Onward, after the elections

May the new governments complete their tenures so that they have enough time to implement their manifestos.

I am much gratified, and grateful to the Almighty that He has given our leaders the wisdom to ensure that the last government completes its tenure despite Herculean efforts by the duo of Shiekh Rashid aka Sheeda Tulli and Imran Khan, now (surprise!) partners in politics, sharing votes and seats and so on.

If Imran railed for the immediate dismissal of the whole blessed shoot: presidency, parliament and all for being the outcome of the NRO (about which I have written reams even naming those who today sit in positions of unquestioned authority who would not have been where they are if not for the NRO!); Master Tulli kept warning us of the “Biggal” (bugle, in English) that was about to blow from the Rawalpindi side of things.

As luck and foolishness and ineptness would have it, our brass-hats had their hands full with the antics of the demons of their own making: the jihadis who were/are going about wreaking havoc in the country; and the Osama Bin Ladens who kept getting shot/caught/rendered, in/from, their not-so-well-hidden lairs.

More than all else, and even after the PPP went back on its many promises to restore the superior judiciary, thus embarrassing now prime minister-elect Nawaz Sharif repeatedly, the astute politician and good man that he is, he stood firmly against all advice to make moves towards destabilising the federal government, even after the success of the Long March that restored the superior judiciary.

Many were the times that among 30 or 40 journos and columnists, mine was the only voice imploring, even begging Mr Sharif not to listen to those wanting confrontation because if that government did not complete its term, neither would the next, and so on and on we would go as heretofore, spiralling ever further into the political abyss cheered on by an ecstatic Deep State and its toadies, the Paknationalist types.

“If this government is as bad as these people are suggesting,” I said, “Let the voters throw it out, but let there be a start where one elected government hands over to another without the jackboot!” Well, thank heavens a tradition has been started at least, and after elections, which were largely fair, new governments are set to take over in the provinces and at the centre. May they, too, complete their tenures so that they have enough time to implement their manifestoes and show the people that they are deserving of their votes the next time around, too.

I must also felicitate Mr Nawaz Sharif for visiting Mr Imran Khan in hospital to let bygones be bygones and for saying that it was the PTI’s perfect right to form a government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa since it was the majority party in the province. I am not surprised, though, that Mr Khan’s trolls on the social media, surely overseen by his handlers, gave more importance to Mr Khan’s acquiescing to meet Mr Sharif than the latter’s visiting Mr Khan. I ask you.

This arrogance, coupled with their extreme rudeness and crassness: abusing the PTI’s detractors and their families (some imagined) in the vilest language, only leads me to believe that these young folk are completely foreign to this country’s social mores and traditions. In our way of life, even enemies are treated as honoured guests once under our roof: you don’t congratulate yourself for allowing him in.

In any event, and as we well know, it was always Imran Khan who aimed abuse at Mr Sharif , who did not even answer any of it, except to say he was not willing to debate anything at all with a rude and uncivilised person. It is high time that the PTI and its trolls, most of all its Kaptaan, learnt that abusing other people only turns them against you and makes you look like an ill-bred Yahoo. He must know, too, that in a cult-like situation, it is the leader who most leads his flock astray.

This is important for the PTI because it has proved that it is not an insignificant player in Pakistan’s politics. Getting enough seats to make a (hopefully) stable government in the important province of K-P, and 30-odd seats competing with the PPP in the National Assembly, is no mean feat. It should, therefore, grow up fast, eschew self-indulgent behaviour and do well enough in government to become a credible force in the 2018 elections.

And now, appreciation for President Asif Ali Zardari for soldiering on in the presidency despite the slings and arrows aimed at him from all sides. He needs to be appreciated greatly for relinquishing those powers arrogated to themselves by dictators by which they could dismiss elected governments at the drop of a hat and for devolving many powers to the provinces so that they can better run their affairs themselves.

It is great to see, too, that the prime minister-elect and the president had a pleasant meeting on the sidelines of the luncheon hosted by the president for the Chinese premier. And to see that Nawaz Sharif still has regard for the Charter of Democracy signed between him and the late and much-lamented Benazir Bhutto. Here’s hoping that not only these two political parties, but others, including the PTI, work together for the good of this, our country.

A report in this newspaper of record of April 3, 2013 states: “The country’s top antitrust watchdog has slapped a maximum collective penalty of Rs8.6 billion on Fauji Fertilizer and Engro Fertilizers — the two largest urea manufacturers in the country — after both entities were found involved in the ‘excessive’ pricing of urea.

“‘Given the nature of [the] crime, the CCP has decided to impose the maximum penalty of 10 per cent of the turnover on each company for unreasonable, unjustified and unfair increase in prices of urea in 2010,’ the CCP chairperson said both companies had raised the price of urea from Rs850 per 50kg bag to Rs1,580 in 2010 — an 86 per cent increase — without proper justification.

“The bench felt restrained [in] that it could not impose a fine of more than 10 per cent of turnover’, she added.”

Er, since Asad Umar, another  “leader” of the PTI was head of Engro then, would he care to comment please?

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2013.