New era in Pakistan

By Wajid Shamsul Hasan

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, who has been elected as the 24th Prime Minister of Pakistan, has promised dawn of a new era that will be manifested in the new parliament by its assertive role as the sole arbiter of power. Suave and soft-spoken Gilani fits in a description for a man who is considered good in a world where deceit is the order of the day. Whatever contact I have had with him ever since I met him first in 1988, I have found him to be a perfect gentleman. Why not-he has a Sufi background and comes from a well-reputed political lineage.

I met him through the courtesy of late Pyar Ali Allana-a PPP stalwart- at a lunch in Karachi where we three discussed politics and future course of events at when General Zia was at the height of power. This was a sort of precursor to his meeting with Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and his subsequent joining of PPP the same year. Gilani made his mark at first in the PPP hierarchy as a Federal Minister. Later as Speaker he earned more laurels for being an upright man who earnestly believed in the supremacy of Parliament, rule of law, justice and fair play. I found him to be a man who would go out of the way to take a stand for a cause.

I was with Benazir Bhutto in Islamabad when many names were being mooted for NA Speakership in 1993. She did not want to make a wrong choice because an upright Speaker was-according to her-the need of the hour for a strong Parliament in a polity that had been vulturised by politics of divide-and-rule pursued by General Zia.

After great deliberations Gilani was chosen to be the PPP candidate for Speakership. Some seniors thought he was too young for the job (he was in his thirties) but Bhutto had known his sterling qualities as a man who was well-versed in high stake human management skills. Gilani disappointed his critics by his outstanding performance. He set new traditions for strengthening the parliamentary norms. And in no time he was recognised as the most outstanding Speaker that the National Assembly ever had after erstwhile East Pakistani veteran parliamentarian Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan. His assumption of the office of Prime Minister is not only the acknowledgement of the confidence that his late Chairperson had in him but also the entire party and its leadership.

The office of the Prime Minister in Pakistan has never been a bed of roses. It takes the incumbent onto a path that is strewn with thorns. The conditions now are even more deplorable than ever before. Gilani has taken over at a time when the country has been rendered in to an Augean stable. His election with an overwhelming majority (264 votes) is more a recognition of his leader Benazir Bhutto's sacrifice in blood.. While emphasising on the need for an enormous changes in the socio-economic order for equitable distribution of wealth, bridging up of the widening gap between rich and the poor- the new Prime Minister hit the right node in reasserting Parliament's supremacy as the sole arbiter of people's power.

In this context I would like to underscore the major contributions by martyred Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter for the empowerment of the people. ZAB by his populist politics and establishment of PPP-unshackled the chained masses, gave them a strong voice and self-respect hitherto curbed by the establishment. His gifts to the toiling masses endeared him with the successive generations of the poor that he continues to rule the country from his grave and his vote bank has remained in tact despite the worst possible oppression, persecution and prosecution of his followers.

His daughter picked up the pieces from where he left in 1979. She gave it renewed hope in itself and the destiny of Pakistan. She could have launched an armed struggle to get rid of Zia following Bhutto Sahib's execution and stormed the GHQ on her tumultuous return in April 1986 with millions in the streets. Yet she preferred to establish supreme power of the vote against the barrel of the gun. Indeed, her father gave voice to the muted majority, gave them self respect and by walking to the gallows head high imbibed in them never to bow to the usurper.

Benazir's lasting contribution--from where there would not be a turning back--is to make the people and parliament the sole arbiters of power. Now the people will not let any usurper to get away with it. Gillani's reassurance that there would be no compromise on the supremacy of Parliament is the best tribute to her supreme sacrifice.

The military-civil and judicial troika backed by the vested interests did not allow Benazir to complete her two elected tenures. She single-handedly overcame all hurdles-big and sinister--put in her way and took on her opponents from the front -mobilising the masses from within and networking with leaders and think tanks abroad-to defeat the anti-people ruler at his own game. She was staunchly backed by the fathomless perseverance of her supporters in the masses, poor PPP workers and the dauntless determination of persons like her husband Senator Asif Ali Zardari (11 years in detention) and Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani (over five years in prison) --to name some-- who braved long periods of incarcerations-- shunning all offers of pelf and power as compared to others stealthily pursuing their selfish interests.

The machinations of the known enemies and their quislings within could not destroy her steeled determination to challenge the dictator. And-- not to create any hindrances on the return of leaders in exile. It was clear he was stalling to gain time and to strike nearer the date of elections. And that is what he did on November 3 when he imposed emergency, sacked the Chief Justice and 60 other judges and planted his own puppets to instantly legalise all his actions including his election as president from a parliament that had no mandate.

