Thus Fare Fake Democracies

This government has gone completely bananas. On World Press Freedom Day, it chose to thrash journalists in Islamabad and Lahore. If any advertisement was needed of what a great democracy we are, the government provided it through steel helmets and bamboo sticks, and media people scurrying hither and thither.

If this wasn’t bad enough, its ministers and other luminaries refused to take responsibility for this bizarre action. They kept visiting the journalists and sympathising with them as if they were a breed apart from the government.

What took the cake was Chaudhry Shujaat and his ever present translator and filler in of conversational blanks, Mushahid Hussain, commiserating with the press. A day earlier the Chaudhry’s cousin and soul mate, Perwaiz Illahi, had beaten the journalists in Lahore and here was Shujaat a picture of concern and sympathy. If this isn’t hypocrisy or rank duplicity, I don’t know what is.

While Chaudhry Shujaat must have known what his cousin Perwaiz was up to, the rest of the Ministers in the government are clueless about what is going on. On Thursday, the Interior Minister claimed that Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Farraj was arrested from Mardan. The Information Minister on the same day said that he was taken in from the tribal areas. The truth may be that both don’t know. When it comes to security or law and order, very few in the government have any real information.

Sheikh Rashid keeps shooting off his mouth because he wants to give the impression that he is in the loop. This is obviously not true because he is often wrong. The General tolerates his bombast and even encourages it because it ends up confusing everybody. The name of the game is disinformation and the Sheikh has become a classical purveyor of it. Sometimes this is deliberate but often a consequence of his complete lack of knowledge.

On the journalists’ issue he has tried to use his lack of credibility to his advantage. He says he has no idea who gave the orders to thrash them and thus tries to absolve himself and his ministry of all responsibility. No one will accept this cop out because if you have the position, you must accept blame whether you knew anything or not.

The problem is that this government headed by Shaukat Aziz is a headless chicken running in all directions. It is a collection of individuals from diverse political backgrounds headed by a Prime Minister who is an appointee. He neither has a constituency nor a following in the National Assembly. This makes him powerless to create any discipline within his cabinet or make the government run without hiccups. He even has difficulty maintaining a quorum in the National Assembly because the government members don’t take him seriously.

His complete lack of control was visible the other day in Depalpur when his Defence Minister and the Chief Minister Punjab had a verbal spat in front of him. Rao Sikander Iqbal may have his faults but he is above all a gentleman. Perwaiz Illahi must have riled him up beyond measure for him to lose his cool. But, the main thing is that the presence of the Prime Minister did not deter either from playing political games or colliding publicly.

This is the problem with contrived set ups. Ambition and love for power is the only common factor that brings people together. There is neither a shared purpose nor a collective vision of the future. More importantly, there are no natural leaders in it. They are created or appointed by ring masters and are not accepted by others although a great deal of lip service is paid. It thus becomes impossible to create any discipline in the government or coherence in governance.

One main problem of fake leadership is that the power game never ends. Zafarullah Jamali had an uneasy tenure because they were many conspiring to get rid of him. He had the perfect credentials for a contrived set up -- Baloch, traditional political family, many old political linkages but no real following, no desire or ability to stand up to the military -- and yet he was sacked. He was removed not because of any real failing though he may not have been the most efficient manager in the world. His problem was that too many were conspiring against him and he did not have the means or the skill to combat them. This led to his fall.

Many thought the technocratic credentials of Shaukat Aziz and the obvious favour of General Musharraf would see him sit comfortably in the PM’s chair. But, it cannot happen. It is against the dynamics of power. Anyone who can be removed will be removed. The only secure person is the General himself because his position is unassailable. All the rest are expendable whether it is the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister or other lesser beings.

If we accept the premise that weak power holders will eventually be removed, there is no reason to believe that Shaukat Aziz will survive as Prime Minister for a long time. He has shown remarkable political skills by forging enough links and alliances to reach the top, but now it is his seat which is the bone of contention. He may have been part of power games earlier on, but now they will be played against him. The wheel for him is coming full circle.

It is not a surprise that conspiracies against Shaukat Aziz have begun. A litany of charges against him have started to be heard. He is being termed a political novice incapable of controlling the members or keeping the coalition together. He is seen as incapable of bridging the inter provincial divide or forge a national consensus on critical issues such as the Kalabagh dam. More surprisingly, a lot of spicy gossip has started about his person that probably has no truth to it, but is an indicator that every weapon is fair in this game of power.

We have seen enough people being removed in Islamabad to know that there is a certain pattern to it. First starts the gossips in drawing rooms and at private parties. This may often be regarding corruption or the personal life of the individual concerned and then goes on to pinpoint his or her weakness as a leader.

This energises all the contenders for the position and they start enlisting the support of major power brokers. Before long, the die is cast. The weak holder of power is on the way out and another lamb for the slaughter is in.

This is the name of the game in fake democracies. Nothing ever gets settled. The real power is with the army and in this case with General Musharraf who is the army chief. The rest is a charade of poor players who strut and fret on the stage for a brief period and then are heard no more.