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President Zardari — also party leader?
Few are convinced that with President Zardari at helm, free or fair will be the order of the day when it finally comes
Well, well, where else in the democratic world under a parliamentary system that we know of does a head of state indulge in electioneering campaigns? But then, also, in the democratic world under a parliamentary system, is the head of state the virtual boss of a political party in power? Right now, our head of state masquerades as the co-chairman of the ruling party — a bit of a cover-up, as we know the clout of the official chairman.
President Asif Ali Zardari’s performance in his home province at the end of last month was, for a head of state, to put it mildly, deplorable in the extreme. In the first place, he should never have held the dual positions as this is not in consonance with a democratic parliamentary system. But then who was to stop him or persuade him otherwise? The Supreme Court? That he does hold both positions, in his particular context — as wrong and unseemly as it may be — makes perfect sense. Under the Constitution, constantly and often uselessly evoked, we all know what the head of state actually should be and that is the occupant of a ceremonial office divorced from day to day politics, observing strict neutrality when it comes to political games and gamesmanship.
He did wrong wooing Manzoor Wassan and the Kot Diji crowd — he did wrong not only in doing what he did but more so in saying what he said. He had no business in fulminating and fuming against what passes for an opposition and he was certainly out of line when he boasted that the PPP, after the free and fair elections to come, would dominate all four provinces of the land. To say what he said about the Sharif brothers was not the stuff that should have been issued from the mouth of a head of state — but yes, from a political party leader of a Third World country, it would have been acceptable.
From a head of state, under a parliamentary system no matter how wonky, it was just unacceptable. Has President Zardari lost it? Was the frothing at the mouth of Kot Diji the start of an attempt to emulate and copy his late father-in-law’s tactics? If it was, it is not going to work. He may wave the Bhutto banner but he can never ever be another Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He should stick to his cool unflappable self, which he has managed with a few exceptions here and there for the past four years, ignoring all criticism and barbs flung at him, not retaliating in any manner, not getting his own back on anyone. He should remain the President Zardari who can outfox and outwit, keeping in mind the fact that he, under no circumstances, wishes to relinquish the precious immunity.
Free and fair elections — well, are they an option? Fakhruddin G Ebrahim notwithstanding, who will need all his wits about him if he is to do the job he has been entrusted with efficiently and in proper manner, few are convinced that with President Zardari at the helm and his need to dominate so as to preserve the immunity, free or fair will be the order of the day when it finally comes.
We have learnt last week that there are some 85 million people of the 180 million-plus who can cast their votes. Going by previous statistics, some 30 to 40 per cent of the registered voters actually vote and they are inured to voting according to the orders and enticements they receive from their powerful political masters.
For the National Assembly, 342 citizens will be voted in directly or put into reserved seats. The Punjab assembly has 371 seats up for grabs, direct and reserved. Sindh has 168 seats, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has 124 and Balochistan has 65. Sad to say, most of the representatives of the minority of the population, with a few exceptions, can be classified as leeches attached to the national exchequer.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 4th, 2012.
Reader Comments (22)
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“…few are convinced that with President Zardari at the helm… free or fair will be the order of the day when it finally comes.”
Any historical precedents to back up your opinions, madam? Do you have any facts, or some form of evidence that shows whether any tampering is planned? It is easy to find such evidence in the 1990, 1997, and 2002 elections, all of which were rigged against the PPP. In the 2002 election, the intelligence chief himself admitted to rigging against the PPP (see the link). So, madam, do you have any such evidence? I thought so…
Please, avoid such irresponsible journalism. There is no evidence whatsoever that any rigging is planned for the 2013 elections.
Reference: http://www.defence.pk/forums/strategic-geopolitical-issues/10061-man-who-rigged-2002-polls-spills-beans.html
Regards,
Rehan Recommend
In Pakistan unfortunately there is no limit of cynicism and hate mongering. Despite the author’s criticism of President Zardari’s speech in Sind it is a statement from a boy scout if you compare it with the no holds barred street slugfest going on between PML-N and PTI. However, these are a part of democracy and free speech and as we say if you cannot bear the heat get out of the kitchen. It was the right thing on the part of president to iron out the difference among various factions in Sind or Pakistan. We cannot take more divisions of any kind any more. Of course Pakistan is a third world country and a nascent democracy with a media which still believes in Santa Claus, Tooth Ferry and cars fueled by water.
Gen Mush, Gen Zia and Gen Ayub all were the army chief, president and head of their own King’s Party the former with the complete blessings of current PCO SC. Grabbing three posts was fine as long as they were in boots everybody was compliant and aided and abetted it. However, for an elected president it is the biggest crime which has no parallel in Pakistan.
