Opposition
disarray, government’s challenges
Rashed Rahman
One month after
the July 25, 2018 elections, the process of governments’ formation, cabinet
postings, etc, is still playing out. Above this fray, the election for president
looms, having exposed the rifts within the opposition Alliance for Free and
Fair Elections (AFFE), formed just weeks ago after the controversy surrounding the
July 25 polls. That controversy appears to be petering out as a result of a
fractured AFFE unable to mount a serious challenge to the outcome of the
elections, either inside parliament or on the street. Even the Senate committee
headed by Rehman Malik has been left bleating for an independent inquiry into
the collapse of the much vaunted Results Transmission System (RTS) on the
evening of the polls while the results were being collated.
Unable to agree
on a joint candidate for president, the opposition has decided to field two
against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s (PTI’s) Dr Arif Alvi. The PPP
insists on naming Aitzaz Ahsan despite efforts to persuade the party to pick
someone more acceptable to the PML-N. Reports speak of PPP Co-chairperson Asif
Zardari throwing a spanner in the works by refusing to withdraw Aitzaz’s name
or replace him with someone else. Unkind reports even suggest Asif Zardari is
taking a hostile posture towards the PML-N because of ‘pressure’ on him from
the powers-that-be who have dangled the sword of accountability over his and
sister Faryal Talpur’s heads. Despairing of persuading the PPP despite their
best efforts, the rest of the AFFE parties have put up Maulana Fazlur Rehman,
perhaps in a belated effort to compensate him for being ousted from his home
National Assembly constituency in Dera Ismail Khan. On the basis of the
strengths of the two (or three) sides in the president’s electoral college
consisting of the houses of parliament and
the provincial Assemblies, the Maulana may face ignominy once again (in
company with Aitzaz).
The confusion,
u-turns and contradictory
statements and stances flowing from the PTI regarding
cabinet and gubernatorial posts (the
latest being the on-again-off-again nomination of Dr Ameer Mohammad Khan
Jogezai as Balochistan Governor) indicate the absence of, and the critical need
for, parties while in opposition to form shadow cabinets as is done in most
mature democracies. The members of such shadow cabinets become or already are experts
in the field assigned to them. This obviates
delays after elections in forming
governments, assigning cabinet portfolios, and
getting on with the business of governance, which brooks no delay.
The
cabinets formed so far by the PTI at the
Centre, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab (the last in process while these lines
are being written) seem heavily loaded in favour of members of the Pervez
Musharraf regime or its King’s Party, the PML-Q. This indicates a continuity
from the time in the early 2000s when Imran Khan was seeking the beneficence of
the military dictator to become prime minister with just one seat in the 2002 elections.
The more things ‘change’, the more they remain the same (French proverb).
The PTI’s
austerity drive and abolishing VIP privileges (such as the latest decision to
do away with such privileges at airports) are populist, popular measures that
will take the government so far and no further. Then the weight of expectations
from a government promising change will kick in. To satisfy these aspirations
will require more substance than merely superficial but popular moves.
The PTI
government’s gaffes during the first few days in office are piling up. First
and foremost came the foreign policy instances of a comedy of errors. Indian Prime
Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s congratulatory phone call to PM Imran Khan was
read by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi as an invitation to talks, an
interpretation roundly scotched by New Delhi. US Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo’s similar purpose call to our PM generated a spat on what was and was
not said (vis-à-vis terrorists operating on Pakistan’s soil). There is confusion
whether PM Imran Khan will take the opportunity to interact with world leaders
by attending (and addressing) the UN General Assembly session in September,
given that the PM has vowed not to undertake any foreign tours for at least
three months. Austerity is good, but the business of advocating the state’s
interests on a global stage must take priority, rationally.
The government
will have to take note of the sudden incremental rise in street crime in
Karachi, Lahore and other cities in the wake of the elections. This phenomenon
could be hardened criminals taking advantage of the ‘gap’ between the caretaker
governments’ departure and the new administrations kicking in. Or it could be
desperate unemployed youth resorting to such means to overcome hunger and
deprivation. Of course it could also be a combination of both. While unemployment,
hunger and deprivation can only be improved over time, hardened criminals do
have to be brought to book. Unfortunately, the increasing ‘militarisation’ of
our police forces has rendered them trigger-happy to the point almost of posing
an existential threat to innocent citizens caught in the crossfire between the
police and criminals in crowded venues. And of course the long standing problem
of deaths in police ‘encounters’ (read extra-legal executions) remains
unresolved in the absence of any meaningful checks on a police freed from
control by Musharraf’s Plato (General Naqvi) since 2002.
Shireen Mazari’s
choice as federal Human Rights Minister has surprised most people, not just the
human rights advocacy community. One could search far and long for any
statement or action by her during her (by now) long career in politics on
issues of this nature. It is good however, that one of her first acts after
assuming office was to take notice of the mistreatment of a young woman by the
staff of a Darul Aman. But don’t hold your breath that the honourable minister
will also address the latest attack on a place of worship of our Ahmedi
citizens in the Ghaseet Pura area of Faisalabad. No doubt she would prefer to
steer clear of this hot potato, based on what the previous PML-N government had
to suffer at the hands of the Tehreek-e-Labaiq Pakistan. Human rights are
indivisible however. The sooner Ms Mazari learns this prickly but essential
truth the better. Or the option of some other portfolio awaits.
The diverse
constituents of any political party mask the core interests it represents. These
core interests can only be understood if a class analysis of the political party
in question is conducted. In the case of the three political parties that now
constitute what is being dubbed our three-party system, they represent discrete
class interests. The PPP has been reduced to the party of the feudal landowners
(called Waderas in Sindh, where it
now stands virtually confined). The PML-N has never hidden the constituency of
traders, businessmen and industrial capitalists whose interests it promotes
over all else. The new kid on the block, the PTI, has given voice, agency and
power to the rising urban middle class in our society. All three can now be
rightly described as right wing. This three-cornered class struggle is likely
to determine our foreseeable future in the absence so far of a credible and
effective Left alternative that can pitch the interests of the working masses
to a wider audience.
rashed-rahman.blogspot.com
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