FROM A RINGSIDE SEAT

All masterpieces, be they artistic, literary or otherwise, invite parodies. The one, a confirmed cynic invented on Prime Minister Shujaat's exhortation "Live and let live' in his farewell address to the nation, is quite relevant; therefore, reportable. According to him, what Chaudhry Sahib actually meant was: "Let me and my family live in Pakistan and let them (Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto) live in Jeddah and Dubai."
In his swan song in the National Assembly on Wednesday he again underscored the need to change the "political culture". Could he not do his bit in that direction by ordering the release of Asif Ali Zardari and inviting his predecessors back home from the forced exile? Doesn't it lend a hallow ring all that Shujaat intoned as he prepared to leave the high office.
The ball is in the government's court and if 'difficult decisions" are required to be made, as he hinted in his address to the assembly, they are to be made by the government, not the Opposition.
Journalists produce only the first rough draft of history, and then move on to new perspectives. Detached from the constraints of space and time, as they are, it is for historians to determine the place Chaudhry Sahib should get in their accounts. After "returning the Amaanat to the Nation" Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain went to President Pervez Musharraf and offered his resignation, which was promptly accepted.
The National Assembly will now meet on Friday afternoon to ascertain who commands majority, and therefore, be called to form the government. As the Opposition stands divided and are not likely to put forward a consensus candidate the government candidate Shaukat Aziz will certainly be elected as the new Prime Minister.
The house started the proceedings half an hour behind schedule but finished the listed business in less than an hour, and then Speaker Amir Hussain offered the floor to members for venting their feelings on points of order.
Maulana Akbar Chitrali, who suffers from Fokker-phobia due to the free fall of the aircraft for about a thousand metres during a recent Chitral-Peshawar flight, said these planes should be grounded. Khwaja Asif warned that a high-profile real estate developer, who has bought out the entire print and electronic media, is out to create a massive scam. Many more members were keen to speak on issues like these but the Speaker kept them on leash threatening to prorogue the house should "any member tried to take undue advantage of this Zero-Hour."
Earlier, the house discussed a calling Attention notice, moved by members from both sides, on the falling cotton (Phutti) prices. Ishaq Khakwani, a mover of the notice, blamed the consistently falling rate of growth of the agriculture sector, on the government particularly the Trading Corporation of Pakistan. The concerned minister contested this observation and accused the members of failing to benefit the government by their advice.
Commerce minister, however, took exception to the member's claim and challenged him to bring "facts if you have". That created a sort of match between the ministers and the members, mostly from the treasury benches.
Farooq Azam, a member from the cotton-growing area of Punjab, was of the view that the officials' bragging that growers were given good rates last year was due to better rates in the international market. "We too are the citizens of this country".
He warned that there is already shortage of pesticides but the TCP is nowhere around to remedy the situation. But, Agriculture Minister disputed this assertion, saying the pesticides are available everywhere.
He got the retort from Riaz Pirzada, another agriculturist from the cotton-belt, that "while we represent people the ministers represent the TCP". Aftab Jilani wanted to know when the TCP has surplus cotton why to import from abroad. Nawab Yusuf Talpur was unhappy that the Speaker has yet to nominate chairman of house committee on agriculture.
Shah Mehmud Qureshi pleaded for greater co-ordination among the officials of Agriculture, Commerce and Finance to ensure that the grower gets the good price for his produce. Makhdoom Ahmad Anwar Alam complained that the tax waiver announced for calamity hit areas is now being recovered, creating doubts about the government's credibility.
As the discussion on cotton prices was in full swing, the incumbent and future Prime Ministers entered the house, to a rousing welcome from the government benches. As Shujaat took the seat Jamali walked up to him to offer his greeting. It was a rare treat to see three prime ministers, of different brands, under the same roof.
Two of them resigned "voluntarily", vacating the slot for Shaukat Aziz, who became member of the National Assembly only last week. Harold Laski must be turning in his grave over the concept of "real democracy" that Pakistani leadership has introduced in political science.