Articles of the year 2015
Published on February 03rd 2015
The announcement of the Governor Punjab’s resignation, has not bothered anyone in the Punjab, but it is worrying quite a few of the thinking Pakistanis. Sarwar Khan, was a self made man, who made a fortune in the grocery business in the UK. Starting with one little shop, and grew to be a giant in the food retail business. He is one of the few Pakistanis to have made a fortune in England, starting from scratch. Like many Pakistanis, he wanted to do something for his country, and opted to return and pitch in with the Sharifs, to better the lot of his country folk. After a year and a bit it seems he could not get on with their style of governance. Or was it the other way round.
The Sharifs could not understand that the time of the Gullu Butts was over, and the country needed some attention to proper administration, and not a monarchy. A democracy, with opponents snapping at your heels continuously, does not allow much room for a relaxed, benign rule. After Zardari’s pledge of noninterference, the incompetence of his own team came to the fore. In his earlier term he had Salman Faroqui, a very able bureaucrat who was proficient at running multiple ministries. This time around, his Samdi, Ishaq Dar, though a Chartered Accountant, was limited in his management ability. Sure enough the crisis started to arise, each one worse than the other. The politician will want to throw money at the problem to make it go away and most times it works. The Accountant by training says no, thinking the problem will die a natural death, of financial starvation. Many times the problem grows out of control. That is precisely how the petrol crisis came about. The two Ministers have survived, barely, but are destined to a short lived career in the cabinet. However in politics in Pakistan the back benches can accommodate many has-beens, and outnumber the wannabes.
The Sharif government, must realize that as this is his third time around, he should know which buttons to press. And which door leads where. Unfortunately, he has lost his way, and the plot it seems. Democracy does not sit well with Nawaz who is used to Monarchy, and being King. Comfortable, rubbing shoulders with royalty, as at the recent last rites for King Abdullah, or,visiting the ruler of Bahrain, the photo op at Downing St. Even exile was spent in comfort in a palace courtesy the Saudi Royal family reinforcing the royal ‘connection’.
He would much rather these trips, than the mundane, boring times with the planning commission, or unravelling the power crisis. In the older days, Salman and his able cohorts conjured up schemes to delight the have nots – the yellow cabs, was one. This scheme was brilliant in concept, importing duty free taxis, the duty benefits, passed on to owner drivers, on easy terms, enabling them to earn a healthy wage. The drawback arose when the greedy bank managers colluded with the importers and jacked up the prices, with their own add-ons, collected at the LC opening. The huge sales encouraged defaults, which exposed the weakness of the scheme and the rapacious appetites of the Pakistani opportunists.
The resignation of the Governor will lead to many conflicting stories, but on the face of it Nawaz Sharif should realize that as his PMLN is woefully short on competence, Sarwar should have been better utilised as his merit was already a matter of record, and desperately needed by Nawaz. With a surfeit of Gullu Butts in his ambit he needs men of substance. Being in such an important position as Prime Minister, the responsibility is that much greater, and sycophancy is dangerous to the office of the PM, clouding his vision, when clarity is required more than ever.
The power crisis needs immediate attention, with families coping in the dark, unemployed workers, and their employers watching closed machines without electricity. Adding to the despair of the jobless. Nawaz unconcerned at the problems of the masses,closeted in Murree with his inner core will definitely give us more of the same garbage. He needs more Sarwars and not less.
The retiring Governor in his statement has indicated the power of the land Mafia, one that exercises much of the lucrative ‘dispensations’ that is responsible for his ouster. The Prime Minister must realize the danger of his weakness, in not having an ally like Benazir, to prevent a takeover. The present members are already prepared to jump ship. Forward blocks already exist in the PMLN, and the PPP Sind, waiting for the all important nod. The ouster of Sarwar Khan may just be enough to tip the scales. The interim Prime Minister has just been given a new candidate, one that comes without baggage, and well recommended, especially with the anti-Nawaz sentiment. The two years of Nawaz have given the people enough hardship, and change is overdue- would be welcomed. Now the caretaker has been thrown into the ring.
The downward slide into chaos is picking up momentum and will lead to a collapse. If the past is anything to go by, Nawaz will refuse to budge, also, for an in house change, he will employ the considerable muscle at his disposal, in the form of unleashed Gullu Butts. Even before that happens, maybe a revitalised Imran, Qadri, Sarwar could do the trick. It would prevent an all-out Martial Law, and allow an in house change that would benefit all, and be painless. What is eminently clear is that more of the same cannot continue. It seems the hangings have been stopped yet again. Presumably the chickens are in command again, bypassing the orders of Gen Shareef. Let us see how long this new challenge will last.