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Zardari
A year has passed since Asif Ali Zardari was sworn in as President of Pakistan
on 9th September 2008.
How long will Zardari a Baluch from Sind and a Shia to boot survive in the badlands of Pakistan Politics dominated by the Army and Punjabis?
A Quirk of fate got Zardari who was apparently leading a happy go lucky life as a young man married Benazir Bhutto ( 18 Dec 1987), the then leader of the PPP. Life has since then been a roller coaster ride, reaching up to dizzying heights and plumbing depths all in a short span of a little over two decades.
He and his family were hounded by successive governments in Pakistan. He himself was jailed from 1997 to 2004, tortured, and almost given up for being as good as dead by his opponents. He was supposed to have been suffering from memory impairments as a result of his continuous incarceration for seven long years. Knowing the prison systems in Pakistan and the animosity of successive governments against Benazir Bhutto this is not surprising. The fact that he has managed to survive against great odds, and come out on top to become the president of Pakistan is no mean achievement.
Asif Ali Zardari became a minister for the first time in 1988. When Benazir lost the elections in 1990, charges were laid against him but nothing was proved. When Bhutto was returned to office in 1993 he became a minister once again. In 1996 when Benazir vacated her office he was again targeted and imprisoned from 1997 to 2004.
He was a pawn in the board of Pakistan Politics. The real target was Benazir Bhutto.
Things really looked bleak for Zardari family during those bad years. That he maintained his sanity and the family kept bonded over the difficult years of Benazir’s self imposed exile and his incarceration is a telling example of his determination and strength of character.
Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan, or rather stormed back into Pakistan politics in 2007 in the wake of National Reconciliation Ordinance which granted amnesty to politicians in office from 1986 to 1999.
The tragic death of Benazir Bhutto in Dec 2007 at the hands of assasins catapulted him to become the Co Chairman of PPP, along with his son, Bilawal.
He steered PPP through a difficult period preceding and during the elections. His PPP teamed up with Nawaz Sharief’s PML and won the elections. President Musharraf’s PML (Q) was unseated. Musharraf himself had to quit his dual posts as president of Pakistan and the army chief.
What was striking was his audacity to openly challenge the then all powerful Musharraf to step down or face impeachment. Considering that the Army was and is the most powerful entity in Pakistan this was no mean feat.
He was nominated by his party for the post of President and was elected to the highest office in the country. Zardari secured 281 votes out of the 426 valid votes polled in the parliament. He secured 62 of the 65 electoral votes in Sind, in North West Frontier Province got 56 votes out of 62, in Baluchistan he polled 59 votes. However, Zardari did not win the majority in the nation’s biggest province, Punjab, where the PML-N’s Siddiqui got a clear majority.[1]
Clearly the Punjabis of Pakistan preferred one of their own, another Punjabi.
Asif Ali Zardari was sworn in as President of Pakistan on 9th September 2008.
Zardari’s weaknesses
He is not a Punjabi. Pakistan is dominated by Punjabis, who have a strangle hold on all apparatus of state. Liaquat Ali Khan fell to the bullets of an assassin. Zulfikar Bhutto, a Sindhi was hanged. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated.
Zardari is a Shia Muslim. In a Sunni dominated country Shias are in a minority. The Wahabis who are threatening to inundate and brainwash the Sunnis do not have any love lost for Shias.
Pakistan Army is the prime entity in Pakistan. It has ruled Pakistan for most of its history since 1947. It has managed to entrench itself and corner all major resources and centers of power. A parasite, living off the resources of Pakistan, it is a law unto itself. It has spawned the ISI another lawless institution answerable to none except the Chief of the Army. It has fostered terrorists as a part of state policy. The army does not accept civilian supremacy in the government. Periods when democratic governments came into office are few and far between.
It has managed to short circuit any action taken by Zardari to flex the civilian muscles. He tried to rein in the ISI and the army stepped in. He tried to extend a friendly hand towards India and was stumped.
His bold acknowledgements of Pakistan state in fomenting terrorism and advice to check them have been stymied. At every step any positive initiative taken by Zardari to reduce tensions with India, check the terrorists and their resources, extend civilian control on resources have been sabotaged by the army.
The latest in the list is the manner in which the army has managed to thwart any check or control through the Kerry Lugar Bill, of funds ( 7.5 billion over the next 5 years) to be received from US for fighting terror. The ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani, “is reportedly being recalled under pressure from the country’s military junta, which feels he played a dubious role in a US aid bill that seeks to establish civilian control over the military…. His predecessor, Mahmood Ali Durrani, who was recalled to Islamabad as National Security Adviser, was fired from that post for admitting that jihadis behind Mumbai’s 26/11 attacks were from Pakistan”
Straight forward and Outspoken
Zardari is a Baluch. They are known for outspokenness.
Zardari himself has been very clear and forthright in his comments about Pakistan State agencies aiding, and sustaining terrorist organizations. “Militants and extremists emerged on the national scene and challenged the state not because the civil bureaucracy was weakened and demoralized but because they were deliberately created and nurtured as a policy to achieve short-term tactical objectives. Let’s be truthful and make a candid admission of the reality,” he said at a gathering of civil servants in Islamabad.[2]
He has been equally critical of self centered American Policies. “The West stood by as a democratically elected (Pakistani) government was toppled by a military dictatorship in the late ’70s. Because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the West used my nation as a blunt instrument of the Cold War. It empowered a Gen. Zia dictatorship that brutalized its people, decimated our political parties, murdered the prime minister who had founded Pakistan’s largest political party, and destroyed the press and civil society,” Zardari wrote in the Washington Post.[3]
“Sadly, what we are witnessing today is the outcome of that policy of the 80’s and even earlier. The policy of using religious extremism as an instrument of war.
