Friday, April 25, 2008

Zardari dancing to the tunes of the Establishment?

Suppose The Establishment and Zardari were to team up, how would the script have rolled?

  • Zardari would have wanted to become PM.
  • For that he would need to have all his murder, corruption, money laundering charges dropped.
  • Requirement for BA would be dropped (though according to some sources Zardari is a graduate)
  • By elections would be delayed.
  • The establishment would have wanted to delay the whole issue using attrition to wear down the movement.
  • They would have liked Musharraf to stay.
  • And of course the judges restoration be delayed or avoided.

What do we see right now?

The works of the establishment:

  • Zardari’s murder cases dropped
  • Zardari’s corruption cases dropped
  • BA requirement dropped
  • By-elections delayed
  • Attacks on lawyers, another massacre in Karachi and attack on Sher Afgan
  • Petition put in SC when the count down is nearing its end to stop the restoration

The works of Zardari:

  • No question of impeachment raised by Zardari
  • PPP members have even called Musharraf “an asset” for Pakistan
  • Needless delay over the judges
  • Active hostility towards the judiciary and lawyers (the only lucky ones to have been issued a charge sheet)
  • Telling Aitzaz to shut up and go on with his agitation; as if he cared. Also said kay yeh ulti ginti walay baaz aa jayain.
  • Creation of confusion by offering indecent offers such as minus one, minus two and offering to make CJ the governor of Balochistan
  • Deliberate confusion over the date of countdown, by Zardari and Sherry Rehman.
  • Trying to find replacement for pro-judiciary PML-N through MQM and others in the guise of “national reconciliation”.
  • Constitutional Package.
  • Backdoor meetings between PPP and Musharraf
  • Retention of Malik Qayyum as AG and his clear shift to becoming pro-Zardari.
  • Delaying the issue of restoration from the first parliament session to 30 days.
  • Then creation of a committee which leads to deadlock.
  • Then the establishment puts a petition when the count down is about to end.

The issue of the judges:
The deposed judges are still the real judges. A simple order by the PM or a resolution in the parliament telling them to return to their offices would have been enough.

Suppose Zardari wanted to restore the judges and listen to our demands, how would the script have looked?

  • First session would have asked the judges to return to office.
  • Impeachment case put against Musharraf so he could not use 58-2(b)

Which of the two scripts do we see being played?

Can we still trust Zardari (or the PPP) after all this?