At the very outset it must be said that whosoever advised President Zardari to address his maiden press conference jointly with Afghan President Hamid Karzai had very little sense of history. For his relentless blame-game against our country and its security forces, President Karzai doesn't enjoy a very bright image here.
It was but natural therefore that the national media 'pounced' upon him the Afghan President with a barrage of questions, reducing the focus this historic occasion deserved.
Accepted, earlier democratic victories against authoritarian dispensations had also come following long-drawn bloody struggles fiercely fought by the people, but the one that concluded this Tuesday with the swearing-in of Asif Ali Zardari as the President is unique in more than one way. With him now secure in his presidential office, the people of Pakistan were waiting for his answers to many crucial current questions.
He was expected to unfold his vision and worldview in his inaugural encounter with the media. He was expected to inform us about the future of ex-Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. He was supposed to tell us what kind of relationship he would have with the parliament - to be an Article 58-2(b) - armed president or an apolitical ceremonial head of state.
What role he would have in the PPP? And, how would he deal with other political forces, particularly with the Sharifs-led PML(N)? But with President Karzai sitting by his side, the focus of the press conference shifted to the situation in Afghanistan and its deadly spillover into Pakistan.
In that context, both the Presidents reiterated their commitments to carry forward the so-called war on terror along the lines drawn by the United States would indeed tend to place President Zardari not very far from where ex-president Pervez Musharraf stood. Is that a helpful prospect for his successor?
President Zardari's inaugural had been provided with an excellent take-off push by Nawaz Sharif who called on him a day before to assure him in most unambiguous terms of his full co-operation by acting as a 'loyal opposition', instead of a confrontational political adversary.
That was so in spite of the fact that Zardari had not given him any assurance on two issues that are close to Sharif's heart: restoration of deposed judges and repealing the infamous seventeenth amendment. This was indeed a generous offer given by a person whose candidate bagged majority of votes in the country's largest province which is, in some respects, more than half of Pakistan.
Then there was hardly a word about the unstoppable economic downslide. President Zardari's short words that support price for wheat would be fixed well in advance is hardly an indicator of the direction the government has in mind about the economic revival. Rightly then by asserting that "this President (Zardari) carries the brief of the government" he had correctly decided to parry most of the concrete questions by offering abstract replies.
President Zardari has come on the stage at the most difficult time in the history of Pakistan. His dilemma is compounded by the fact that he could not have prepared himself in advance for such a gigantic responsibility. But for the assassination of his illustrious spouse he would have most probably stayed away from politics.
Then, there is this aftermath of a long-stretched authoritarian one-man rule - a failed economy, total breakdown of institutions and a raging war on the western border - that Zardari inherited. To these dark clouds the only silver lining was that in that the general elections had thrown up the PPP in the lead role with crucially important electoral support in all federating units.
To his good luck, he is facing an opposition which promises to be constructive in outlook and is more than willing to play the ball. Of course, economic woes won't go away in the next few weeks or months, but if political stability is ensured, if the much-needed tough decisions are not sacrificed at the altar of expediency or avarice, and cronyism does not hold sway, economic revival will not be an impossible task.
Nawaz Sharif's pledge to him to help evolve a consensus foreign policy blueprint should help President Zardari confront the challenge of terrorism more effectively. Asif Ali Zardari has been catapulted into his historic role; he should now plan his moves with vision and courage expected of the Head of State and a truly democratic polity, detached from petty political squabbling and fawning cronies. People have pinned high hopes on him.
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