Power play: Political backroom dealings dictating Pakistani politics?

Role of establishment prominent in cables; Nawaz not taken into confidence over various CJ ‘solutions’.

ISLAMABAD:

The new tranche of US State Department cables released by WikiLeaks – which are being published by Dawn, the Hindu and NDTV – provide yet another look into the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring that dictates Pakistani politics and policies.

The new cables show the power-wrangling in Punjab and highlight the role played by key leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q). In 2009, the PML-Q was being wooed by both the PPP and the PML-N and the cables are replete with anecdotes of the role of the ‘establishment’ (which the cables define as a local euphemism for the military and intelligence services) and the concessions offered by all three sides.

The details of how these meetings took place are of note – one face-to-face meeting between Nawaz Sharif and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was held in Abu Dhabi in January 2009, arranged through “mutual Saudi friends.” At a briefing for foreign diplomats in March 2009, Farooq H Naek (then law minister, now Senate chairperson) and then-Information Minister Sherry Rehman spoke about the political crisis over the disqualification of Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif. Rehman asked international missions to urge the Sharifs to restrain their party workers and Naek and Rehman explained the PPP’s issues. However, a cable notes, that “the questions from the diplomats revealed a lack of sympathy for the PPP’s plight.  Several Arab ambassadors, in particular, challenged the PPP’s power play that necessitated the disqualification of both Sharif brothers. Naek barely could keep a straight face when he replied with ‘judicial independence’ as the real culprit of this political crisis”

The role of the ‘establishment’ is prominent in the cables. While politicians from the PPP and PML-N told US officials that the establishment was attempting to “undermine the civilian government” and that they had been “approached by senior military officers, who requested that they consider supporting a national government similar to the Bangladesh model”.

PML-Q’s Humayun Akhtar Khan said the PML-Q was told by the establishment to avoid involvement in the PPP - PML-N fight as “additional alternatives might emerge.”

While Shahbaz Sharif expected that Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani would not intervene in politics, Kayani reportedly asked the US to deal with the fallout of the disqualification verdict. According to a March 7, 2009 consulate cable “Kayani and several political parties appealed to the US to intervene.  Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain indicated to Ambassador he would align with Zardari if we would guarantee he became leader of the Senate (next in line to the President); Shahbaz Sharif told Principal Officer Lahore the PML-N would need a guarantor for any reconciliation with Zardari; the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) wanted US reassurance we still supported Zardari but also was concerned that MQM would be damaged by its association with him.”

As far as the highly contentious issue of Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry’s restoration is concerned, the revelation that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif believed that after restoration he could be removed, also highlights the differences between Shahbaz and party chief Nawaz Sharif. As the US consulate also assessed, “Post believes that Shahbaz has not discussed his various ‘solutions’ in detail with his elder brother Nawaz Sharif, who will ultimately have to acquiesce to any final deal.”

Shahbaz Sharif also told US officials in 2009 that the international community should help the government solve the power crisis soon. Two years later, Sharif has declared that foreign aid will not be accepted and memorandums of understanding were cancelled this week.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2011.