Daily Times

Not one puts Asif Ali Zardari in the corner. Especially not when democracy is on the line, vengeful or otherwise. Or, rather, not when elections are on the horizon. Thus it was only a matter of time before the former President — the only politician Pakistan has who knows the true value of democracy (his words not ours) — waded into the media spectacle that the Joint Investigation Team has become.

In an apparent bid to lend support to the judicial process, the former PPP Co-chairperson quipped about how the JIT represents the first time that Prime Minister Nawaz and the rest of the Sharif clan have been forced to swallow — not spit — the bitter pill of accountability. Like, ever. This was meant as a contrast to the ‘suffering’ that he and the Bhuttos had endured throughout. Yet there is a certain irony to the whole shebang, however superficial that may be. Which is seemingly lost on the former President.

Team Nawaz is already putting in place its spin to rewrite history, pontificating the fact that the Prime Minister has willingly bowed down to the supremacy of the courts. Much like the Musharraf gang did when the former enemy combatant returned to contest the last general elections, knowing full well he would be hauled before the legal system whose independence he had once tried so very hard to unravel. It matters not how cosmetic these manoeuvres are or how loudly they play to the cheap seats. For it boils down to this: image counts and everything counts in large amounts.

We must not mistake Zardari’s grandstanding for anything but political expediency that may or may not be dangerous to the long-term democratic health of Pakistan. Especially considering that the JIT process has been hit hard by political statements across all divides. Thus even speaking up in its support renders null and void the non-interference proviso that might just have avoided the probe itself from becoming nothing more than a circus trial by media big tents.

We therefore have no option but to question the PPP co-Chairman’s (as well as other opposition leaders) attempts to gain political mileage from the investigation of a sitting Prime Minister. Though of course Nawaz should have done the decent thing and stepped down until the end of proceedings. If Zardari is serious about the PPP sweeping next year’s elections he would do far better to focus on fixing his party, and suggesting an agenda for the real empowerment for women. And by this we don’t mean the usual sloganeering in Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s name. Ditto when it comes to only pinpointing the “anti-women brigade created by dictators” under the false banner of religion. For this ignores the role of feudal-tribal practices in the subjugation of Pakistan’s women; a culture that the PPP has done very little to eradicate from its stronghold in Sindh.

We call on Mr Zardari to keep calm and carry on. And leave the rest to the electorate. *

Published in Daily Times, July 1^st , 2017.