Happy Zardari
by
Javed Hafiz |
Zardari is happy as his main rivals are hurling insults at each other
Zardari is a happy man these days despite the impending departure of another prime minister. He is happy as his main rivals , Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan are hurling insults at each other ,with relish. Both Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan have overlapping vote banks. It is often said that there are two kinds of voters in Pakistan; pro-Bhutto and anti-Bhutto. The anti-Bhutto vote would get divided between Zardari’s two rivals and he will rule the roost. But I think Imran is mainly banking on the post-Bhutto generation born after 1979. His popularity with the younger lot has made him very confident. He thinks his party can eat into Sharif’s vote bank as well.
Elected governments in Pakistan do not necessarily represent majority vote. For example, if there are a hundred voters in a particular constituency and three main political parties field their candidates, and supposing 40 per cent vote is bagged by the Peoples Party candidate and the rest gets equally divided between its two rivals. This means that 60 per cent would have voted against the Peoples’ Party but its candidate would still be elected. The Peoples’ Party is hopeful about kind of scenario in the coming elections. The latest verbal bouts between Imran Khan and Muslim League (Nawaz) have made Zardari more confident of election victory. He says the Peoples’ Party will form governments in all provinces and the centre.
It all started with Khawaja Asif of PML(N) claiming at a press conference that investments made out of Shaukat Khanum Hospital funds were imprudent. Since the bulk of these funds come from private donations, Khawaja Asif wanted to create doubts in the minds of donors. This hospital is a success story that would benefit Imran Khan in elections. But the question is whether Shaukat Khanum finances were an issue of national importance fit to become an issue between major political parties. The answer is clearly in the negative. The Muslim League leadership was obviously looking for crudely score a point to pull down the captain, as Imran is popularly known, from his high pedestal. The Leaguers thought that the best way to sully ‘Mr. Clean’ was to contrive a financial scandal.
Imran Khan, clearly put on the defensive, replied that the investments were insured against any loss. Imtiaz Haidri who manages the fund in Dubai , where the hospital funds have been placed, has said on record that there was no question of loss to the hospital. Moreover, there is an international tradition for endowment funds to be placed as investments with a view to make profits or as a hedge against inflation. The Muslim League claim that donors’ money was being squandered through speculative ventures was not correct. It would be correct if political parties of national stature raised only national issues and desisted from personal mudslinging.
In a strong rebuttal , Imran Khan, at a press conference next day, not only questioned the financial integrity of the Sharif brothers but also their marital fidelity. Now that is clearing hitting below the belt. They say all is fair in love and war and general elections in Pakistan are very much like a war exercise. But , I think, personal matters like candidates’ fidelity to their spouses should be best left out. Election debates should focus on manifestos rather than extra-marital affairs. Political parties should focus more on ways and means of resolving the power crisis, resurrecting the economy and improving foreign policy options.
Imran Khan has taken Khawaja Asif to the court and filed a case for damages. I have lately met some Tehrik e Insaf activists and suggested that they should not dissipate energies in law suits and should focus on national problems. But they think instituting a legal case was the only way to silence people like Khawaja Asif. Politics in our part of the world is like entering a coal mine. And there is no way you could keep your clothes clean while going through a coal mine.
It seems both sides are under tremendous political pressure to win the elections while victory is not guaranteed. Nawaz Sharif was first outfoxed by a crafty Zardari and has now been challenged by the phenomenal rise of Imran Khan, in his home ground. So Mr. Clean must be sullied, by hook or crook. Imran Khan has a good defence as the investment decision was not taken by him but by the hospital board .But he should have stopped there. Questioning the marital fidelity of Sharifs was not called for. Mr.Captain, this is not cricket. This is hitting below the belt.
Oman Tribune
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