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AS I SEE IT

Analysing Defeat, Absorbing Victory

Pakistan's major problem is that while it is a land of great opportunity it is also a land of great opportunists. The NA session leading up to the election of the PM and the swearing in of the PM at the Presidency thereafter was a classic study in opportunism in full cry.

Ikram Sehgal writes from Karachi
f—1 IELD Marshal William I—j Slim commanded the I 1 st Burma Corps during the retreat up the Irrawady River following the Japanese invasion of Burma in World War II. Later he went on to command the British 14th Army which inflicted a series of defeats on the Japanese, forcing them down the Irrawady River to Rangoon. Turning "Defeat into Victory'' (incidentally the name of his autobiography). Slim was a very lonely man. Sitting outside his tent contemplating his next move during the drive back into Burma, he overheard two of his sentries talking. When one of them wondered aloud where the next battle would take place, the other very confidently named a location. On being asked as to haw he knew, the second sentry told the first, "the old man is definitely going to choose to fight in all the places on the way in that he got badly beaten on the way out”, or words to that effect. So much for strategy!
The evidence at hand does not suggest that Benazir will try to learn any lessons from her overwhelming defeat in the general elections. Any leader who does not accept final responsibility for failure fails the acid test of leadership, self-accountability. Indeed, one must hold Benazir accountable for many things, prime among them abrogating the responsibility of government entrusted to her by the Constitution to her criminal-minded husband. People talk of a parallel government in power. Zardari in fact headed the only government in existence. It was far more effective than the one headed by the lady selected by a few motivated persons in 1993. What did Asif Zardari's government do? They took away complete control oi all the postings and promotions in the civilian bureaucracy from the Establishment Division, using that institution only as a rubber stamp. These powers were used to install layabouts of little calibre into the vital organs of the State.
Merit became a derided quality, gross nepotism and favouritism became the order of the day. The major targets were the public sector financial institutions. the civilian intelligence agencies, the law enforcement agencies, government and semi-government corporations, the civil administration (particularly the Districts and Sub-Divisions).
Thousands were inducted into important positions on perfunctory basis, their sole
reason for existence was not loyalty to the State but to one man. Asif Zardari. To help him in this task, he had a coterie of school-mates from Petaro. near relatives, friends and acquaintances from his days as a bachelor. Unlike the first Benazir term where he got involved with petty extortion, this time money-making was raised to a grand scale. With senior bureaucrats shamelessly joining in with him to run the country, he acquired the technical expertise to profit from government. People raised to such heights always have the option to run : gopd gpyernment instead of a criminal one. invariably they opt for that course which brings them personal benefit. A leopard does not change its spots, what was seen in good evidence in Zardari's days as a vagabond predator in Karachi was force-multiplied many times over into deliberate malfeasance to enrich himself and his friends at the cost of the country. Not even military dictators like Zi-aul Haq exercised such total control over government, courtesy the darling of the West, their great white hope for democracy, Benazir. While authority must be delegated, whoever delegates the authority must carry the responsibility for its misuse.
Having handed over total Kwer to Asif Zardari. Benazir d the seeds of impending disaster. Who knew Asif Zardari's dark traits better than her? One had to speak only a few sentences with the man to realize the depth of his Ignorance, why, did this graduate of Harvard and Oxford continue to shield this nearly illiterate man even though* she knew more than anyone else that except for greed and vindictiveness nothing else drove him? There is no other logical explanation except that she was a full partner in crime and the only reason she is not abandoning him publicly is to derive maximum political benefit from his eventual come-uppance. It is not too long ago that she played the bereaved sister to the hilt, in the presence of the widow's very accusing finger not so believable. A major part of the electorate did not believe her "sisterly" act and cast her out into the political cold but a grieving widow can be a different ball game altogether. Her speech at the National Assembly (NA) was the
summation of her political career, it was ridiculous, bordering on hysteria. The arrogance of power has driven her out of the world of reality and .set her publicly on the very edge of madness.
One must never forget that cunning and madness go almost hand in hand. One can only exhort her real friends to risk their friendship and have the courage to take her to a doctor.
She needs help badly! On the face of it. her husband has a longish stay in jail scheduled (unless he is found guilty of murder of his brother-in-law when it may come to a sudden end) and in the presence of a half-demented mother she is the only one left in the family to take care of three small children. To sum up, all the ingredients of bad governance are there for us to analyse and to take lessons from. If this country was not in such economic shambles, this could be useful academic exercise, unfortunately the lessons learnt have to be applied with discretion being the better part of valour because the expectations of the masses have been raised sky high by Mian Nawaz Sharifs overwhelming victory.
The first lesson is not to keep all the powers centrally but to delegate authority to responsible persons. The choice of aides is thus of paramount importance to good governance, it is they who are at the cutting edge of decision-making, whether it is made in the motivated interest or in the public interest will be the difference between success and failure. In the selection of people, those with obvious failings should never be accommodated whatever may be the political compulsions. The very fact that Mian Nawaz Sharif did not rush into cabinet-making was a singular achievement marking the maturity-of decision-making. We will see what to make of the composition of the Federal Cabinet in the months to come, their actions will speak for
themselves. Servility is an endearing eastern trait that even leaders like Mian Sahib find difficult to cast aside. A couple of loyalists around Mian Nawaz Sharif have made themselves a laughing-stock in the intelligentsia by their public acts of obeisance. Servile people invariably have dual character, that double-face trait makes them dangerous to their men-• tors in the final analysis as
Eublic displays of servility may ide a very real disloyalty to the concept of good governance. While loyalty must be rewarded as its due. it cannot be done at the expense of the State, both literally and figuratively. Motivated interest must be watched with great care. There may be a nexus between motivated purpose and the national interest, the government has to be careful to sift out selfish propositions from the public
good. One has to be careful not to turn away summarily those ideas which may benefit the State without a proper analysis of its advantages and disadvantages.
A lot of people supported Mian Nawaz Sharif not out of the expectation of personal reward but because they believed he is synonymous with the national good. Those who aspire for appointments are only a few when compared to the masses who do not crave any post for themselves but want Mian J'l^waz Sharif to do jiis best for the country. There are many others wijo aspire to.servq but, without expectations of a gov-emment post in return. While he must accommodate all those who burnt all their boats when they embarked on this great journey with him. he must also remember that thousands and thousands are willing to physically volunteer contribution to the great national cause. One of the greatest problems of Benazir's regime was that merit became a primary disqualifier instead of being the paramount qualification. Unless the Client-Patron relationship can be broken up and merit made paramount in name and deed, this country will have got the
core of leaders which is a prime requisite of prosperity. If he can harness the great potential effectively he would have taken a great step towards his goal of making this country fit to enter the 21st century.
Pakistan's major problem is that while it is a land of great opportunity it is also a land of great opportunists. The NA session leading up to the election of the PM and the swearing in of the PM at the Presidency thereafter was a classic study in opportunism in full cry. A fair amount of social gadflies and butterflies who frequented the corridors of power during the previous reign were seen thronging and milling around the new PM, seemingly thrilled , ,to the core of their craven ' hearts! Asif Zardari could not have । got away with all that he ' did without active collaboration from a Jot of persons whom we label as the "elite". A whole lot of the "elite" were pushing and shoving their way to the new PM's side, some of the PM's aides were in evidence preening along with them, a mutual recognition that "collaboration” was alive and well in Islamabad. for a price, in kind or in cash. When Mian Nawaz Sharif is able to keep such opportunists within and without his Party from eating at the vital organs of this land of opportunity. we would have taken the final lesson in analysing defeat and absorbing victory.