|
2018-05-10 India-Pakistan
|
|
Nawaz Sharif’s ET politics
|
[DAWN] FORMER prime minister Nawaz Sharif
 ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts...
claims he is up against an extraterrestrial species or aliens (khalai makhlooq). He is certainly not alluding to a character in Steven Spielberg’s epic thriller E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The ousted leader would not elaborate on what he really meant. But it is too obvious to miss.
It is the ubiquitous ’security establishment’ that Sharif seems to be blaming his predicament on; the same ’invisible forces’ that are believed to have initially propelled him to power three decades ago and that were also responsible for the overthrow of his second government. It all may sound a bit disconcerting yet it does illustrate the political game of chess we have been witnessing.
Continued from Page 4
Sharif may be right about the stand-off with the military, but it is not the only reason for his miseries. While the role of the ’invisible hand’ in political scheming cannot be disputed, the responsibility lies with the civilian leadership too. Sharif is certainly not telling the whole truth. It is not just the irresolvable conflict with the military but also his hubris and utter disregard for democratic accountability that has brought about his downfall.
Sharif’s claim of turning to ’ideological’ politics sounds pretentious. There is certainly no principle involved in his latest political campaign for self-preservation. It is questionable whether his rhetoric about khalai makhlooq would have many takers, however plausible it may sound. The reopening of the Asghar Khan case by the Supreme Court at this stage has certainly played against both sides ‐ Sharif as well as the military.
Most intriguing is the timing of the court action in the long-forgotten case that had brought to the surface what is perhaps the sleaziest political scandal in the country’s history. It has exposed the dark side of the security agencies being used for the manipulation of the electoral process through money and power. Most shocking is the blatant rationalisation of such actions by those involved in political engineering at the time.
It was not just about the machinations of the top security leadership then but also a whole lot of politicians who were willing partners in the crime. Interestingly, it was Nawaz Sharif who was the leader of the pack. He was the chosen leader of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) cobbled together in 1989 by Gen  Hamid Gul
The nutty former head of Pakistain's ISI, now Godfather to Mullah Mohammad Blinky Omar 's Talibs and good buddy and consultant to al-Qaeda's high command...
, the then head of the ISI to counter the PPP led by Benazir Bhutto
... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in...
It all happened during the 1990 elections after the ouster of Benazir Bhutto’s first government in what is described as a ’constitutional coup’. Millions of rupees were distributed among the IJI leaders for financing their election campaign. It was part of a wider plan to bring the IJI to power. Moreover, it was not just money but also alleged rigging that was used to thwart a PPP victory. That’s how the IJI came to power with Nawaz Sharif as the prime minister.
The scandal came to the surface when former ISI chief Asad Durrani spilled the beans a few years later in 1995. It was the veteran political leader Asghar Khan who then took the case to the Supreme Court. In his affidavit submitted to the court, retired Gen Durrani gave a list of the names of dozens of politicians to whom he had paid money on the instructions of Gen Aslam Beg
...the occasionally incoherent retired four-star general who was the Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army, succeeding the creepy General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, after the latter was rubbed out died in an air crash in 1988. The general was involved up to his hairy ears in the Mehran bank scandal, shuffling millions in public money to buy or lease politicians, and is believed one of the prime movers in the sale of Pak nuclear technology to Iran. He ranks second only to Hamid Gul in the volume and flavor of his anti-Western vitriol..
, the then chief of army staff.
It was the most damning indictment of both the military and the civilian leadership in a scandal that shook the country. But the case was put in the deep freeze after a few hearings following Sharif’s return to power in 1997 for the second time. The hearing was resumed in 2012 and the court ordered the law-enforcement agencies to take legal action against all those involved in the scandal. The instructions were never implemented. Now the apex court has reopened it yet again.
For sure, it was not the first or the last time the political process has been tinkered with by the security agencies, thus causing the electorate to lose faith in the system. Most troubling, however, is how politicians again and again fall into the trap, willingly doing the bidding of nondemocratic elements and thus undermining the entire system. One major reason is the politics of expediency; most believe that it is the way to power.
It is also something to do with the lack of principles and a democratic ethos. Even when elected, there is little focus on governance and delivering on promises. It is also a fact that the security agencies are blamed for everything that goes wrong with political parties in the polls. One such example is Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan , who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
’s allegation that the security establishment plotted against the PTI, thus causing the party to lose the 2013 elections in Punjab. Interestingly, it is the PTI which is generally accused of being backed by the security establishment. The latest Senate chairman election is cited by the PML-N as evidence of this.
But the most amusing claim has been made by Chaudhry Shujaat Husain that manipulation by the then army leadership was responsible for the defeat of his PML-Q in the 2008 elections. His is the same party that was created by the military leadership, splitting the PML-N after the 1999 coup that ousted the Sharif government. Such lamentation appears to be a case of the jilted-lover syndrome that some elements patronised by the security agencies suffer from.
Surely it is imperative that the Asghar Khan case be taken to its logical conclusion. It will set a positive precedent for reforming our political system and stopping political engineering by the security agencies. It is indeed a hard task given the fragility of our democratic political system. More important is for all democratic political parties to come together to reform the system from inside and strengthen democratic institutions.
This must especially be a lesson for Nawaz Sharif. There is no point in crying oneself hoarse over khalai makhlooq. It is time the disgraced leader at least accepted his own mistakes and showed respect to his voters.
|
Posted by Fred 2018-05-10 00:00||
||
Front Page|| [11134 views ]
Top
File under: Govt of Pakistan
|
|
20:17 SteveS
18:44 magpie
18:33 Frank G
18:33 badanov
18:26 Hellfish
18:23 Hellfish
17:40 swksvolFF
17:34 Ebbuger Whuque4103
17:30 Ebbuger Whuque4103
17:02 Melancholic
16:27 Gravilet Snanter4154
16:20 Chaise Speaking for Boskone7897
16:02 Skidmark
16:01 Skidmark
15:46 Skidmark
15:41 Skidmark
15:37 swksvolFF
15:36 Skidmark
15:34 Skidmark
15:27 Skidmark
14:48 NoMoreBS
14:31 NoMoreBS
14:16 NoMoreBS
14:15 NoMoreBS
|
