Daily Times

Nawaz’s ouster has, quite strangely, provided Pakistan with a rare opportunity to experiment with parliamentary democracy. Already the new PM — one not from the born-to-rule clique — has settled comfortably in his new position, even though nobody, not even he, really knows if it’s for a few days or a few months. Yet he’s started taking important decisions, seemingly on his own. That is so because he’s moving on issues that Nawaz chose to brush under the carpet. Take FATA reforms, for example. Surely the former PM wouldn’t be too happy over the present PM asking for the file, probably to make some important decisions. No points for guessing how that would have rubbed not just Nawaz, but also important ‘partners’ like Fazlur Rahman, etc, whose support he’s going to need as he builds his assault on the judiciary.

But to really take stock of the new PM and how he’s carving his way forward, it’s instructive to look at his cabinet. Of course he’d have had to accommodate the usual crowd. The Sharifs had promised great gifts to their most loyal loudmouths. So it’s no surprise to see Daniyal Aziz and Talal Ch in the team, even though it is surprising that Ch now sits in the interior ministry and Aziz has been catapulted to the position of full federal minister.

Keeping Saad Rafique at the Railways ministry was also a smart choice. People have been disagreeing with Khwaja sb’s politics since his university days, but few can deny the turn-around he’s engineered at the railways. Maybe sending Ahsan Iqbal over to the interior was not the smartest move. His portfolio is better suited to planning, and he’s deeply invested in CPEC. Probably Abbasi needed someone of stature to offset Talal, and Wharton grads are known to get things done. So, good luck with interior, even though a better decision could have been made. Pretty much the same can be said about the other Khwaja now at the foreign ministry. Yes, we needed a foreign minister, quite desperately, since before Nawaz decided not to have one. But Asif makes for strange optics, unless the cleavage with the boots has really been overcome, and both sides want to make a public show of it. Anyhow, better a foreign minister than no foreign minister, especially since neighbours to the east and west are at daggers drawn, Uncle Sam is on the verge of ditching, and sanctioning, us once again, and we are in need of immediate, consistent diplomacy.

Our official information machinery boasts all the decay and degeneration that typifies third world government machinery. First it was deliberately designed to propagate an unhealthy status quo. Then, for years, it was left to rot. Finally, it couldn’t be made better despite effort

But by far the most sensible decision seems keeping Maryam Aurangzeb in the information ministry. PML-N has not been known for keeping the right guy there since Mushahid Hussein back in the day. Maryam has brought both eloquence and sense to the position. Finally the old guard seems to have realised the importance of real time information in the age of the information superhighway and social media. Also, while other prominent party spokesmen are not exactly known for their fine sense, sensibility or subtlety, Maryam is measured, and presents more tangible facts than the empty, useless rhetoric of her colleagues, even the more senior ones.

Western democracies realised the importance of information while we were still slaving for them or just learning to stand on our feet. Hitler built his infamous Thousand Year Reich around Goebbel’s propaganda ministry, convincing an overwhelming majority of Germans of the alleged purity and righteousness of Nazi Party philosophy. De Gaulle pulled off the controversial and explosive pullout from Algeria by first bombarding France with the right kind of information in the right way. Now, the Americans employ their savage media, which has penetrated homes and minds in every corner of the globe, to make the world fall in line behind its often overbearing narrative.

Media, especially electronic, has developed like a wild flower in our neck of the woods. True, the private sector is among the freest in the world, far freer, in fact, than its western counterpart. But the reason is more corporate interest than government red tape, etc. Our official information machinery, on the other hand, boasts all the decay and degeneration that typifies third world government machinery. First it was deliberately designed to propagate an unhealthy status quo. Then, for years, it was left to rot. Then it couldn’t be made better despite effort.

Now, suddenly, Maryam Aurangzeb has breathed fresh life into it. And she’ll prove far more important to the new PM than the old one. Just as he’s making his mark, and moving his pieces across the board, the former PM is trying to rock the boat, because he’s angry at the judiciary, and is openly inviting a confrontation among institutions. Maryam will be crucial in keeping the nation’s eye on the ball. She’ll have to separate the grain from the chaff, and point out why and how PML-N, under the new cabinet, is making non controversial progress while at the same time try and make sense of Nawaz’s antics.

Her ministry, in the short time that Shahid Khaqan has, will be the government’s pivot more than any other. Her greatest test, therefore, lies immediately ahead of her. Hopefully she’s learnt enough in the short time she’s been on the job to make her own mark and settle the government as well.

The writer is the Managing Editor Daily Times, tweets @yourafiq and can be reached at yourafiq@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, August 30^th 2017.