FROM A RINGSIDE SEAT

It is widely believed that the people who really matter in this country never share full truth. The half-truth told by them never served the country but serves the interest of the ruling elite. On Monday, the National Assembly session was prorogued all of sudden. This was done in such a haste that made everyone believe that some very important decisions were going to be made.
The elected house must not remain in session when decisions of national importance are made. This was the general impression. The Senate proceedings on Tuesday were, more or less, irrelevant. The senators were not coming to debate the operations going on in Lower Dir. Operation in Buner was almost ready and no senator was knowing that such a big step was being taken. It was hardly after a few hours of the house's adjournment, operation in Buner was started. The DG ISPR officially announced this at news conference in Rawalpindi. He also gave good news that Lower Dir had been cleared of miscreants. Interior minister Rehman Malik said that total strength of Taliban in Buner is around 450. Zardari told us that the operations launched in Lower Dir and Buner were not the result of any foreign pressure.
It seemed that parliamentarians have agreed to compromise the sovereignty of the elected house. In the past, we blamed Musharraf for keeping the parliament sidelined for five long years after 2002 elections. He was taking solo flight and never took the Parliament into the confidence while taking important decision on war on terror. In the present situation, the members of both houses of the parliament lost interest in asserting their role as far as the military operations against militants are concerned.
President Asif Ali Zardari played it tactically by asking the government to move the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation (NAR) in the parliament. The NAR placing before the National Assembly and Senate put the parliamentarians to real test. By and large, the parliamentarians failed to cope with the new situation. Criticism of the government, in no way, is a difficult job. When you ask for alternative solution, then our parliamentarians generally fail to propose any remedy.
Senator Jehangir Badar of the PPP was trying to make us believe that the present government was taking Pakistan to a new zenith. He was also telling us that President is the symbol of national unity. Badar thought it necessary to praise Zardari. He was also praising the cosmetic steps of President Asif Ali Zardari apology to the people of Balochistan. During his nearly one hour speech, the PPP leader, totally skipped mentioning the name of the Prime Minister and his largely held 'positive' role in defusing the tension between the PPP and the PML (N) over the restoration of the deposed judges.
Hardly 30 minutes after Jehangir Badar gave a rosy picture, the ANP's Haji Muhammad Adeel, who is part of the ruling coalition, presented a very gloomy picture of the country's affairs. Which one of these two treasury senators is to be believed?
Haji Adeel and the PML (Q)'s S M Zafar raised some thought-provoking points in their speeches. Their speeches were very well, but they will bring no relief to the people of this country. Individual capacities or capabilities of the parliamentarians are nothing when the parliament fails to deliver something positive collectively.
"Our two major political parties (the PPP and the PML-N) are always talking big of Charter of Democracy (CoD). Rapidly changing scenario has turned the CoD an out-dated document. Now is the time for framing Charter of Security (CoS)," said S M Zafar.
Coming hard on omissions President Zardari made during his speech, he said that president omitted the real problems faced by the country. "Zardari never mentioned the name of Quaid-e-Azam. In his speech he did not touch the growing menace of corruption. Zardari also skipped the subject of poverty. It means the president is not really concerned about 50 million people living below poverty line," he added.
Haji Adeel was also critical of Zardari's speech. He said that Zardari had not made any reference to Pukhtunkhwah (NWFP) and its wounds in his speech. "It is estimated that Pakistan suffered a loss of 35 to 40 billion dollars due to war on terror. Out of this huge loss, Pukhtunkhwah losses would definitely be more 25 billion US dollars," he said.
Mere announcements have been made. No practical step has been taken to implement what Zardari said in his speech. "As proposed in the President's address a month ago, the All Parties Parliamentary Committee to propose constitutional amendments existing only on paper. Federal budget is going to be announced in one and half months, the National Finance Commission (NFC) is yet to be notified", he said. He said that the government knew what is the remedy of Balochistan crisis? Why does the government hesitate to implement the recommendations of the parliamentary committees on Balochistan established by the previous government? the senator continued.
The government is not abandoning what is called the politics of statements. Good statements definitely place them in limelight very briefly in news channels and print media, but hardly served the country that desperately needs their statements to be translated into action to save the motherland. The statements' politics is certainly deplorable.