Pakistan is not North Korea

President Zardari addressed the crowds gathered to mark Benazir Bhutto's fourth death anniversary with a marked lack of vitriol. What was significant in his speech was not what he said but what he did not say.
He did not mention Memogate though he did accuse the Chief Justice of focusing on some cases as opposed to others that he clearly considered more important; he did not attack the army chief or the ISI chief even though the stance taken by his government in Memogate in the court continued to be confrontational; he did not refer to the state of the economy or the rising budget deficit; he did not mention loadshedding or gas shedding; he did not mention the rate of inflation or the rising rate of unemployment.
The President, however, admitted that the United Nations inquiry into the death of his wife (that cost the country in excess of 5 million dollars) was commissioned by him and then rejected. He rejected it, he revealed, because Condoleezza Rice, the then US Secretary of State, was a player and had not been interviewed by the UN. Her book, he added, reopened the case and he committed to writing an article in the Washington Post. It seems a naive argument that an article written in the Washington Post would be sufficient to reopen the case - a stance that many may consider at odds with his government's submission to the court in the Memogate case. The President then inexplicably addressed the Chief Justice by name and queried as to what he had done in the Benazir Bhutto case; in addition he accused the superior court of taking up petitions against the government but not heeding important petitions filed by him for example the Z A Bhutto case. Meanwhile, what the public has come to accept as the incumbent government's inability to present one stand on any issue, his Prime Minister stated the same day that the probe on the slain leader is almost complete.
The President restricted his attack on the Sharif brothers by referring to the Takht-i-Lahore in connection with what he referred to as the demand of south Punjab to become an independent province. And taking obvious umbrage at Imran Khan's comment of 'retired unhurt' the President dismissed Khan's claims of a tsunami as zoonami (a comment perhaps more worthy of a presidential henchman like Babar Awan instead of the President of this country). The President also took a dig at the US (reportedly angered by US refusal to take action against Mansoor Ejaz) as well as the establishment, albeit obliquely: do not tell us who to trade with, he said - a reference believed to be to the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, opposed by the US, as well as trade enhancement with India on a fast track, with the pace reportedly being opposed by the establishment.
Inexplicably the President waved a manifesto which he said veteran journalist Munnoo Bhai would review. One would have hoped that his speech writers had pointed out an obvious fact to him: a party that has been in power for nearly three and three quarter years must refer to its performance and not to a manifesto. Additionally, a manifesto has become a wish list and few expect it to be anything but reaching for the moon. What is surprising is that even though few expect to challenge the manifesto the President stated that he would heed the views of only one man - a statement that no doubt would raise questions about the hapless chosen man's independence.
The President also dismissed the Arab Spring that has cost thousands of lives and already toppled four one-man dictatorships to-date as "theatre" and argued that the revolution was manipulated to ensure that democracy would be derailed in future. Considering that the toppling of the four dictators was supported by the US as well as its Western allies, it could be argued that this was the President's back handed way of criticising the West. However, given the plethora of examples of Western duplicity in foreign policy, one would have hoped that President Zardari's speech writers had provided better guidance to the President as to which example would best reflect this duplicity. Instead, his allegation that the Arab Spring was 'tailor made' no doubt embarrassed the people of this country in bringing to the forefront his inability to make appropriate analysis. The Arab Spring reflects the aspirations of a people suffering sustained economic deprivation and joblessness hand-in-hand with visible profligacy and corruption by their former rulers, their family and friends. Many maintain that perhaps the President was thinking of similar abysmal performance of his own government in the economic arena and the possibility of Western assistance to dethrone him - an assistance that would simply require US withdrawal of support. He then proceeded to place the blame for the failure of pledged assistance to be disbursed to Pakistan on global recession instead of his own government's continued failure to undertake the necessary reforms and deal with donor concerns with regard to lack of transparency and accountability.
The President expressed satisfaction that there was food in the country. True, with the exception of edible oil which we import but prices are simply unaffordable. The President also claimed that he twice tried to save PIA. The first time he requested the then Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin to purchase planes as they were being offered at 20 cents to the dollar. Tarin, the President revealed, requested for time to make a business plan which, when completed, made the purchase financially untenable. An obvious and understandable defence of Shaukat Tarin's insistence on the business plan, an integral component of due process, must be premised on the fact that he did not wish to implicate his ministry in any wrongdoing. This sensitivity must be viewed in the context of a large number of corruption allegations that hounded his cabinet colleagues at the time, inclusive of the controversial rental power projects (RPPs) which were audited by a third party at Tarin's insistence, and which concluded that it was an inappropriate policy and the agreement structured to benefit the RPPs. The courts have since decided in favour of the plaintiffs in many cases leading to around 100 billion rupees for the depleted treasury as per Dr Hafeez Sheikh. Second, the President blamed the union of derailing the code sharing of PIA with Turkish Airlines. This would have led all passengers of PIA to go via Turkey to reach their final destination - a condition that may have cost PIA even more business than its current routine delays. The President did not mention any other Public Sector Entity on the verge of collapse due to senior appointments not based on merit and a 2009 Ordinance titled Reinstatement of Employees that is a further financial drain on poor performing PSEs.
The President took exception to Imran Khan's recent apology to the Baloch and instead of capitalising on his own apology to the Baloch before he took over as President - the first of its kind - rambled on about Sardar Feroze Khan ineffectually and how he would deal only with those who first accept the federation.
On a lighter side, the President noted that his speech was meant for Pakistanis around the world - he referred to the mountains of K2 where few, if any, Pakistanis are resident, Australia, America and a small but important country, Sweden, twice.
And last but not least he referred to Asifa as the one designate to carry forward Benazir Bhutto's legacy - a statement that no doubt baffled all as Bilawal is not only the co-chairman of the party and therefore already in the public eye but the one that many believe holds the key to the present and future of the party. Elections will be held latest by the first quarter of 2013 and as the President continues to fail to appeal to the masses he does need his children to capitalise on the Bhutto name. Asifa clearly is simply too young to keep the peeplia's loyalty especially as Bilawal has been introduced as heir apparent! Pakistan is not North Korea, the President must understand.
It is an unfortunate state of our politics today that several analysts maintain that this lack of vitriol in the President's speech implies the government is no longer under threat - not from the establishment because its two top men were not vilified publicly by the President (if true, this reflects rather badly on the two men); not the opposition which does not have 295 votes in the combined strength of the National Assembly and the Senate to impeach him; and not from parties outside parliament who have to wait till elections are called. The only fear remaining is if the judiciary requests for the assistance of the army to implement what is known as Zardari-specific decisions but that is being tackled through delays - a ploy that has worked successfully to date on advice reportedly given by Babar Awan that may well account for his elevation as the Vice President of the party. What best describes the perception of PPP rule today in the minds of the general public is a proverb that needs some amendment in our context: Everything (not something) is rotten in the State of Denmark.