The first test of the supremacy of Parliament will be when it debates and reviews Pakistan's policy against terrorism according to the wishes of the people that it represents and not the dictates that it had been receiving in the past. Secondly, it will have to resolve the judicial crisis. However, its foremost task would be to provide instant relief to the poor and the jobless who cannot afford even one meal a day due to high prices of essential edibles. (Syndicate Features)

(The writer is a former Pak High Commissioner in London and a senior PPP leader)

Issues before Congress

By Indranil Banerjea

The constituents of the Congress-led UPA government like the DMK, NCP and RJD will be fighting the Lok Sabha polls on their own strength as leaders of these parties feel that the INC of Sonia Gandhi cannot evolve a winning combination in 2009. The other grouse is that the Congress party doesn't have the culture of running a coalition and they react with the astonishment of injured innocence. There is a dominant feeling that coalition is merely a compulsion and a "passing phase" for the Congress before its dominance return as the single ruling party.

Some Congress leaders do believe now that touching the magic figure of 272 is impossible in the near future but they don't recognise the need to sew up an NDA-like coalition at the national level. That would mean either yielding its pre-eminent position to the BJP or accepting that both the parties were at par.

Congress leaders hence rely on other parties' compulsions, taking it for granted that the Left and the RJD cannot slip into the NDA camp and there will not be enough space for the third front if some of its essential components remain stuck with the BJP. In Tamil Nadu, the Congress knows either the DMK or the AIADMK will fall into its lap and the same is true of Uttar Pradesh where the BSP and Samajwadi Party can't swim together.

Despite these calculations, the Congress feels compelled to "appeal" to secular parties to join hands and fight the communal forces because of the charge levelled against it by even friendly parties that it was "arrogant" and not ready to accommodate smaller groups.

The desperation in Kanpur where Rahul Gandhi was projected as the future leader of the party had a tag of "arrogance" than for entering into pre-poll alliances with other "secular" parties. But Sonia Gandhi's "appeal" created more bitterness than cooperation. Veteran Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee has recently asserted that no other party can decide who should be the leader of the Congress.

Mukherjee puts the issue in perspective: "Most of the parties were born out of anti-Congressism. Today they ridicule Rahul Gandhi's leadership but didn't they oppose Indira and Rajiv too? We understand their politics but they should know politics is not static. Today they should understand that the biggest danger to the nation is communalism and it is bad enough to compel them to set aside every other consideration, including their anti-Congressism. The Congress has not appealed to them to grab power but to emphasise how the country is faced with a serious danger and all right-thinking people should unite."

But Mukherjee laments that all these parties, including the Left, chose to work with the BJP in the past to fight the Congress but are raising trivial issues for not rallying behind his party to fight the communal threat. "It is a different thing to talk about secularism in theory but very difficult to adopt it practically. We would sincerely like to see a broad-based agreement among secular parties," he adds.

This again is no indication that the Congress has changed its mental orientation to accept the coalition reality. Mukherjee merely indicates his party is willing to take others' help to solve a problem. Specifically asked if the Congress will be accepted by other parties as a leader of an alternative coalition, he says, "Political system can't operate in vacuum. There has to be a government if no party gets simple majority. We will decide then what has to be done in 2009."

As of now India has not evolved a real coalition culture. It requires consensual approach to politics and capacity to respect diversity. The coalition culture can be developed only if there is a high degree of institutionalisation and a healthy growth of party systems.

The party wants a strategic understanding with the BSP to bolster its prospects but not a pre-poll alliance. On the contrary, many senior leaders believe that the main reason for the pitiable state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh was P.V. Narasimha Rao's decision to enter into pre-poll alliance with the BSP. The coalition with Sharad Pawar's NCP in Maharashtra is also a Hobson's choice and both the parties will have great difficulty in seat-sharing at election time.

In case of the Samajwadi Party too, the Congress held its horses after going so far as to help Mulayam Singh Yadav form a government. The party knows Yadav will never allow it to flourish because he occupies so much political space only at its expense. This is true in the case of Laloo Yadav as well. He has encroached upon the Congress party's Dalit-Muslim base in Bihar. This brings into focus the same question of anti-Congressism that Mukherjee was so carefully talking about; the same issue of anti-Congressism that has so successfully been exploited by the BJP. Politics is dynamic and these parties should shed their anti-Congressism to fight the BJP. This at a time, when the Congress has gone full steam ahead to claw back its Dalit-Muslim support base, putting it in direct conflict with the non-BJP parties which have occupied that space.

The Congress is in a real mess. It has to battle new social elite that has grown in its own ideological stable and its splinter groups. At a theoretical level, the Congress may be a better option to lead a coalition, but in practice, the BJP is far ahead. It is no magic then that a George Fernandes is sitting in the BJP's lap. It is pure politics which doesn't seem like turning over a new leaf. INAV