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Peace, For Now: Military Breaks Warring Politicians, Wait For The Next Crisis.
WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM
Let’s not pat ourselves on the back too much. The celebration and the sighs of relief must not eclipse a worrisome development: The massive, embarrassing and unprecedented failure of political leadership in Pakistan over the past couple of weeks. (The failure and loss resides only in one quarter, and that is Zardari's. Its all embarrassing if you are a Zardari supporter and you approve his style of "non-leadership")That failure was no small event. (Is the glass half full or half empty........I think the events of the past week were not a failure, but a success for ordinary Pakistanis....."People Power" so on)
The original sin of disturbing the Pakistani political process is born by the United States and Britain. The attempts at political manipulation by both countries as far back as 2006 have destabilized Pakistan. (since the creation of Pakistan infact----a couple of excellent female authors from Pakistan have written informative books about this foreign manipulation of Pakistan through mainly the military)
Their latest intervention was designed to protect their interests. Let’s celebrate the moment. (be careful how you arrange your sentences, the last two sentences preceding my comment here make it sound as if Pakistanis should celebrate the fact that Western interest for the moment have not been harmed by the events of the last few weeks..............which I am sure, barring a secret account in a certain small country you did not mean to say. One hopes you are not yet another journo....in the official Pakistani media who has bought his position through selling his ezaat and country.........you realise, especially with the young you play an important pivotal role)
But let’s also take our politicians to task for their failed leadership. And let’s keep an eye on the next crisis. It is coming.
(Why only the politicians? Why not the little budding Napoleon wanabees in the Pakistani military............Make a list Ahmed, and list all the disasterous events in Pakistan's history, with who exactly was in power when such disasters occurred.........like a reality check, and no Abdus Salaam astro-physics challenge here)
—This is the first time that Pakistan’s military joined middle class Pakistanis in forcing change on the country’s closed club of elite politicians. (Lets rephrase that.............Sharif launched a political campaign despite threats---3/3/2009 Lahore---governors rule in the Punjab...etc, and Sharifs agitation had mass cross country support...........the Pakistan military and Zardari didn't want this confrontation so they accepted Sharif's position.......the Pak military didn't shuttle between Sharif and Zardari trying to settle the dispute, but quietly and correctly read the situation and popular mood in the country, and did the right thing for the sake of the military and of course for the country......but they certainly did not negotiate between the two parties)
This may not have been intentional. The recent failures by the political elite and the positive intervention for change by the middle class and the military represent a leap forward in Pakistani politics. This moment in our history must not pass unnoticed. (Yes this is a significant moment in Pakistani politics) The events of the last two weeks prove what many of us knew already: that this is a dangerously fragile political system made worse by the inability of its existing players to exhibit the full range of public administration skills and the imagination necessary to run a nation as complex and promising as Pakistan.
(Agreed that the current batch of Pakistani leaders are not perfect. Zardari is proving to be a disaster clearly and one hopes and doubts whether he will complete his full term as President. In previous blogposts in 2007 I criticised Sharif openly, and emphasised the need for tighter control by the Pakistani military under Musharaf. Because I thought the military brought stability and a certain degree of prosperity for Pakistan.......The Indians prefer to deal with the Pak military also, but I've been reflecting that perhaps this was a false illusion....and that the Pak military far from creating intervals of stability whilst in power were in fact creating very serious problems whilst in power which later manifest themselves negatively against Pakistan and the overall national interests. Simple example: The whole range of armed Islamic fundies backed by the Pakistan military since the 1970's in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh and India.....you reap what you sow..........Pakistan now is being called the most dangerous country on earth, and the Americans are talking of striking Quetta and other non-FATA parts, killing Pakistani civilians, destroying parts of Pakistan, whilst the PAKISTAN DEFENCE FORCES look on impotently..........who caused this situation Ahmed? Not Zardari or Sharif, but the Pakistan military.
Granted 2 innings Sharif is not perfect. There are obviously serious questions about him and his party with his brother and wife playing prominent roles in "his" party....with this overt banana republic bongo bongo arrangement, BUT a civilain politician is a civilian politician elected by the people, good or bad......if good a second term follows, a feat which no Pakistani politician has achived accepted ZA Bhutto. In fact most Pakistani civilian leaders have problems completing their first term, forget a second one.
Sharif if he gets into power will have to perform and deliver far better leadership than Zardari, otherwise there will be considerable anger against him, from the people, and he knows that........there are certain expectations from the people, which he alone has raised, and he simply when in power has to deliver. That said it means right now he has to pick a very effective team of managers, and future cabinet members who can effectively and successfuly govern Pakistan from within Pakistan................Bill Gates was asked once what he would do when he got older and if he were to lose his youthful enterprenial exuberance, with innovative ideas......he replied I'll just pick and surround myself with the best of the new generation of experts in this area to work for me......and that is what Sharif has to do, before he ascends power AGAIN for the third time, soon hopefully as Pakistan expects. The nation of 180 million people have plenty of talented professionals who have excellent technocractic abilities, well proven already in their field, and Sharif just has to pick them from the Punjab, Sindh, NWFP and Baluchistan..........but not clearly his informal business buddies, and a cabinet of 55 pigs at the trough )
The failures of this political class are magnified by the success of the media, the civil society and the lawyers in achieving what was impossible for the politicians. These new players represent a majority of middle and lower class Pakistanis who historically have been prevented from playing their due role in public life by a closed hereditary political system consisting of powerful families and vested interests.
