Pray, tell me, why does the president have to be a politician from a political party.
RAWALPINDI: Greetings to president-elect Syed Mamnoon Hussain, and may he have the necessary moral courage and wisdom to always act in the best interest of Pakistan. Though the process of the election was absolutely fair and transparent and the boycott of the opposition led by the PPP was only an excuse for their face saving, the matter was made somewhat controversial.
What I feel is that if the president has to be totally neutral and a singular symbol of the unity of the federation, then why must he be a politician only belonging to some particular party? See how various political parties act and behave to field their own candidates and then try all sorts of manoeuvring to get him elected? A politician, howsoever he might try — be it by resigning his party membership, disassociating from the party that he once belonged to and so on — simply cannot in the heart of his hearts not have a soft corner for the party that got him elected to the high office.
Why can’t the political parties nominate non-political men of repute like judges, academics, eminent scientists, capable bureaucrats, successful business entrepreneurs and even, if it doesn’t give them cramps in their stomachs, retired generals, admirals and air marshals?
After all, the Kings and the Queens of England have not been fools to appoint many a viceroy and governor-general from the armed forces in the Commonwealth countries stretching from Canada to Australia. Pray, tell me, why does the president have to be a politician from a political party unless it wants to use him in one way or the way for its own gain and game?
What are they afraid of with a strictly neutral, impartial, honest and capable president?
Colonel (retd) Riaz Jafri
Published in The Express Tribune, August 4th, 2013.
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