Spotlight: CJP Iftikhar in the hot seat!: PPP in turmoil: Why not PPP khapay?

With bated breath we wait...! We wait to see whether CJP Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry will constitute a larger bench to deal with the Sharif brothers eligibility review case. We wait to see whether the CJP will take Aitzaz Ahsans advice and let sleeping dogs lie in respect of the infamous NRO or heed the urgings of Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Imran Khan and many, many others to pursue the matter.
We wait to see how the CJP would resolve the tangle of the ruling given by the Supreme Court bench under him on 3 November 07 which ruled as void the decisions on that day by Army Chief Musharraf and laid down firm guidelines on what could or could not be done in the judicial area. (For a start, CJP he has constituted benches that do not mix PCO judges with non-PCO judges.)
We wait to see how the spate of unilateral judicial (allegedly politically motivated and even otherwise allegedly unmerited) appointments and decisions effected at break neck speed in violation of the above Supreme Court order, will be dealt with by the CJP.
We wait to see if the victims of the killings in Lal Masjid (traces of which were swept clean over a horrible 60 hours after the massacre with the area kept off limits to every one including the media) will receive justice and if perpetrators of heinous crimes against them will be brought to book.
We wait to see if alleged illegal appropriators of at least some of the king-sized plots in Islamabad (originally intended to be sold at below market price to bona fide growers of vegetables and fruit for the benefit of people of Islamabad) by the high and mighty of the time (allegedly including erstwhile President Musharraf and erstwhile PM Shaukat Aziz) will be brought to justice and action also taken against errant officials for indulging in illegal gratification or at least for obeying patently illegal orders.
We wait to see if the heart-rending cases of "missing persons" will be as vigorously pursued as before and those responsible identified and brought to book, even if the action displeases Americans.
At the same time we also wait to see if the authorities in Pakistan will attempt to clip CJPs wings and thus try to shatter a dream which the people of Pakistan have dared to dream after several decades of hopeless, dejected, helpless slumber.(Aitzazs ears are catching echoes of sinister plots!)
PUNJAB IN FOCUS! SALMAAN TASEER IS BAD NEWS FOR PPP! No one can blame Governor Salmaan Taseer of inconsistency! He had thrown down the gauntlet the first day he took over by declaring that he had been given the task (by no less than President Zardari himself) of strengthening PPP in Punjab! There was no beating about the bush about him.
The difference in style, however, was startlingly different from that of his new mentor. (Remember his original mentor?). Whereas Zardari would grin, embrace, agree to everything and then procrastinate and eventually backtrack, the Governor has a transparent style - openly hostile and belligerent in word and deed.
Within 24 hours of two of the three main parties in Punjab Assembly, coming to him declaring their agreement to form a coalition government in Punjab, he says grandly, he would call the assembly session to let them prove their strength and form the government.
He had appropriated for himself, apparently with full support of the President, the prerogative which belongs to the Provincial Assembly alone. He has even threatened to dissolve the assembly in case things do not happen according to the script written by him! His posturing even after disasters like the attack on the Sri Lankan team and his dismal failure in restraining the long march, despite all the big talk, looks strangely quixotic!
WHAT ARE THE CURRENT POLITICAL OPTIONS IN PUNJAB?
ALTERNATIVE-1: PPP and PML(N) join together. This is technically possible and would in fact revive the pre-Governor rule status and would make for a comfortable majority in the assembly. Would this second association (if it comes about as a marriage of convenience) be any more comfortable than the first which had turned out to be anything but that, would remain to be seen.
In any case this is the current hot bet in whose praise songs are being sung by all concerned (well, except perhaps Salman Taseer). But given the state of trust between the two heavy weights, you never know! There is brave talk from PML(Q) about playing the role of an effective opposition party, but that sounds like a fairy tale!
ALTERNATIVE-2: PML(N) and the Unification Group (Forward Bloc of PML(Q) join together. This would give the required majority to the coalition but there is a catch. A "forward group" can vote against the party to which it belongs and its votes would still count in forming the government and in selecting a parliamentary leader but members can lose their seat if their party leader lodges a complaint against them.
