Daily Times Editorial Jan 13, 2013

Qadri’s stubbornness Some developments regarding Maulana Tahirul Qadri’s long march on Islamabad scheduled for January 14 indicate the confused state of affairs confronting the country. First and foremost, less than 24 hours after MQM chief Altaf Hussain vowed in his address to participate in the long march, the MQM has announced its withdrawal, papering over the turnabout by saying it still extends its moral support to Qadri’s agenda of reform. Speculations surround the question of the quid pro quo the MQM may have received from the PPP, given that the announcement came soon after the MQM leadership met President Asif Ali Zardari and other coalition allies in Karachi. Despite the loss of his most avid supporter to date, Qadri insists on carrying on with the long march. Government emissaries in the shape of the PML-Q’s Chaudhry brothers have been trying to persuade Qadri to call off his march on the assurance that reforms would be instituted, while pointing to the difficulty of some of his desired reforms needing constitutional amendments through a two-thirds majority in parliament. This is unlikely in the increasingly shrinking time and space left for this dispensation before elections overtake us. Qadri is looking more and more like a pulpit bully who refuses to see the wood for the trees. His so-called “Awami FIR” against the top leaders on the government and opposition side is an exercise in absurdity, given that none of the worthies named control the terrorists from whose direction a threat is perceived to the long march participants. Interior Minister Rehman Malik too has failed to impress upon Qadri the very real threat. Instead, the Maulana has started spouting the language of (quite unnecessary) martyrdom. Qadri’s latest pearls of wisdom concern his so-called charter of demands (an afterthought if ever there was one). He admires the Chief Election Commissioner personally but considers his advanced age a hindrance in being able to deliver a free and fair election. The other members of the election commission, one each from the provinces, Qadri trashes as people controlled by their respective provincial governments. He therefore demands a fresh election commission be created (presumably with his veto). Flying in the face of the constitution as amended by the 18th to 20 constitutional amendments, he wants a say in the caretaker setup rather than leaving it to the treasury and opposition to agree, with the consensus of the other parties in and outside parliament. The constitutional construct and process laid down now in the constitution Qadri dismisses as a muk-mukka (secret, partisan deal). Only a caretaker setup approved by Qadri himself, it seems, would pass muster. Qadri’s insistence on the election candidates being tested on the touchstone of Articles 62 and 63 before being allowed to stand is probably the most problematic of his assertions. In the first place, these ‘moral’ articles were inserted by General Ziaul Haq, arguably the worst and cruellest dictator in our history. As such, they do not pass the test of democratic legitimacy or reflect the wisdom of the people through their elected representatives. It is a matter of regret that the constitutional amendments piloted by Senator Raza Rabbani could not eliminate these subjective criteria because of a lack of consensus on their (much desired) removal. Who is to decide who amongst us is Ameen (truthful) becomes an exercise in subjectivity, unless and until there is concrete evidence against any prospective candidate that he/she has been proved guilty of fraud or corruption. The best solution to fraudulent and corrupt representatives is for them to be held accountable by the electorate, if they cannot be proved guilty in the normal course of the law. Anyone understanding the sensitivity of the country’s present pass, given the spike in terrorism and the tensions on the Line of Control would need their head examined if they continued insisting on a long march that runs security and other risks. But that is precisely what demagogue Qadri is stubbornly persisting with. The reports in the media point to the problems the march could encounter along the way and in Islamabad, including reported attempts by the federal government to deny entry to the marchers in the absence of an NOC from the local administration and the Punjab government’s leaning on transporters not to lend themselves to this quixotic adventure that could set off new ripples of instability through the sinews of the country. Pray that wisdom dawns and nothing untoward happens on January 14, but keep your powder dry.