Unfortunately, stop-gap arrangements in Pakistan’s political system and meddling of military in politics didn’t let the political process take its due course
As Pakistan prepares to celebrate its 70th Independence Day, the Pakistan People’s Party is gearing up to commemorate its 50th foundation day.
In their lifetimes, Pakistan as well as the PPP have gone through many ebbs and flows. Parallels can be drawn between the two as Pakistan’s first prime minister was assassinated in Rawalpindi. The same city saw the judicial murder of PPP’s first elected prime minister. Since Pakistan’s inception, the country has been striving to have a political process free of foreign supremacy. More often than not, these efforts failed because of poor civil-military relations which paved the way for dictatorship that ruined the evolving political process. This didn’t only hamper progress of Pakistan but also left the political process bankrupt.
For years, there didn’t exist any institution in Pakistan, which could be trusted for impartiality, merit, and independence. Even personnel associated with one of the strongest institutions in the country have also faced charges of corruption. Concerns have also been raised by transparency in the process of appointment of the Army Chief since the premier’s discretionary power matters than merit in this selection.
Institutions like the judiciary too have been paralysed because of lack of political will towards necessary reforms needed to strengthen the legal system. Political will comes from a political system, and since Pakistan’s inception our political system has been striving to stand on its two feet, and this has resulted in chaos and disorder in Pakistan. The PPP has been a major victim of such events.
Since its formation, the party has faced senseless persecution and inhuman treatment meted out in equal measure to its leaders and workers. Its prime ministers have had a history of being removed from office either by direct military intervention or a soft coup.
Very recently, a debate has emerged claiming that former president, Asif Ali Zardari, was involved in issuing visas to CIA agents, though no one raising such allegations has ever produced any credible evidence. Earlier, his party was accused of issuing visas to the Indians, through Pakistani embassy in the UAE. No credible evidence was produced by anyone in support of those claims either.
And since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s murder, the PPP leadership has been subjected to several baseless accusations. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was declared a traitor by those who matter in Pakistan, and Benazir Bhutto a security threat. Now, Asif Ali Zardari has been accused of being a US agent.
Isn’t it unfair to raise such accusations against the leadership of a party that had laid the foundations of our nuclear programme, brought the missile system to Pakistan, is known for its principled views in support of the Kashmir cause, took the lead by handing over development of the Gwadar port to China, halted transportation of US supplies to Afghanistan after the Salala incident, went an extra mile in setting aside US reservations regarding Pakistan’s gas pipeline project, and, last but not the least, faced persecution at the hands of the military junta but never talked about revenge.
Whenever asked about the military’s biased attitude, PPP’s leaders, including Asif Ali Zardari, responded that such issues were common to transitional democracies. They said military comprises are own people, and sooner or later, it will realise that it’s the rule of law that strengthens a state, rather than the rule of martial law.
The questions that need answers are: when party and the military establishment share so much common ground, then why does the latter continue to be reluctant to accept the PPP, and why certain elements associated with the state’s soft power, including media, are used to maligning the PPP? Why is Zardari being targeted through arrests of his close aides and through willful campaigns against his party? Why did Gen (retd) Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani want to oust the former president through the Memo gate conspiracy? And when this could not be achieved, they targeted the then prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gillani, because he was a major obstacle in continuing anti-democratic traditions left behind by Pervez Musharraf.
Military establishment must come out of the mindset that they are the only patriotic sons of this soil, and together we are a solution. PPP might have flaws but accusing its leadership of promoting vested interests in Pakistan will never help anyone because a 50-years old institution is an asset, and dismantling such assets usually results in what happened in Balochistan after the assassination of Akbar Bugti.
PPP should also derive lessons from the past, and look to the future. The same is expected from the military establishment. The politics of our region is changing every day, and we can’t afford to live in chaos, the world demands us to stand on our own two feet, rather than waiting for miracle to happen.
Civilian supremacy is the only way out for the country and this principle should be respected and accepted. A strong defence is vital for the country’s survival, but no one should be above the law.
The author is a freelance contributor. He tweets @ZameerAMalik