He did not mince words when he said in his address at IISS , International Institute of Strategic Studies,London, on September 18, 2009 . “We in Pakistan have paid a very heavy price for this policy. 2.5 million drug addicts and Slow economic growth. Pakistan has suffered more than others, for decades we had to host and continue to host millions of Afghan refugees. The situation was further compounded by the support of international community to dictatorships in Pakistan, dictatorships, running with the hare and hunting with the hound. For decades dictators played hide and seek with militants for their own political survival. Years of dancing with the dictators has encouraged the crisis of today.”
On Afghanistan he said “Once the Soviets were defeated, the Americans took the next bus out of town, leaving behind a political vacuum that ultimately led to the Talibanization and radicalization of Afghanistan, the birth of Al-Qaeda and the current jihadi insurrection in Pakistan.”
On India, ‘Zardari has come out with a bold statement claiming that the militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir are terrorists. This statement by Zardari seems to put him just opposite to former Pakistani President Musharraf who described these militants as freedom fighters. He also stated that Pakistan is not worried about India and does not find it to be a threat to Pakistan. Pakistan has no objection regarding India’s nuclear deal with US.’
‘Speaking about the relation between India and Pakistan, Zardari said that the issue of Kashmir should not evolve up as an obstacle in maintaining the mutual relationship between the two countries. He is hopeful of better ties between the countries and plans for a free trade agreement with India. Zardari finds India as one of the biggest neighboring trade partners. These statements by the Pakistani President are surely going to create a viable platform for taking ahead the relation of the two South-Asian countries.’
Terrorism He has been unequivocal in his condemnation of terrorism and terrorists. He has not categorized terrorists as good and bad. This is in exact opposite of the army and the ISI which has aided and abetted terrorists for over two decades. Pakistan army is willing to call Al Quaida and some elements of Taliban terrorist organisations. However Pakistan army , even today, is unwilling to accept that Sipah –e Sabha (SSP) Lashkar –e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e –Mohammad, Harkatul Jahad e Islami are terrorist organizations. Their cadre is Punjabi, and the army has been supporting them since their inception. The fact that the GHQ attack on October 18, 2009,had all terrorists who were Punjabis has not called for a rethink. They are still trotting out the story that terrorists are in Waziristan and Swat valley only, Punjab, the province with maximum Sunni population is clean as a whistle.
Nuclear Options
Zardari in Nov 2008 Addressing a conference in New Delhi by video, in answer to a question, contradicted Pakistan’s long-standing policy on nuclear weapons. “We will most certainly not use it first,” he said. “I don’t agree to nuclear weapons. I hope we never get to that position. “I am against nuclear warfare altogether.” India has been a strong advocate of the “no first strike” policy on nuclear missiles, but previous Pakistani leaders have opposed such a stance. The Pakistan army, averse to any sanity in its policies or peace moves with India would have none of it, and immediately countered the statement[4].
ATTA Zardari’s agreement to special status to India in the draft of the Afghanistan Trade and Transit Agreement has riled the ISI.
Corruption Charges
There have been no open allegations of corruption since he has become the President of Pakistan.
However Zardari has faced a number of trials for corruption. He was notorious at one time as Mr. 10%. In March 2008 “five different corruption cases against Zardari dropped by judges appointed by President Pervez Musharraf. Charges in connection with the murder of Justice Nizam Ahmed were also dropped.”[5] Pakistan’s judiciary has not had a reputation for acting independently of the government when it comes to high-profile cases, especially of a political nature. [6]In Aug 2008 “ all cases against Zardari in Swiss courts dropped at the request of Pakistani authorities. USD 60m in allegedly laundered money restored. Zardari denies the money is his.”[7]
“Another area where President Asif Ali Zardari is highly criticized by common Pakistanis and a majority of opposition leaders is that during one year he spent 94 day abroad. His foreign tours mostly emanate from Dubai. Here finger-pointing starts about major deals and agreements. Though none of his foes has so far offered any fresh case of corruption, people do question his lengthening absence from Pakistan.” [8]
Limited education and insufficient experience of statesmanship encourages bureaucrats to get their plans translated into action through Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani
Dr. A.Q. Khan During the last year he has freed Pakistan’s nuclear scientist Dr. A.Q. Khan.
Chief Justice Iftkhar Chaudhry He has managed to bring back the former Chief Justice Iftkhar Chaudhry shunted out by Musharraf and restored Chief Justice who was persona non grata with the Pakistan army and Musharraf, .
Future ?
Pakistan army, and the ISI have ruled Pakistan for nearly four decades. They have grown fat over the years on drug money and aid from US, and favors rendered to themselves. They have fooled the people of Pakistan, and led them down an abyss. They have been able fool the Americans too for all these years. America did try after six decades to exercise some supervision through the KL bill on how $ 7.5 billon in aid will be utilized. But the Pakistan army has been able to foment enough demonstrations and opposition to any sort of control on spending aid money.
Gen Kiyani unlike his predecessor has been working quietly behind the scenes. He has been meeting opposition leaders secretly, especially those personally opposed to Zardari. How long can Zardari with his policy of promoting peace with neighbors and tough handling of terrorists last?
[1] Wikepedia
[2] Omer Farooq Khan, TNN 9 July 2009
[3] Omer Farooq Khan, TNN 9 July 2009,
[4] The Australian
[5] Peter Gill
[6] BBC News 16 June 2009
[7] Peter Gill
[8] Azhar Masood : Pakistan: President Zardari’s One Year of Flip Flops September 11, 2009
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