VIEWPOINT: The question of mandate

PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari's fulminations against the Army leadership took everyone by surprise. Even his party did not think it was such a good idea. Hence, soon afterwards it fell upon Qamar Zaman Kaira and Sherry Rehman to embark on a damage control exercise. They claimed that one portion of the speech was blown out of proportion, and that the co-Chairman's remarks were actually directed against certain retired generals. Of course, no one was fooled. The Prime Minister immediately distanced himself from the PPP leader, refusing to keep a scheduled meeting with him. By and large, the reaction of the other political players and a majority in the media was one of disapproval since the cause of angst was not quite comprehensible.
Zardari's bluster was pegged on the question of mandate. Both PPP leaders also insisted that all Zardari Sahib had asked was for the 'national institutions' to stay within their constitutional parameters. There is no question about that all must stay within their respective constitutionally designated domain. The ensuing conversation though seemed to stray a bit when the argument turned to this: why should there be any sacred cows? If politicians feel free to lambaste one another why shouldn't the same apply to the men in uniform? True, there are no sacred cows in a functioning democracy. But it is also true that, unlike politicians, the 'sacred' entity in the present case is not supposed to make any derogatory remarks about a public leader. As per democratic norms, soldiers do not enjoy the prerogative to talk back to politicians. If someone is not allowed to publicly argue with you, it does not look right to publicly criticise them. Whatever the PPP's objections those should have been raised inside the relevant forum, namely the Karachi Apex Committee.
The Rangers have been mandated by the government to undertake action against criminals involved in targeted killings, kidnapping for ransom, extortion and terrorism in Karachi. The PPP co-chairman and Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah along with the Prime Minister, top generals and police officials have been participating in the proceedings of the apex committee. The provincial government seemed to have no issue with the thrust of the operation until the Sindh Rangers Director General, Major General Bilal Akbar, in his report to the committee - leaked to the media - accused influential individuals and political parties of involvement in collecting Rs 230 billion annually through criminal activities, saying that there is a nexus between this criminal enterprise and terrorism. Then the Rangers stormed into the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and Lines Area Development Project (LADP), confiscating records that purportedly contained evidence of corruption scandals worth multibillions. The fisheries department has been yet another area where the Rangers went in and detained two senior officials. The two are supposed to have confessed handing ten percent of ill-gotten money to criminal gangs operating in Karachi, and another ten percent to Baloch insurgent groups.
It is not the Rangers business to go around looking for evidence of wrongdoing and use the same for sullying the reputation of politicians. The present case though is different since the paramilitary force has the backing of political consensus to rid the city of violence, which necessitates cutting off the link between financial corruption and terrorists. They should not be expected to look the other way if the lead points in the direction of a government department.
The Rangers' report about alleged corruption has not named any individual or party for involvement in the various cases of financial misconduct. Yet it is the cause of PPP leader's anger and the case that the Rangers are overstepping their mandate. Interestingly, though, the party is not saying that the corruption cases being mentioned have no real basis. In fact, unable to defend the indefensible, people like Kaira and others assigned the damage control duty have been arguing that corruption is going on in other parts of the country as well. In other words, financial fraud is not such a bad thing. Indeed, the problem is pervasive in this country but nowhere as blatantly as in Karachi. And the ruling party there wants to make it acceptable too!
That brings us back to the mandate issue. Through their votes the people give political leaders and their parties the authority to govern on their behalf for collective good rather than personal good. Those governing in the provinces and at the Centre do not have an unquestionable authority to do whatever they like. Surely, they do not have the mandate to loot and plunder public resources.
Instead of Zardari coming out, all guns blazing, against the military leadership to accuse it of transgressing its mandate, the provincial government should have offered co-operation to the Rangers for investigating the alleged corruption cases. For, those making gains are doing so at the expense of the hapless ordinary people and, in many cases, also providing money to target killers and TTP related terrorists. In denying the people the right to a decent life (according to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, if two dollars is considered to be the minimum daily income, more than half of the people in this country live below the poverty line), governments in the provinces and the one at the Centre are showing disrespect for the trust the people reposed in them. As for the Sindh government's worrying about its mandate, it should also worry about the rights of the people from whom it derives that mandate. [email protected]