After five years as president, Mr Asif Ali Zardari is
bidding adieu to the Presidency and is leaving rather large shoes to fill for all the right and some wrong reasons. A controversial persona since before and after he was sworn in as the 11th President of Pakistan, the PPP leader has been in the news on and off, has frequently surprised critics with his keen sense for political manoeuvring, and has given enough fodder for naysayers to continue with their glib remarks. However, he has left a legacy that deserves reflection, praise, scepticism, and a fair amount of credit. Most recently, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, one of Zardari’s most ardent opponents in the political arena, hosted a reception for the outgoing president as a gesture of good faith and appreciation. In return, Mr Zardari promised that the PPP would not indulge in any politicking during the PML-N’s five-year term and would extend all support to Mr Sharif’s government. Such statements and sentiments go a long way in a country that has known mostly dictatorships and political squabbling since its inception. That both politicians played a ‘civil’ game goes to the credit and maturity of the political process in the last five years.
President Zardari’s time in office was marked by pros and cons. After the assassination of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto, it seemed as though Sindh would go up in flames and take the country with it. Sindhis took to the streets chanting “Pakistan na khappay” (Pakistan will not survive) but Zardari stepped in and turned the slogan round to “Pakistan khappay”, which may have helped to dampen the anger reverberating in PPP’s Sindh stronghold. Zardari held the federation together at that critical juncture. He is the first president in the history of Pakistan’s power grabbing political culture who actually gave back to parliament, through the 18th Amendment, the powers amassed to the Presidency during Musharraf’s tenure. He followed his late wife’s philosophy to the core by adhering to the politics of reconciliation, allowing critics and the opposition to have their say no matter what the occasion or however bitter the tone, without retaliating. The five years of the PPP’s tenure yielded not even one political prisoner. Needless to say, this were firsts in our history as well. Because Zardari followed the idea of reconciliation, Nawaz Sharif in the opposition also practiced restraint despite war cries from his own party’s hardliners.
However, Zardari was also dogged by controversy from beginning to end. First came the petitions against him for holding dual office as co-chairperson of the largest party and president. The Supreme Court (SC) opened a nasty can of worms when it struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance, thereby resuscitating the Swiss cases against the president, dismissing one PPP prime minister (Gilani) and threatening to do the same to his successor (Ashraf). When the PPP went ahead and finally wrote the infamous letter to the Swiss judicial authorities, the SC’s insistence proved infructuous as the Swiss replied that it was a time-barred case that could only be reopened if new substantive evidence were available. The Swiss also pointed out that under Pakistani and international law, the president enjoyed immunity while in office. It remains to be seen if the Swiss cases continue to haunt Mr Zardari after leaving office. Alleged corruption, cronyism and incompetence marred the PPP’s rule. Zardari stands accused of appointing his favourites at the cost of the country’s governance. The Rental Power Projects, a short-term solution, were struck down by the SC for alleged shady deals (unproved so far). Due to this, the whole short, medium and long term plan for meeting the electricity deficit was thrown out the window. This turned many potential foreign (and even domestic) investors against Pakistan as a destination, further digging a hole in our economy. Above all else, nothing explains the electoral debacle of the PPP in 2013 (especially in Punjab) better than the fact that the jiyalas (committed workers) who are the mainstay of the PPP, were marginalised over the last five years. The leadership was inaccessible and the PPP party workers became incrementally demoralised. Zardari is now talking of the PPP consolidating itself once again in Punjab, but unless the party overcomes cronyism, it may find it hard to revive itself in the foreseeable future or even survive in the long run. The PPP was unable to deal with the calamity of the floods we have been witnessing for three years now, with affectees piling up every year. These are not small misgivings and have all worked to turn the tide against the PPP. While the smooth transition of one democratically elected government that completed its tenure to another marks a high point in Zardari’s leadership, his party has now plenty of work to do. *