Commentary/Fuzail Jafferey

Miyan Saheb is no Sharif

The reported renaming of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) as Pakhtunkhawa by the two-and-a-half-month-old Nawaz Sharif government might have surprised or even shocked most of the countries in the region including India, but not those who have been closely watching Sharif's various moves ever since President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari dissolved the National and provincial assemblies and announced the new election schedule on Nov. 5, 1996.

Those Pakistani journalists and political analysts who had described Miyan Saheb as a 'status-quo' politician before the Feb 3 elections must now be scratching their heads as to where and how they went wrong.

Nawaz Sharif is determined to be worldly-wise, practical and pragmatic to the core. His sole aim is to consolidate his position and power even if it means sacrificing the larger interests of the nation. The latest move on the NWFP should also be seen and judged from this very point of view.

The election manifesto released by the Pakistan Muslim League on Dec 31, 1996 promised, besides many other things, that ''every citizen will enjoy equal rights free from fear and ignorance and will be provided basic facilities including health, education, justice and sense of security''.

He is yet to take any initiative in the direction of achieving these high-sounding objectives. Instead, Miyan Saheb has conveniently changed his priorities and political strategies. Why? Nawaz Sharif knows it too well that the so-called two-third majority his party secured in the National Assembly is not as real and meaningful as it appears to be on paper. He also knows that he is in no way a true representative of the masses.

The Pakistani masses have been so much disgusted with their unprincipled and self-serving politicians that the majority of eligible voters did not exercise their franchise in the elections held on Feb. 3, 1997.

According to former Australian prime minister and Commonwealth Observer group chairman Malcolm Fraser not more than 22 to 27 per cent voters participated in the general election, making the position of the new government quite vulnerable in spite of the PML's "spectacular" success.

Nawaz Sharif won the elections hands down not because of the virtues of the Muslim League -- the party which was responsible for the partition of the country, but by default.

Of the two main opponents of Miyan Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto who had all along championed the cause of democracy and had bravely fought against the despotic regime of General Zia-ul-Haq, miserably failed to handle the affairs of the country during her second innings as the prime minister.

She neither bothered to fulfil the promises she had made at the time of election nor her government took any steps to avert the economic and financial crisis which continued to brew at a faster pace than ever before.

Human rights were ruthlessly trampled upon resulting in the mass killings of the Urdu-speaking Mohajirs at the hands of the Karachi police and Rangers. The situation reached its climax with the murder of Mir Murtuza Bhutto, the only surviving brother of Benazir while she was still the chief executive of the country.

Besides, her husband Asif Zardari who was initially known as Mr 10 per cent, achieved the dubious status of Mr 50 per cent in a couple of years. He is also alleged to be directly involved in the murder of Murtuza Bhutto. Since then Zardari has been languishing in the Landhi jail of Karachi.

Over and above all this, Benazir's autocratic style of functioning turned her one-time loyalists like President Leghari into bitter foes. Miyan Nawaz Sharif, who extended his unserved support to President Farooq Ahmad Leghari as well as to Murtuza's widow, Ghinva Bhutto, finally emerged as the only beneficiary of the situation.

On the other hand, super test-star Imran Khan who had announced the formation of his Tahrik-e-Insaf (party for justice) with a big bang, finally came to the ground with a thud. Leave apart his other party colleagues, Imran himself could not win even one of the seven seats he contested in the February elections.

This writer humbly begs to differ with senior Indian journalists such as V T Joshi and others who attribute Imran's humiliating defeat to his playboy image and his French-Jewish connections.

It was the other way round. The voters belonging to younger generations who would have loved to vote for the "Great Khan" got frightened by his pronouncements about his concept of "Ghairatmund Musalman" (proud Muslims), revival of tribal courts and sending the corrupt politicians to the gallows once he won the elections.

The voters finally decided to dump him fearing that he might turn into another Zia-ul-Haq after assuming power. The way was thus paved for Nawaz Sharif to be the new tenant of the prime ministerial palace in Islamabad.

As we know, even before the elections could be held, President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari constituted the Council for Defence and National Security (CDNS) which included the three Army chiefs.

