyism, corruption and loot.
Zardari knows the move against his minions in Sindh has been initiated by the army. He has however vented his spleen on Nawaz Sharif to pressurise him to stop the federal institutions’ intrusion in Sindh.
There is need on the part of the intelligence agencies, FIA and NAB to thoroughly probe corruption charges against the politicians without any display of partiality. They should appoint the most efficient officers to complete the task and engage the best lawyers to prosecute those found to have indulged in mega corruption.
The army however has to distance itself from the accountability. It would turn villains into heroes if he army was seen to be a party to the affair. What is most important is for its leadership not to be misled by sycophants.
The sycophants are trying to prove that Gen Sharif is not only the most popular person in the country but also the man best suited to run it.
Raheel Sharif has gained popularity on account of his professionalism and courage in the conduct of Operation Zarb-e-Azb. The moment he enters into politics, he will become a controversial figure. He will do well to remember what happened to Ayub Khan.
During the 1965 war Ayub Khan became the most popular leader in the country after Jinnah. Politics however tuned out to be the bane of the war hero. Within three years a popular movement was initiated against him. Many still remember the highly derogatory anti-Ayub slogans that became popular during the protest marches.
Gen Raheel Sharif can retain his popularity if he keeps away from politics.
