The political discourse in Pakistan these days is focused on the presidential elections. More specifically, it is centred on the question that can Asif Ali Zardari – once known as Mr Ten Percent – lay claim on the top slot of the government of Pakistan? While the PPP leaders are making their case for Asif Zardari to be the rightful president of the country, the opposition, prominent among them being the lawyers’ community, the PML-N, and a section of the ‘opinion makers’, is leaving no stone unturned in trying to portray him as the most unfit man to be the head of state. Unfortunately, the debate is not taking a logical course and is fed by misplaced emotions, undue criticism, and even bias. How?

There is a clear procedure in the Constitution of Pakistan for the election of the president. The National Assembly, the four provincial assemblies, and the Senate form the Electoral College for the president. Of the presidential candidates, the one who gets a majority of votes in the Houses is declared president. Does Asif Zardari not fulfil the constitutional and legal requirements to run for the president? He does. Does he not come from the political party that wields a majority? Again, there is no hitch about it. It should be clear by now that no law of the land bars Mr Zardari to run for the top slot.

Now, those who argue against Zardari’s right to run as president fall back on the past politics of about a decade or so in which Zardari turned out to be a corrupt entrant in politics on the back of the PPP government with his wife, Benazir Bhutto, as the prime minister. I think the clarity of thought is missing here among those who oppose Asif Zardari’s nomination and election as president. Number one: he has been given a clean chit by the courts whose verdict should be accepted and honoured by each and every Pakistani. There is hardly a politician in Pakistan who does not carry the label of corruption on his chest – true or false. Number two: the PPP leaders point out that while he was languishing in jails and was being tortured, no judicial activism was at work to save him for a ‘political’ treatment in the jails. Certainly, that makes sense.

The hardcore PPP supporters also point out, though we may or may not agree with them, that the judges whom the PML-N and the lawyers want to ‘restore’ are the very same judges who had taken oath under the PCO besides the fact that the office of the judges was assaulted by the very people then who now pose as its saviour. It should be understandable to the critics who sometimes do criticism for the sake of it that public opinion has no role to play in the elections of the president since the Electoral College, which represents the popular vote in both the Houses, is authorised to exercise its constitutional role to elect a president.

Even on a human level, the case of Mr Zardari is compelling. After the mind-shattering assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Zardari courageously stepped into the shoes of a big responsibility – to save the country form falling apart. Pakistan khappay came as the rescue. That was the time when, immediately after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, chaos ruled the streets of the country, especially Karachi and the masses had lost any direction as a nation. Taking care of his children in the permanent absence of their mother is a task that requires very strong nerves. Later, the journey from taking the coalition partners along and finally getting rid of the “relic of the past� goes to his credit.

It is most ironic and unexplainable; we put up with an unconstitutional president for more than eight years, gave him a lease of life in the shape of the 17th Amendment, and only came together to oust him when the political leadership of the PPP made room for the political process to begin in Pakistan. The know-all, even at the very crucial moment in the history of Pakistan, were rallying for boycotting the polls and thereby giving Musharraf another opportunity to remain in the office of the president.

The matter that is debatable is not whether Asif Zardari should or should not run for the presidency but what steps he should take if he becomes the president. The question whether we want a powerful president or a powerful prime minister is a relevant one. We have a parliamentary democracy. There should be no doubt about that. Asif Zardari, once he becomes the president, should make the 17th Amendment a thing of the past; that is a legitimate concern of the people of Pakistan. We do not want a strong president and we do not want a repeat of the political see-saw played between the presidents and the prime ministers. We have to understand that these are critical times for Pakistan. Getting rid of Musharraf is like starting it all over again. The immediate challenges being faced by the country are enormous; we do not have enough electricity to keep the wheel of our economy going, besides the flour crisis that continues to hit the common man.

If we fail to identify our priorities at the moment, we run the risk of losing whatever we are left with. The situation in Balochistan, tribal areas, and the rest of the country leaves us with no option but to put our acts together and bring stability in the country. We should not forget that though Musharraf has gone, the sword of the ‘establishment’ still hangs on the head of nascent democracy. It is no time for petty politics! Leave it for another occasion.