Stick and carrots

There is a Facebook page titled ‘We Want General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani for President’, but the number of ‘like’ hits for that one would have dropped drastically in recent days.

With the military establishment in the doghouse after their inefficiency exploded like mangoes, the people of Pakistan are left with no alternatives to a government that deserves similar accommodation; a government that is probably quite delighted with matters as they stand, imagining it sees its way to improved ratings by default.

Pakistan is ‘outraged,’ and Pakistanis would like an apology from the Americans, and are asking the government of Pakistan to ‘punish Washington.’ Islamabad nods greasily. Is such a stance really possible whilst Pakistan exists on handouts from the rest of the world and America? Jiss ki lathi us ki bhains. This is one bhains that obviously belongs to the Americans to do with as they please, in the case of Davis, in the case of bin Laden, and potentially in the case of Mullah Omar if he too lives holed up somewhere in maybe Kakul or Quetta.

Sovereignty, my friends, is a hard earned commodity.

Norway, an oil producing country has the largest number of electric cars in Europe. Drivers of these cars are not required to stick to High Occupancy Vehicle lanes or pay parking fees, and they are cheap to run. People therefore buy these expensive cars which pay for themselves very soon. Norway encourages long term progress at immediate cost to itself and its government obviously does not treat itself to kickbacks from national resources.

Following World War II, the Japanese economy was in shambles. The US invested heavily in the country, but measures taken by the Japanese government were also greatly responsible for its subsequent economic resurgence. The Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry encouraged the import of technology, and industry it felt was promising. It came up with innovative ideas for financing, encouraging private enterprise with low cost finance.

Following the recent earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese PM Naoto Kan announced that he would not draw his Prime Ministerial salary until such time as the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant was resolved.

The President of Iran, Mr Ahmadinejad, hosts VIPs in an ordinary room with plain wooden chairs. He sometimes joins his staff in cleaning the streets around his home, an old house inherited from his father in one of the poorer sections of town. He too does not draw his salary as prime minister of the country, making do with his modest personal income. Mr Ahmadinejad owns a 1977 model Peugeot, and brings his own frugal bagged meals to work with him. These meals are prepared for him by his wife.

If these governments and leaders condemn infringements on the sovereignty of their countries, they are justified.

Dreadful flooding in Pakistan in 2010 left more than 1500 dead and millions homeless. The World Bank, The Guardian newspaper reports, warned that $1bn worth of crops had been destroyed with resultant fears of food shortage and soaring prices. The President of Pakistan left the country as the floods began, and throughout the devastating flooding carried on with his trip to Europe, as well as another to Russia the following week. The armed forces and other organizations, including militant groups, took up the slack and distributed aid to disaster struck areas. The government of Pakistan did squat, before, then and later. Or I forget…the Prime Minister toured some relief camps, which turned out to be staged.

It was felt that the government would surely fall, and at the time had the army attempted a takeover, the nation would probably have supported it. The Pakistan army has had a full share in derailing this nation. However, if it messed up well and good in Abbottabad, it probably learnt the art from the government of Pakistan, which would be even further into nowhere without American money and support, for whatever reason that is given.

So to Facebook again, and here’s Mr Zardari’s page: less than 3,000 people ‘like’ it, while Imran Khan gets almost 64,000. As for Mr Gilani, he has all of 28. Dear oh dear. Could the soaring food and fuel prices and the total lack of governance be responsible for this, do you suppose?

All those billions of dollars in aid and kickbacks that enable this leadership to maintain its lifestyle (Mr Gingrich, the 2012 presidential hopeful, claims its $20 billion since 9/11, Issam Ahmed in the Christian Science Monitor says its more), without those dollars no more indecent perks and salaries, expensive cars or foreign trips…no more opulent lifestyles.

The President and Prime Minister may even have to work which is as hard to imagine as their bringing their own little brown bags to ‘work’.