( Tamindars/Zamindars 500 families, no connection with Pakistan, and are where they are because of the British Raj originally.............most of their assets are abroad just in case 1948 India happens in Pakistan, and they send their children to exclusive schools and universities in the UK, and USA. 30 "Commercial families" basically the same, of which Sharif is part of ........so great to see the Middle class break that monoply, and bring greater geniune critical representative government to Pakistan....its a slow process............Sharif must choose a team which overwhelmingly represents and rewards this class)
But let’s not pat ourselves on the back too much. The celebration and the sighs of relief must not eclipse a worrisome development: The massive, embarrassing and unprecedented failure of political leadership in Pakistan over the past couple of weeks. That failure was no small event. It made our homeland the butt of international jokes. It forced other countries to intervene. It forced our military to intervene. The political failure ran across the board: an inept, dysfunctional government matched by an equally dysfunctional opposition where politicians led the nation to a dangerous impasse. Apart from paralyzing the nation, politicians pursued a series of vengeful, immature moves that pushed the country dangerously close to mutiny, destruction of public peace and a possible rift across ethnic lines.
(This is politics; Third World politics, but at least it was short a few weeks, and no great damage civilian and property wise)
We have hopefully resolved one crisis. But this is the lull that precedes the next one. Let’s not fool ourselves. Ours is a flawed political system that will continue to generate crises. The two top political offices of the country, the President and Prime Minister, will continue to be a source of friction and instability even when both belong to the same political party. Our political parties have ceased to be incubators of change and have regressed into ethnic, sectarian and religious politics. And once again, we’ve seen how a political crisis came close to igniting a confrontation between two provinces that could have taken an ugly turn. All of this calls for major changes in the political system before the next crisis results in permanent damage. The frustrating part is that not all of this change may be possible democratically. A failed political system won’t change itself. If the politicians can’t do it, the civil society should. And the military should break out of its traditional support for the feudal elite and help committed Pakistani citizens in bringing change.
(The military should not support any party in the country. They should be neutral. However at all cost the Middle class must overcome the ruling elite of the Zamindars/Tamindars and commercials......that I am in favor of....so your guessing correctly that we haven't seen the end of it yet......1) Sharif must be allowed to contest elections. 2) Governors rule of Punjab revoked. 3) The removal of Zardari, soon 4) New elections are called where Sharif wins, and forms a populist broad based team as stated before.)
Here the Pakistani military has a role. The recent crisis unintentionally proved the reality that the military is a positive force for stability and change in an unstable political system in transition. The military played a role in distorting the system through military coups. But the same military can also help in supporting the middle class Pakistani civil society in reforming the system, pretty much like the military did this time.
(Inshallah!............the vast majority of the 25,000 odd officers are mainly middle to lower middle class.....so they have a class interest. Kiyani is of lower middle class back ground....father NCO? )
Our ultimate goal here should be the type of political system and not how it comes (about). (Agreed.........more power to the people......liberal democracy that functions effectively being run by mainly talented educated people with the requisite skills in their field.........and governments that fulfill their full terms sucessfully)Pakistan needs a political system where political parties are democratized and party leaderships are rotated through internal ballot, where language- and sectarian-based politics are proscribed, and where the different districts of the country are made to get busy in local development instead of getting busy in mass national politics.
(Absolutely!!! not nepotism or a kleptocracy like Zardaris present government, where leaders are annointed to their position because of their name, or money muscle power. That political acumen and ability should be emphasised far more.........that is better for the long run. Electing criminal losers like Zardari was bad for the PPP, and for Pakistan.....nobody wins.)
Without this kind of change, the existing system will continue to generate crises and encourage foreign intervention. Here, it must be noted that the original sin of disturbing the Pakistani political process is borne by the United States and Britain. The attempts at political manipulation by both countries in Pakistan as far back as 2006 have destabilized Pakistan. Their latest intervention might have turned out to be positive but it was designed to protect their interests inside the Pakistani government.
(Correct!!!!! Zardari is their puppet as was Busharaf......but they thought they could control Pakistani affairs far more through Zardari..........they didn't count on the courage of the Pakistani people, and their level of tolerance of such foreign backed mischief against Pakistan, and their simple desire to live in a reasonably run nation, with leaders that put their interests first...
The British ran things in Pakistan between 1947----65, mainly through the officers of the Pakistani army, and senior officers who had served in the British run Indian army. Officers who had inherited a psychological and emotional soft spot for Bilaat. Since 1965, it is America which has played a greater role in Pakistani affairs.........as they started destabilising the Ayub Khan regime, for conducting a war against India using American arms, and not happy for being friendly with China at the initial stages 1963--65.......)
Let’s celebrate the moment. But let’s also take our politicians to task for their failed leadership. And let’s keep an eye on the next crisis. It is coming.
