For over a week now, since President Zardari left suddenly for medical attention abroad after suffering a transient ischemic attack, there have been rumours that he would not return, that he would use his health issues to escape to safety and that he was anxious to evade any persecution under the NRO or the other crises in the country, including the one generated by ‘memogate’. Evening after evening, TV anchors have been fixated on this scenario. President Zardari’s calm return to Bilawal House proves all their dire predications wrong and should also dampen the wave of uncertainty and speculation that had risen chiefly as a result of reams of conjecture and a plethora of speculative press stories.
These should fade away even further once the president starts holding the series of meetings scheduled over the coming days and business gets back to normal.
The events we have seen over the past days tell us a great deal about how quickly stories of all kinds can be built. They should never have been believed. We know for a fact that President Zardari is a fighter — unwilling to give up even when pinned to the ropes. He has, after all, spent over a decade in jail and hardly seems likely to chicken out of things too quickly. No matter how much derision he has faced, President Zardari — like the other leaders of his party — cannot be faulted for a lack of courage.
Now that he has squashed the ceaseless speculation, the president’s next task will be to take command of the reins of a shaky state. It is true much needs to be hauled into line, but this will be easier to achieve with him back on the scene and evidently determined to bring some order to the situation as quickly as possible, by resuming the task of decision-making at a moment when much planning is needed.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 20th, 2011.
COMMENTS (6)
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Welcome Back Mr. President!!
I am no fan of the president, but his return is welcome as it removes rumours of unstability in our country which can only be a good thing for Pakistan.
Bravo Zardari.
Let us face it, Zardari is no angle. Nor is he a bigger devil who has been so much demonized. What is also true is that he has out-classed, out-maneuvered and out-mastered his rivals and beaten them in their own game. In preparation for Senate and general elections, gloves are off. Zardari will get re-elected but PPP may not be able to maintain its thin majority in NA.
Zardari is proving to be too smart for the current lot of politicians and establishment. And now they know that they can’t take him out through ‘fair means’. Hope the next desperate attempt is not ‘something to be attributed’ to Talibans. At times, I wonder had he been allowed, he might have done something good for the country. Mind you, I am no fan of PPP or Zardari. But the way, he has been tackling the challenges by the so called 'pillars of powers' in Pakistan is simply mind blowing. He has enough money and lately power also, the next step in this scenario is to 'write history to become immortal', which is another obsession for these kind of people. Surely, he has the guts, and the required 'political slyness’ to take Pakistan out of the current mess. Looking at the other available lot, he seems to be the best choice. It is not easy for me to say this, being always opposed to PPP. Wish, he could do this... Just think about it and please think out of the box.