While the President was to be the chairman of this high-power committee, the prime minister was co-opted an ordinary member. Remember, that Nawaz Sharif was the first politician to support and congratulate Leghari on the formation of the CDNS.

At that time, he had, of course not even dreamt of getting two-third majority in the National Assembly. After having achieved the "impossible", it became possible for Miyan Saheb to cut the President to size.

Gen Zia, during his 10-year regime, had incorporated as many as 25 amendments into the country's Constitution in order to appropriate absolute power for himself. The notorious eighth amendment empowered the President to dismiss an elected government without assigning any reason.

The first victim of this amendment was Benazir Bhutto when her government was dismissed and the National Assembly dissolved by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan on August 6, 1990. In the general elections held in October 1990, the Islamic Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) won the majority and Nawaz Sharif was elected as the prime minister.

Within less then three years, Nawaz Sharif and Ghulam Ishaq Khan found themselves attacking each other. Consequently, the President dismissed the IJI government on April 18, 1993 along with the dissolution of the National Assembly. What happened to Benazir Bhutto on November 5, 1996 is recent history.

In the above context, Nawaz Sharif has done the right thing by ignoring the agony of Leghari and getting the 13th amendment passed in parliament. This has taken away the discretionary powers of the President and governors to dissolve the National and provincial assemblies without seeking the advice of the prime minister and the chief minister. Sharif has taken a right step towards putting democracy in Pakistan back on the track. However, the euphoria generated all over Pakistan by the passage of the 13th amendment is perhaps, not fully justified.

All power is now being concentrated in the prime minister. The prime minister is now not only empowered to appoint the governors, but also the chief of the staff committee and the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air staff. Besides, it is he who will determine their salaries and allowances. By all account, this is a dangerous move which may hamper the democratic functioning of the society. This reminds one of Z A Bhutto who apart from being an elected prime minister had also designated himself as chief martial law administrator. Miyan Saheb has yet to take appropriate steps towards reestablishing and strengthening other democratic institutions such as trade unions and students unions who were completely suppressed by General Zia-ul-Haq. No democracy can survive without the active participation of all sections of the society. Miyan Saheb has also started playing politics with the Mohajir Quami Movement (MQM).

As long as he was in opposition, he not only supported the MQM but often visited London to meet MQM chief Altaf Husain. However, after coming to power, he has maintained a discreet silence over his old friend Husain who is still in London. The recent demonstrations organised in Karachi by the Haqeeqi faction against Altaf Husain make the people sceptical about the intentions of the prime minister. Perhaps, he too is to follow the same policies which were pursued by Benazir Bhutto in dealing with the MQM. As far as Benazir Bhutto is concerned, she has so far either kept quiet or supported the measures initiated by her arch rival as she is afraid of her husband facing the same fate as her father had to.

Indo-Pak relations

Nawaz Sharif's declaration that he was genuinely interested in resuming talks with India at the highest political level to resolve all disputes was rightly applauded as a bold initiative. However, the secretary-level talks in the last week of March between India's foreign secretary Salman Haider and his Pakistani counterpart Shamshad Ahmad failed to break any ice. Most unfortunately, the day the talks began in Delhi, seven Kashmiri pundits were mercilessly gunned down in Sangrampura of Bedgam district. A few days earlier, the pundits who had returned to Baramulla on the assurance given by the locals were shot at by the terrorists. After a gap of about eight years, Jammu and Kashmir has a democratically elected government once again. The amount of enthusiasm shown by the masses during the assembly elections proves beyond doubt that the people are fed up with the continued insurgency and want to live in peace. But sadly enough, the government of Pakistan seems to be back at its old game of encouraging insurgency in the valley so as to destablise the popular government led by Farooq Abdullah.

Similarly, Nawaz Sharif has so far failed to abolish the list of 573 items which the Pakistani traders want to import from India. Miyan Saheb who has changed his image of a status-quo politician within his country by getting the 13th amendment passed will certainly do a great service to Pakistan as well as to himself by demolishing the wall of status quo between India and Pakistan built over the years by his predecessors.

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