But there is also a "counter catch", however: the Speaker to whom the complaint will be addressed can, it seems, sit on it without any action for a long, long time, during which some more of PML(Q) could move to the Reunification Group and make it the legitimate PML(Q). These lacunae in the constitution need to be removed, but no one has the time or inclination to do so just yet. This alternative would also bring to a quick end, at last, to PML(Q) as a political entity.
ALTERNATIVE-3: This would see a sort of national government - a PML(N)-PPP-PML(Q) coalition - installed in Punjab. The projected meeting in this connection between Chaudhry brothers and Sharif brothers (after Shahbaz Sharif had reportedly agreed to the meeting and had invited the PML(Q) leaders to a luncheon meeting at Raiwind) was reportedly cancelled by PML(N).
If correct, this looked like a case of bad manners and apparently signalled the end (at least for now) of a plan projected with great enthusiasm by Chaudhry brothers who probably saw it as the only way to ensure survival for the party. There was also brave talk by the Chaudhry of functioning as an opposition party if this proposal did not find favour.
The chances for this happening are next to nil in our view: a party which was born and grew up on Musharrafs bounty (and wanted him elected in uniform not once but ad infinitum, remember?) cannot survive cut off from largesse (read spoils) of political lackeyism. There are no takers for this alternative right now.
So PML(Q) appears doomed in any case! It may set hopes on a fall out once again between PPP and PML(N) to provide an opportunity for a revival of its fortunes. At the moment, however, the two are singing peace and friendship. Sounds familiar?
PPP IN TURMOIL: WHY NOT PPP KHAPAY: Following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Asif Zardari had played the role of pacifier with his slogan of Pakistan Khapay, counselling restraint and calm. His subsequent efforts to carry with him not only his party but all the political parties and regions in a spirit of unity and forbearance for the sake of the country, were lauded by every one.
About a week back all that seemed to remain of that aura of reconciliation and unity was a country once again divided with no common agreed goals. But then the restoration of the deposed judiciary has brought back renewed talk of reconciliation and of chalking out the future course of action according to the Charter of Democracy which catch phrase is again in vogue as a mantra.
AS for PPP, it is still reeling from the shock of developments seen as a victory for Nawaz Sharif and a serious setback for President Zardari. Its leaders are putting a brave face on the development and claiming that this is what they had been planning to do all the time. But the media was quick to run clips showing its leaders claiming that CJP Chaudhry would not be restored and certainly not by an executive order. How difficult our politicians find it to say, "I am sorry" or even to admit, "I was wrong"!
President Asif Zardari appears reluctant or unable to apply the "Khapay" mantra to his own party and appears to have set the party on a course of internal split. It was not called the CEC meeting which met last Thursday to discuss important issues facing the PPP, in the aftermath of the "shock" of reinstatement of the deposed CJP.
The reason was obvious. Aitzaz Ahsan, Sherry Rehman, Dr Safdar Abbasi and Dr Israr Shah, all members of the CEC had not been invited. So it was called a consultative body meeting. The Khapay mantra, on the lips of President Zardari, has its limitations, it seems.
The new face in the meeting was Fauzia Wahab who had opened her debut as the new spokesperson for the party with both barrels firing by asking the media to exercise self censorship, suggesting by implication that the current sorry state of her partys standing in the country is somehow the result of media mischief or mismanagement (which the Ministry of Information under Sherry Rahman failed to manage or control) rather than PPPs own stand against restoration of the deposed judiciary in the first place and its restoration by executive order after all.
This is not a happy start for PPP in this age of quick and instant communication with immediate recall of what actually happened and of who said what. Sherry Rahmans conciliatory approach would be missed. Fauzia Wahabs style of discussion so far seen in various media debates is hard hitting and non-reconciliatory (a la Salmaan Taseer, if we may say so). That is the style President Zardari appears to favour.
WHAT AILS AITZAZ? Aitzaz appears to have a very thin skin despite having been in the rough and tumble of active politics for perhaps about a quarter of a century now and despite possessing a delightful and lively sense of humour. Presiding over flag hoisting at the residence of CJP done, he lost no time in making two unexpected statements.
One, that he was quitting lawyer politics and second, more startling, that his participation in the lawyers movement was a mistake. Has some one from among his lawyer comrades said something about his role in the movement that has annoyed him? Or has he decided to get active in PPP politics instead. May be he thinks the party is headed for a major overhaul and needs his full (off-practice) attention. Did we get his reported statements right?
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