An appraisal of Zardari
by
Javed Hafiz |
This week, President Zardari has completed his first year as head of state. A publicity campaign has been run by the government, on this occasion, projecting him as a “leader with a vision” and a staunch supporter of the politics of reconciliation. He has also been given the credit for an outstandingly successful military campaign against the Taliban of Swat and Malakand. In the following lines, an effort will be made to objectively assess his performance of one year in that high office.
A visionary leader has clear future objectives and develops a strategy to achieve the goals. What is Zardari’s vision of a Pakistan of tomorrow? Few Pakistanis know that. President Zardari’s major problem is his credibility. Starting from the violation of a written agreement about restoration of judges to stonewalling the understanding about the repeal of presidential powers under the 17th amendment, Zardari has, time and again, come out as a devious character with a strong instinct for personal political survival.
President Zardari prefers reconciliation to confrontation. He knows the art of carrying various people along. Now that is an asset in Pakistan where discord has often prevailed in politics. This has been true of federal-provincial relations, inter-provincial matters and the civil-military equation. As a result, the federation is not as healthy as it ought to be. There are issues relating to the distribution of natural resources like water and centrally collected revenues. The question of the quantum of provincial autonomy is yet to be resolved.
In the context of politics of reconciliation, two aspects have been pointed out. In the foreign policy context, President Zardari wants friendly relations with all neighbours. He is convinced that economic growth in Pakistan is not possible without peaceful borders. Economic and commercial cooperation in the sub-continent can unleash a lot of potential growth which has hitherto been a hostage to confrontational policies. However, to claim that President Zardari is the original propounder of the idea would be a travesty of facts. Before Zardari, it was president Musharraf who was fully convinced of the futility of confrontation with neighbours.
Secondly, it has been argued that through his policies of reconciliation, Zardari has kept the Peoples Party together. It is also said that by keeping two divergent political forces, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP) in his coalition, he has brought some stability to the politics of Sindh. The entire credit of keeping these political parties under his wings does not fully go to Zardari. His coalition partners are also keen on remaining part of the power structure. MQM has shared power with five different coalition partners in Karachi in recent years. Various political parties have realised that MQM is a force to be reckoned with in urban Sindh.
To me his biggest negative point seems to be his inability to relate to common Pakistani. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto were both great communicators. People thronged in thousands to have a glimpse of them and listen to them. This is no more the case. Zardari is not a poor orator at all. But, I believe for security reasons, he does not venture out to talk to the common man. When a leader does not talk to his people directly, he does not know their mood. His information about people is second hand. This is what has happened in the case of Zardari. He is out of sync with the people, being a virtual prisoner in a fortified presidency. At the slightest instance, Zardari is ready to go on a tour abroad.
To give entire credit of a successful Swat operation to Zardari would also be wrong. In Swat, the war against extremism was won by the brave young army officers and their men. Finally it was the changed public opinion which gave the armed forces unflinching support. Even Nawaz Sharif had to change his opinion about the Taliban. So the success in Swat is collective.
The fact is that masses are reeling under hyper inflation. President Zardari is one of the sugar barons and the sugar situation becomes worse with every passing day. Power is bringing about a change in the lives of the people. It is not merely the ability to appoint cronies in important positions. It is the art of relating to the common man, of feeling his suffering and appreciating his dreams and hopes. Weak in this department, Zardari has often tried to invoke sympathy by waving his wife’s photograph or by giving increased media exposure to his children.
Common people want more security, more jobs, lower prices. They want to be equal stakeholders in Pakistan’s prosperity. With Zardari at the top, this has remained a pipedream. He has never been to Swat to spend time with the brave soldiers there. The government has decided to resolve load shedding through highly controversial rented power plants. Many smell corruption rat here. In my assessment Zardari’s performance in the first year is below average.
(Javed Hafiz is Pakistan’s former ambassador to the Sultanate).
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