If Gen Mush had bogus voter’s lists it was PPP’s fault. Now they are corrected to the satisfaction of PTI and justice Ibrahim still it would be the fault of PPP if voters do not fully participate. It is the first in the history of Pakistan that a CEC of opposition’s choice has been nominated. It would again be a first that an elected govt would appoint an interim setup for holding elections unanimously. This is being done to leave no reason for hate mongers to delegitimize the will of the people. If people do not see any benefit to vote they are not going to participate. I never voted in any elections myself knowing full well that no matter what my choice the final say would be of the deep state. As the elections come closer it is clear that the coalition govt would be back with a bigger majority, hence the background work has already started against democracy in Pakistan. One fails to see anything positive or any solution to the problems that people are facing.Recommend
@Rehan:
I agree with you 100%. Even before the election results the author is shouting wolf. The elections are always rigged against the PPP not by PPP. Even the army chief and ISI chief are tried for that in the SC for stealing the elections against PPP/BB.
Thanks and regards,
MirzaRecommend
Ms. Amina Jilani :
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President Zardari is following in the Footsteps of Mr. M. A. Jinnah who as Governor General of Pakistan i.e. HEAD OF STATE was also President of the Constituent Assembly as well as President of the Muslim League.
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Both the “ADDITIONAL” Post were “Political” in nature whereas the “Head of State” is supposed to be “APOLITICAL”.
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As such one cannot fault President Zardari as head of state for indulging in electioneering campaigns.
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Cheers
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@ Rehan, @ Mirza and @ Naresh….
I agree with you 100%
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PPP zindabad…….
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Amina Sahiba – I am beginning to admire you for being a warrior. As obvious from comments above, you are certainly hurting sentiments (or may be challenging wits) of Jiyalas ;)
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His holding of positions is not unconstitutional…Recommend
At one hand we are unceasingly reminded by the judges, journalists, lawyers, anchormen, PMLN, PTI and so on that Pakistani system is not like any other parliamentary system, the head of State does not enjoy immunity, Prime Minister should follow the orders of the Court be they blatantly in violation of Constitution since judiciary alone interprets it and call night a day and day a night, Parliament is not Supreme until that is
they stumble upon President Zardari being head of State and co-Chairman of PPP.
Double standards much?
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President Zardari — also party leader?
Better than – Also COAS, any given day of the week.
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The sad part if that even before you start reading this author, you know which way wind will go. But her points are valId. What I liked most was: Sad to say, most of the representatives of the minority of the population, with a few exceptions, can be classified as leeches attached to the national exchequer.
PERHAPS A WORD OR TWO ABOUT THE DISMAL STATUS OF WOMEN WOULD HAVE HELPED.
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Mirza,
” a media which still believes in Santa Claus, Tooth Ferry and cars fueled by water.”
Excellent lines.
Regards.
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Pakiatn is a Most corrupt nation. You can do anything here. That is why it a confirmed failed state. Not very too far in future there will no such thing called Pakistan judging from how they are bent upon self destruction.
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@Mirza … Jiyalas … PPP has lots of them … just like you … who “think” the are going to fool ordinary Pakistanis into voting for the PPP. The public is now very much aware of the political situation in the country, all thanks to the miserable failed performance of this PPP government.
Inshallah the PPP will be routed from the government once and forever this time. Long Live Pakistan.
few People like here are either paid or dont have sufficent grey matter to comprehend what has been going on throughout this PPP term.Recommend
zardari is head of the state. he should act accordingly. he should not run party campaigns. he must oversee state affairs. thats his duty. i respect PPP jayalas. do PPP jayala respespect themselves???? think. life has become miserable under the rule of PPP> no gas. no electricity. no job. no security. and still they win the by-elections. great
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@ Falcon: Haha, the author is hardly a warrior. Criticizing the one party in Pakistan, the PPP, that never persecutes anyone, nor fights back when vicious insults are hurled at it, isn’t exactly an example of bravery.
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@Falcon, I always agree with your comments:)
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@qaiser and still they win the by-elections
The election in Multan was anything but free and fair and we all know that! Ballot boxes had pictures of the Gilani on it.
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“Sad to say, most of the representatives of the minority of the population, with a few exceptions, can be classified as leeches attached to the national exchequer”. Leeches are better than were wolfs like Ayub, Yahya, Zia and Musharraf. Had it been for writers to select parliamentarian, they would have selected Hafiz Saeed, Dr. Javaid Iqbal, Maulan Ilays, Nizami etc.
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While it is certainly unethical and illegal for a head of state to also head a political party concurrently, this offense is not what makes the nation put their heads down in shame. What really puts our heads deep down in shame is the fact that an extremely inept party is ruling us ,and there are still some people to shamelessly defend the party’s President in the name of presidential immunity. These “PPP” Jiyalas also conveniently forget who was the Pakistan’s only civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator who also served another Field Martial for 7 years. These guys apparently sob for democracy, but do not object the inheritance of the party through a will. They also have no problem when an adolescent is made the chairperson of the party 10 years in advance by a person who himself inherited party leadership.Recommend
@Lala Gee:
It might unethical but it is NOT illegal. Read the Constitution and the verdict of Lahore High Court on the matter.
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The enemies of democracy can’t tolerate 1070 persons in assemblies of the country but can afford, even in the hereafter, almost 4 million serving, retired and late persons from defense apparatus and equal numbers of persons as peons to federal secretaries of past and present. Let the tax payers of this country decide why, whom and how to pay their hard earned money through democracy.
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