An evaluation of the years from 2008 to 2014
That the PPP government completed its five-year tenure was by itself an achievement of sorts, for no elected government in Pakistan had so far been able to perform the feat. It was all the more significant because the party did not enjoy majority in the National Assembly and for a prop had to rely on strange bedfellows. The election results which led to the odd alliance did not correctly reflect public opinion as the pitch had been queered before the elections in favour of the PML-Q, the King’s party, and its allies by the agencies.
The completion of its tenure by fulfilling the illegitimate demands of the MQM and PML-F was to cost PPP dearly. The party had to pay at the 2013 elections not only for the numerous sins of omission and commission on its own part but also for the shenanigans of its partners.
During its tenure the PPP had to face hostility from an overbearing army leadership, a meddlesome Supreme Court, an unfriendly media and a less than patient opposition.
Democracy will lose much of its charm if the government continues to be manipulated by the rich on the one hand and the mullahs and extremists on the other.
Conflicts with the army leadership started soon after take over. In June 2008, the government had to backtrack in less than 24 hours on a decision to place the ISI under the control of the interior ministry.
Zardari’s statement in November 2008 about Pakistan not to be the first to make use of the nuclear weapons was strongly resented by the establishment. Such was the noise made over the issue that Zardari never repeated it. A year later the PPP government was berated for agreeing to the demand in Kerry Lugar Bill to bring the army under civilian control. The documents released by Wikileaks reveal that it was Gen Kayani’s opposition that led to the conflict on the Bill.
There was a major crisis in the wake of the Abbottabad affair. Not knowing the view of the army, which took days to speak on the American raid, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani promptly welcomed the success of the operation maintaining that “we have intelligence cooperation (with the US).” Hell broke loose after this and Gillani was made to eat his words.
Nawaz Sharif nevertheless needs to retrieve the civilian turf occupied by other institutions over time. The test of statesmanship will come when the government tries to put the civilian government in command of the army. One of the indicators would be a genuinely civilian rule in Balochistan.
The Memogate affair gave birth to a major civil-military confrontation. Gillani faced unprecedented opposition after he retorted in an interview that the statements by Kayani and Pasha were submitted before the Supreme Court without the permission of the competent authority. Responding to the remark, the ISPR issued a threatening statement, saying the prime minister’s interview may have “very serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences for the country.”
The prime minister again had to take a U-turn. He said he wanted to dispel the impression that the two generals had submitted their replies to the Supreme Court in violation of rules of business and the constitution.
The PPP government was willing to strike any deal with anyone who could help it to remain in power. It allowed the Law Enforcement Agencies to continue their reign in Balochistan uninterrupted. The biggest blot on the PPP scorecard was the Agencies’ treatment of the Baloch. This meant an already bad situation continuing from the Musharraf years to get worse, causing immense human suffering. There was an unprecedented rise in forced disappearances and dumping of tortured dead bodies.
It is a shame that despite posing as champions of democracy neither the PPP nor PML-N have shown willingness to hold local government elections. Unless the mainstream parties learn to share power with the local bodies’ would not take roots.
A highly corrupt and uncaring provincial leadership comprising several parties led by the PPP misappropriated the huge development and welfare funds released for the province. The intervention by the Supreme Court to end forced disappearances failed as the agencies and the provincial government avoided to cooperate with the court. Failures by the executive, parliament and judiciary to end the atrocities added to the feeling of alienation in the province. The inhuman acts pushed hundreds of youth who would otherwise have been a part of the mainstream nationalist politics into the embrace of the secessionist networks.
The Supreme Court continued to breathe down the neck of the PPP administration throughout its tenure. It arbitrarily took up cases against the federal government neglecting others that many considered more important. The apex court struck down the NRO for being violative of Article 62(f) which requires a member of parliament to be ‘sagacious, righteous and non-profligate and honest and ameen,’ thus judging the moral standing of parliamentarians on stringent standards set by the notorious Zia regime. The court intervened in government officials’ postings and transfers and tried to fix prices of commodities and services. On top of that it ordered the government to seek the revival of Swiss cases against its own president. Finally, the apex court sent two prime ministers home.
The PPP tried all available legal loopholes and remedies to bypass some of the more damaging verdicts but instead of defying accepted whatever judgment was made.
Both parties have played in the hands of urban and rural vested interests ignoring the man in the street. The powerful elite have been provided relief while the common man is burdened with indirect taxes.
At times it seemed the PML-N was just a step short of pushing the government and the system down the abyss. Shahbaz Sharif threatened to drag Zardari in the streets for corruption. Nawaz Sharif and Khawaja Asif rushed to the Supreme Court over the ‘traitorous act’ committed by Pakistan’s US ambassador Haqqani at the instance of ‘someone’. They maintained in the petition that the Memogate scandal had ‘ridiculed’ and ‘maligned’ the armed forces of Pakistan. The alleged memorandum, the petition said, was mutinous, treasonous, shocking, repulsive and harrowing for any patriotic Pakistani.
While Nawaz Sharif generally kept his cool, a number of his aides pressured PPP to resign in midterm, maintaining that it had already lost its mandate. They subsequently demanded that it step down before presenting the last budget.
An influential media house and the dominant section of the Urdu press remained hostile to the PPP government throughout the five years of its rule.
The PPP’s tenure was marked not only by missed opportunities, blunders and scams but also by major achievements.
The PPP’s biggest achievement was the constitutional amendments enacted through consensus. The 18th amendment removed the imbalance of power between the president and PM created by Zia and Musharraf. It led to the revival of parliamentary system as visualised in the 1973 constitution. Another achievement was the consensus NFC Award which re-determined the share of the provinces significantly enhancing the share of Balochistan and KP to remove the feeling of deprivation there. These developments were possible only in a democratic setup. There were no political prisoners while the government displayed no sign of hostility to media even when it acted as a partisan.
The PML-N has completed ten months of its tenure. It is fortunate, as like 1997, it enjoys a comfortable majority in the National Assembly besides further support provided by its allies. The media is much more supportive and the courts are less meddlesome. Sharif enjoys the support of the opposition on crucial issues like talks with the militants and relations with India.
The parliament under both has become a millionaire’s club. Wide-ranging electoral reforms have to be introduced to make participation in elections cheaper and affordable.
It remains to be seen if the PML-N is capable of building bridges with the opposition. Further whether it can resist the tendency to unnecessarily lock horns with the institutions.
Sharif nevertheless needs to retrieve the civilian turf occupied by other institutions over time. The test of statesmanship will come when the government tries to put the civilian government in command of the army. One of the indicators would be a genuinely civilian rule in Balochistan, leading to an end to forced disappearances, dumping of dead bodies and mass graves.
It is a shame that despite posing as champions of democracy neither the PPP nor PML-N have shown willingness to hold local government elections. Unless the mainstream parties learn to share power with the local bodies’ would not take roots.
Both parties have played in the hands of urban and rural vested interests ignoring the man in the street. The powerful elite have been provided relief while the common man is burdened with indirect taxes.
Both have overestimated the strength of the mullahs and extremist sections and failed to stop the ongoing persecution of the minorities and women.
The parliament under both has become a millionaire’s club. Wide-ranging electoral reforms have to be introduced to make participation in elections cheaper and affordable.
Democracy will lose much of its charm if the government continues to be manipulated by the rich on the one hand and the mullahs and extremists on the other.
