Zardari and the Politics of Defiance

Call it a political gimmick or a leader’s reply to his people’s voice, the recent interview the PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari gave to the Press Trust of India (PTI) has brought him back into the limelight at a time when he seemed set to go into oblivion. So, finally, we have reached the climax of the political drama being played at the wobbly stage of Pakistani politics for the last couple of months. It had to happen or the tables would have turned on none other than the PPP itself and Asif Ali Zardari, wrapping up his nascent career as a leading politician, or at least remarkably reducing his already controversial stature.

It seems that the PPP co-chairperson has finally realised that the prosperity-starved people of Pakistan will continue to be governed by a lame-duck democracy unless the president, who rode into the thick of Pakistani politics on the back of dictatorship, is removed from the office. This is also reflected in the PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar’s statement that Asif Zardari wants to win and retain the confidence of the people of Pakistan. For the time being, he has done that by calling the president “a relic of the past�.

The contents of what was brewing between the president and the government are becoming clear with each passing day. The talk of constitutional package, which had gone into the background amid the hullabaloo about the restoration of the judiciary, has come to the foreground again – with a bang. The difference in the stance of President Musharraf, who does not want to recede an inch saying he is a constitutional president, and Asif Ali Zardari, who has earlier been rather vague on the issue of the president, have come to light in an interview Zardari gave to the PTI.

The reason Zardari has given for taking this about turn to confront the presidency is reflective of the mood of society. The fact that the people had made it clear to the PPP that, “We do not want bread, we do not want electricity, but we want him (Musharraf) out� had to be taken into account. Understandably, Zardari was under immense pressure to dump the baggage of being complacent with the president.

It is quite clear now that the PPP leadership has gauged the threat to its popularity for not taking on the president in a different manner. Since its inception in 1967, the PPP has been regarded as a left-of-centre anti-establishment political party. With the passage of time, however, it came to realise that confronting the military establishment head on was either not in its interest or simply not possible.

The hanging of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was also enough evidence of the possible repercussions of opting for a confrontational path with the establishment. Consequently, we saw Benazir Bhutto going into discussions with President Musharraf for her safe return to the country and the issuance of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) for which the PPP faced criticism from the people. The prevailing political situation in the country demands of the PPP to re-consider its approach of walking the political course hand-in-hand with the retired general. This is because the PPP has signed documents like the Charter of Democracy (CoD) and the Bhurban Declaration. If the PPP and PML-N go in different directions on the same issues it would be yet another blow to a brutally wounded and weak democracy. Now it seems, after Zardari’s recent interview that the PPP has returned from the edge of a total political isolation in the national politics. The task before the government is to “correct the imbalance of power between the Presidency and the Parliament House in accordance with the CoD�.

The point to ponder is that what was it that made the PPP risk its reputation as a popular party to please a president whose legitimacy stands challenged in the eyes of the people? In fact, confronting the president may not be as easy as it may look to a common man or a politician who is not in direct conflict with the presidency. That is not to say that he or she is not right in making the popular demands. President Musharraf, as we all know, is not an individual. He represents a reality in Pakistan’s politics that we know by the name of the ‘establishment’.

The crucial part of this turn in politics remains to be seen in the shape of President Musharraf’s reaction to the somersault taken by Asif Ali Zardari. While the noose is being tightened around the president he has certain gear in his toolbox to fix things up – Article 58(2)(b). Can he do that again? If the past is any guide, no one should underestimate the president’s dare-devilry in the times of a ‘crisis’. While the president’s popularity has slipped down miles from the list of people’s popularity, he remains backed up by some quarters of the Bush administration. The US has been reluctant in openly disassociating itself from a military government after a democratic set-up has formed the government. Still, can the PPP, or any other political party for that matter, co-exist with a president who, even though retired now, has his roots in the military establishment? Given the political awakening among the masses in the backdrop of the issue of judiciary, the chances of such an arrangement working are non-existent. This is what Zardari has come to realise, though a little late.