Articles of the year 2014
Published on August 05th 2014
It is inconceivable that an elected government with a comfortable majority could unravel so quickly exposing all the weaknesses of a democracy. It is happening in front of our eyes, with a seemingly paralysed PMLN watching, and unable to do anything.
The PMLN is the oldest and the most experienced party in politics in Pakistan. It seems that the Sharif family decided to bring the complete control under a handful of family/cronies, ignoring the appointment of a proper cabinet, or the attendance in the Assembly which should be the proper way for expressing opposing views. And is the first indicator of any rumblings against the governments policies.
When Nawaz Sharif chose to ignore the Parliament, he invited the criticism of being a monarchist. This has ballooned into a major charge against him. With cabinet ministers complaining of not being granted an audience, leaving many important decisions pending the clearance from the PM house, while the minister himself used this as an excuse for the inaction. This callous indifference ,while effecting the smooth running of the government, also allowed criticism of the government to blossom into open challenges to the government, further encouraging the bureaucracy to slow down the machinery, of the state. An example is the trip to Saudi Arabia by the Prime Minister for a period of ten days. It is callous indifference that the Chief Executive of a nuclear nation of 180 million people can be missing from his desk for such a long period, and that too from a cabinet that does not get the audiences it requests. Surely, with all the problems facing the country, he should be working overtime, rather than a part time PM. All of these faults have allowed the opposing forces to unite, to mount a serious attack on the PMLN government, making a mockery of the democracy, so hard earned, and frittered away. The PMLN workers themselves are hard pressed to explain the absence of the ruler in these conditions when the country is faced with so many problems. In fact he should be putting in an 18hour day at his desk. This was the main quality of the late Benazir Bhutto, her 18 hour workings throughout her career!
One could overlook the treatment of the opposition, as the prerogative of the winner, but to treat your own winning candidates in this manner? This smacks of royal indifference- a dangerous fault, when there are many votes to be faced within the Assembly, and then the re-election. The rebellion could easily come about in the assembly itself. It is also easy to get carried away in the company of Oil Kings, especially when your own courtiers are busy whispering in your ear ‘ Sir, you are a nuclear power, they look to you for protection’. This input is typical of the behaviour of psycophants, and much more dangerous in a democratic setup. Many kingdoms have been lost for much less! If indeed the Sharifs are behaving in a royal manner, then they should realize that the fall from grace is as rapid. Also having been removed twice before, they should consider themselves lucky they have survived to fight another day. Normally a second chance is rarely given. It is only because the main opposition- Zardari was tainted himself, and preferred a deal to ensure his own survival. That will not be forthcoming as Zardari himself will be the co-target, as the most corrupt politician in Pakistan. Nawaz will also be under scrutiny for abetting Zardari’s elevation as President. It seems with two honest players in the field, Imran and Tahir ulqadri, backed by numerous TV channels, who will be only too happy to pile on the dirt.
In the near future the demand will be for the stepping down from the office of Prime Minister, the next will be the prosecution of ill gotten gains. Source of wealth of the Park Lane apartments will be looked into. Only this time the inquisitors are honest so their questions will be ruthless. Unlike the ex Chief Justice who issued Suo Moto notices every where, but there was not one prosecution of note. In his term, an Ambassador to the UK was seen, and filmed taking documents from the offices of the Pakistani lawyers in Switzerland –never to be seen again. Grand theft, shown on GEO TV, without any response from the Chief Justice, who nevertheless found time to issue a notice to a young actress on a charge of carrying a bottle of wine! The hon Chief Justice managed to allow the most corrupt politician of our day to complete his five years without any hindrance. Surely a travesty of justice, at the highest level.
It is now time that all these faults will be brought under the spotlight, and corrections will be made to the system, which cannot be allowed to continue lest the ship of state go down.