Yes, Prime Minister Zardari?


Written by S.G. Jilanee • Cover Stories • May 2008

The prize is no doubt covetable but would it be prudent to pursue it? To be or not to be, that is the question. But it is not an easy question. Indeed, it is the mother of all questions for Asif Zardari, writes S.G. Jilanee

There is no question that the office of prime minister is his for the taking. He has stepped into Benazir’s shoes in the party. So it would seem as much in the fitness of things that he substitutes her in the office which she exhausted all her talents and efforts to regain. His right there is none to dispute. Everyone in the party bows before him. Even Amin Fahim who is nursing his wounds at having been left out in the cold after his selfless service to Benazir Bhutto, would lend him his full support. So, all he needs do is contest a bye-election in a few months’ time and romp home like one of his ponies. As simple as that!

But, wait a minute. He carries a fairly large baggage. And he must be aware of it. Therefore, though things may appear cool on the surface, he might hit snags.
The moment he takes the oath of office, things would change. He will be exposed to full media glare. Those who appear to gloss over his foibles, now, may not be as charitable, then. Dirt will be dug up and cupboards will be scoured for lurking skeletons.

People have not received the National Reconciliation Ordinance with an open heart, because it was people and time-specific. It absolved politicians, bankers and bureaucrats charged with corruption offences from 1988 to October 1999, but not ordinary citizens.

It is already being receiving flak from various quarters. Ikram Sehgal in his op-ed column in The News says, “The National Reconciliation Order (NRO), the blackest of black laws, negates the very basis of Pervez Musharraf's presence with respect to his original agenda. The NRO has set the country back many years.” And though the lawyers who are in the vanguard for the crusade for the independence of the judiciary have accepted the NRO as a just piece of law, yet it could be a test for an independent judiciary. Those who are gloating over the likelihood of Iftikhar Choudhry going with a machete for Pervez Musharraf’s scalp, the moment he is back in his seat, forget that in order to demonstrate his absolute independence and impartiality, he would be equally likely to overturn the NRO.

The ghosts of the past are by no means dead for Mr. Zardari. For example, though all cases against him within Pakistan, including the murder of Murtaza Bhutto, have been quashed, yet, according to a report in the Dawn, “the Swiss authorities are reported to have rejected the government’s request to withdraw the cases against Mr Zardari because there is no such provision in the country’s laws.” And presently the legal aides of Zardari and the Pakistan government are trying to find a way out. The media is connecting the recent visit of Attorney General Malik Qayyum to Geneva and Zardari’s call to Farooq Naek to Dubai for consultations, with this case.

Only in March, in a lengthy 2000-word article, the New York Times published his concise biography with a long list of the “baggage.” It included the case being pursued in Switzerland, which relates to the charge of Mr. Zardari having collected illegal commissions from two Swiss companies, Cotecna and Societe Generale de Surveillance, in return for pre-shipment inspection of imports to Pakistan.

“In 2003, a Swiss magistrate found him and Ms. Bhutto guilty on money laundering charges, and ordered them to return $12 million to the Pakistani government. The couple fought the charges vigorously and appealed the case, prompting a new investigation by the Swiss authorities that resulted in new charges of aggravated money laundering,” the New York Times story says.

Shedding that baggage and morphing from “Mr. 10 per cent” to “Mr. Clean” will require Herculean effort. Yet it should be Mr. Zardari’s foremost priority. Only an active and visible transformation could wipe the accumulated tar away. It would need perseverance and grit. Of course his old playboy profile is gone. Instead of his “stylized blackened mustache the natural salt-and-pepper” is back. The same goes for his dress. Instead of attiring himself as a Sindhi wadera now he looks svelte in his custom-tailored suit. These are positive signs. But the most remarkable, yet, was his landmark visit to the MQM headquarters on a reconciliation mission. Paying tribute to his political vision, the Business Recorder likened him to a Greek philosopher in its editorial.

However should Mr. Zardari decide to run, his educational degree would be the first hurdle. Under the law, a university graduation is mandatory for election to the legislatures, federal or provincial, which he does not possess. This issue was the subject of a story in the Dawn recently, which said that Zardari claimed to have studied at “London School of Economics and Business,” but there is no such institution in England.

Giving more detail and quoting him in an interview just before the elections, the New York Times story said: “In the early 1970s, Mr. Zardari went to London. There, he said in the interview, (given earlier to the NYT) he attended the London School of Business Studies and received a bachelor of education degree. His official biography says he attended a commercial college called Pedinton School. But a search of tertiary educational institutions in London showed no such school, and associates said he did not finish his studies.”

Perhaps the only favourable note in the NYT article was the reference to Mr. Zardari saying that “the prime minister’s office did not interest him because it would be “very restrictive.” He wanted, instead, to re-energize the Pakistan Peoples Party.” That was perhaps the wisest things for him to say. And that would be the wisest thing to do.

The office of prime minister, never a bed of roses even at the best of times, is far more difficult in Pakistan, “the most dangerous country in the world” according to powerful people who provide it both guns and butter. So, why should Asif Zardari be in a hurry? He has laid the foundation of cooperation and reconciliation by joining hands with Nawaz Sharif, who had initiated the corruption cases against him and Ms Bhutto and whose latest move was to cripple the ARD because it was headed by Benazir, by launching APDM with himself as its convener.

His next was the Nelson Mandela-type forgive-and-forget mission to Nine Zero. This is a noble task. It is also a daunting task. It requires a single-minded resolve to face the challenges and defeating the forces that try to obstruct his “journey to pace.” To build upon the foundation he has laid, will bring its own reward. Prime ministers are forgotten. Who remembers Margaret Thatcher although in her heyday was renowned as the “Iron Lady;” or Indira Gandhi? If Jawaharlal Nehru is remembered, it is not as India’s prime minister but for his squeaky clean hands and his selflessness.

Asif Zardari’s situation recalls Sonia Gandhi. Despite the fact that she became a Hindu and Indian in every respect, from belief to diet and dress, there were frowns among Hindu fundamentalists with regard to her election as prime minister on the otiose argument that she was not a born Indian. Deferring to the sensitivities of the opposition, Sonia withdrew. She could have stuck to he guns. But that would have ignited an endless confrontation between the Congress and the fundamentalists, which would have vitiated the political atmosphere.

She withdrew and nominated Manmohan Singh, a technocrat. Thus Sonia shot the proverbial two birds with one stone. One, by self-denial she raised her stature among the masses; two, she defanged the opposition. She still shines in full glory and holds the ropes as party chief. At the same time she is spared any criticism for lapses in the administration.

It would be wiser for Mr. Zardari therefore, to take a leaf from Ms Gandhi. Patience has its rewards. There will be time aplenty for him to display his talents as prime minister. Five years is not very long. With the passage of time dust will settle on controversies about him. He should rather employ this period working on his image as Nelson Mandela of Pakistan, to effectively exorcise the ghost of “Mr. 10 per cent.”

Above all, Mr. Zardari must remember that whereas the opportunity to become prime minister may come often, the chance to immortal fame comes once in a lifetime. And he should not throw it away. Perhaps a Nobel Prize for Peace may be lurking yonder. Who knows?