Daily Times

It’s heartening that the DAWN Leaks stalemate — obviously blown out of proportion from the day one — is now settled. However, the entire episode offers several lessons for political parties and their leadership — particularly for the Pakistan People’s Party that so proudly lays claim to its democratic credentials. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had exercised its rightful powers when it issued a notification approving inquiry committee’s recommendations. If anything was missing in the notification, the relevant quarters should have communicated concerns privately, rather than through the social media.

The crisis was further fanned by opposition political parties and sections of the media who had held grudge against the government. Much to the surprise of those who admire the PPP’s struggle and commitment for democracy, its parliamentary leader, Syed Khursheed Shah, who’s also the Opposition Leader of the House, openly supported the ISPR’s restive reaction on social media. It was a jaw dropping scene when the Opposition Leader from a party that democratically governed Pakistan four times with an utmost yen for civilian supremacy conveniently ignored the act of outright insubordination to an elected PM just for political expedience.

As sanity prevailed and the government and military leadership agreed to bury the hatchet over the DAWN Leaks report without any further bickering, it’s the PPP and its leadership which stood at a loss. Had the PPP adopted a principled stance and condemned the ISPR’s insubordination in public, it would certainly have gained respect. But that would have required it to rise above petty politicking and to suppress the urge to side with the establishment. In the end it lost on both fronts.

As this latest episode has literally reminded us of the suicidal politics of 1990s, it’s important to recall and learn from just one event from that period. On the chilly morning of January 8, 1993, the media had flashed the news of sudden death of General Asif Nawaz Janjua, the then Chief of Army Staff. His death had not preceded any personal ailment, so it was a shocking development. President Ishaq Khan — with exceptional powers under eighth amendment of the Constitution — instantly appointed General Abdul Waheed Kakar as the new COAS. Much to the personal chagrin of the then Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif — the President appointed the new COAS even without a slight consultation with him. During all this, Asif Janjua’s bereaved family raised suspicions over the circumstances surrounding his sudden death; his wife even claimed he was poisoned. Rumour mongering and conspiracy theories led to a point where Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was openly accused of involvement in Janjua’s demise.

As the prime minister was already in a tight spot as since he had not been consulted on appointment of new COAS, these allegations would have added to his troubles. He responded by promptly formulating an inquiry commission to probe the cause of general’s death. Before the commission could come up with its findings, the then Opposition Leader, Benazir Bhutto, also joined that the conspiracy bandwagon and asked the president to dismiss the government using the very same powers that she had previously criticised. Ms. Bhutto held that the mystery of general’s death could not be resolved while Mr Sharif was at the helm. Although it later turned out that the general had died of heart attack, the political hullabaloo surrounding his death was successful in driving a wedge between President Ishaq and the prime minister, leading to the dismissal of the latter’s government in April 1993 — within three months of general’s death. Eventually, however, both Mr Sharif and President Ishaq Khan were made to resign following the former’s lawsuit against the latter in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Though Ms. Bhutto succeeded in coming back to power through 1993 elections, she could hardly get any strength out of that successful agitation which was so devoid of any democratic principle. We then saw the second term of Ms Bhutto being cut short by a president from her own party. The most immediate cause of her government’s dismissal was the killing of her brother, Murtaza Bhutto, in an encounter with the police which, her opponents accused, was done at the behest of her husband, Asif Ali Zardari. Benazir’s government was dissolved within one-and-a-half month of Murtaza’s death — though years later the court acquitted Mr Zardari from the charge.

Like the asinine opportunism of 1990s didn’t serve any good — the same attitude won’t serve the PPP and the political dispensation as a whole now. In future, before devising any stance on critical issues such as the principle of civilian supremacy, the PPP needs to attentively listen more often than not to the likes of Farhatullah Babar and Raza Rabbani.

The Writer is a sociologist with interest in history and politics. He’s accessible on twitter @Zulfirao1