Persistent political uncertainties in this country have spawned a thriving conspiracy theory industry. Nothing is a simple and straightforward result of what we do. Either the Americans, the Indians or the Israelis are out to destabilise our country. The PPP leadership has outdone all our current conspiracy theorists in its pronouncements on the state of democracy.
Kamal Azfar, a respected lawyer representing the federal government in the Supreme Court hearing of the NRO case, filed a petition last Thursday saying that any decision on the NRO "outside what petitioners had sought" could destabilise the democratic system. In it he had also mentioned the existence of threats that could derail the democratic system.
When the 17-member bench wanted to know, during Monday's proceedings, what apprehensions he had in mind, he came up with a sensational answer, telling the court "the danger comes from the CIA and the GHQ." The counsel hastened to add though that these were his personal views. It is hard to believe that a person of Kamal Azfar's professional standing would make such provocative remarks on his own in a case involving the head of the state.
In fact, he had carefully prepared the ground to make the case he did when he filed the ill-advised petition - which was basically a desperate attempt to keep the proceedings from going beyond the NRO to cover areas of even greater vulnerability. Picking up on the theme of danger to democracy, the government's counsel had expanded the circle of conspirators making the insinuating remarks, "look what we have done to Pakistan, which otherwise was destined to become an Asian Tiger, but one prime minister, Zulifkar Ali Bhutto, was hanged while the other, Benazir Bhutto, was killed."
President Zardari articulated a similar line of pre-emptive defence at the launch of an appropriately titled book "Bhutto Khandan - Jehad-e-Musalsal" at the rather inappropriate venue, the Presidency, as he expressed the hope that democracy would not fall victim to a "judicial murder" in the future. There, of course, was a purpose behind bringing up references to the past. Few would be willing to believe that the CIA is out to get the Zardari government.
It has done nothing that can even remotely be construed as being anti-American. In fact, President Zardari has been going out of his way to accommodate the wishes of Washington, even if that meant treading on Pakistani sensitivities. For example, he himself confided to an American publication, the Wall Street Journal, during one of his several visits to the US that the CIA's drone operations, the subject of relentless public criticism back home, had the nod from Islamabad.
Later on, in a patent attempt to please the Western leaders, he chose London rather than Islamabad to announce the government intention to start military operations in South Waziristan. It is hard to think of any instance where our president might have stepped on the wrong side of Washington, making it to want to get rid of him.
Where the US is concerned, the very fact it, along with Britain, brokered a deal, via the infamous NRO, between the PPP leadership and General Musharraf shows that the Western governments no longer think it is safe to rely on a one-man rule in an extremist infested Pakistan; at least for now, they'd rather deal with stable political governments.
As regards the GHQ, it may have a grouse against the Zardari government for having encouraged the insertion of certain 'intrusive' clauses in the Kerry-Lugar bill pertaining to military affairs, but there is little it can do to derail the democratic system at this point in time. Not because it is not interested any more, but because the environment, both domestic and international, would not allow fresh military adventurism.
We now have free and robust media, a strong civil society and, thanks to a historic lawyers' movement, an independent judiciary. Tempted though they might be our men in uniform would find it very difficult to grab control of political power and sustain it, too. Nonetheless, a threat is there but its nature is completely different from the one being portrayed. It is person(s)-specific and its source, the system of legal accountability.
The government has sensed trouble, and is preparing to counter what it deems inevitable by acting like the victim of a great conspiracy in order to win public sympathies. The decision to name the usual suspects, apparently, came on the advice of the political non-entities surrounding the President. They are not to blame though if they failed to fathom the intricacies of power politics, and suggested pre-emptive strategy of offence commonly used by street-smart people.
Whosoever came up with the idea, the pointing of an accusatory finger at the villains of our checkered political history, meant to invoke unpleasant memories of the past, with a view to helping the party leadership gain public sympathy and support. Similarly, the recent attempts at playing the Sindh card through public rallies were aimed at reinforcing the victimhood image.
What the presidency's advisers do not realise, given their intellectual limitations, is that the people are a lot smarter than they think. Without help from the government and its half-witted advisers, they can tell right from wrong. They are aware that democracy is not synonymous with the president, but with the unhindered functioning of state institutions, namely the executive (the office of the prime minister), parliament and judiciary. As long as they work, democracy is in no danger.
The people of this country are forgiving, too. Hence, a better strategy for the presidency would have been to take things, the good and the bad, in stride. Whatever the outcome of the court proceedings, holding his head high would have helped the PPP leader to plod through troubled waters, without causing harm to the party.
Kamal Azfar has since modified his conspiracy theory to say that the threat he mentioned about in the threat that the GHQ posed to democracy, alluded to its past role in destabilising democracy, and that the present COAS "is a gentleman." Whether the reference was about the past or the present, those concerned surely would know it.
From the public perspective, the supposed destabilisation scheme trotted out by the president and his men lies flat on its face riddled with too many holes. Pity that the party that prided itself on the intellectual prowess and political shrewdness of Zulifqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto should underestimate the public consciousness so badly.
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