Will President Zardari have anything left to smile about? ( By Asha’ar Rehman )

[LahoreEstate]

SO people, the delay has not culminated in denial, and justice is seen to have been done. A teary-eyed Mian Shahbaz Sharif returns as the chief minister of Punjab to start from where he left off on Feb 25.



In a statement truly symbolic of the importance of Punjab as the federation’s biggest province, he vowed to serve the 160 million people of this country, attributing his restoration to a free judiciary.



There is no reason for anyone to believe that the decision of the full bench of the Supreme Court is in any way linked to some agreement, brokered by the powerful, between the PML-N and PPP. Sceptics looking for evidence will find a rebuttal in the statements, made over the last few days, of the second-tier PML-N leadership. Leaguers such as Rana Sanaullah, now himself the restored law minister of Punjab, had been publicly suspicious of all the moves made by the PPP-led government at the centre. Monday’s notification by the presidency to lift governor’s rule also saw doubts being cast on the sincerity of President Asif Zardari and his unwise counsels.



However, the two Sharif brothers were quiet and exuded calmness. Seasoned politicians who have been through the rough and tumble of politics, veterans of a fruitful long march, they had every reason to be confident: times have changed and we are now living under the reign of an independent judiciary where grievances are justly addressed.

The Sharif victory is almost complete — almost because the issue of Mian Nawaz Sharif’s eligibility to contest an election is still to be sorted out. Again, Mr Nawaz Sharif is quietly confident and has expressed the hope of returning to the prime minister’s house after the next (general?) election. That will be a day to look forward to for true followers of parliamentary democracy, after a succession of rather lame chief executives as seen in prime ministers Zafarullah Jamali, Shaukat Aziz and, shall we say, the Sharif friend Yousuf Raza Gilani.



The spirit of independence that the current times inspire is not peculiar to any particular individual or group. The two restorations — that of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and Shahbaz Sharif — also allow right-wingers in the Jamaat-i-Islami and other parties to go their own way on the street. The JI’s services have been used to maximum advantage in the campaign to restore the judges. It is up to its members and the new Jamaat amir Syed Munnawar Hasan if they want to go ahead with their plans to stage a sit-in in Islamabad against attacks on Pakistan’s territory by American drones.



The Supreme Court decision that stayed the earlier verdict to disqualify Shahbaz Sharif from holding a provincial assembly seat will allow the PML-Q to chart its own course in Punjab. The disqualification had placed huge demands on Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Husain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Given that the PPP has promised the PML-N its support in ensuring a majority for Shahbaz Sharif, PML-Q leaders should be happy that there is no reason now to continue with the politics of forward blocs that saw the party losing so many of its members.



Who knows, the Sharifs may choose to be magnanimous in their moment of triumph and accommodate the ‘Question Mark Chaudhrys’ in a unified Muslim League. At least the Q League’s Messrs Mushahid Husain and Tariq Azeem will be hoping that this is how things will turn out. Mr Husain has been especially insisting on the unification of the leagues, his call justified by existing popular realities that warn all aspirants to shun the PPP in Punjab at this moment.



This is what a series of suicidal decisions, culminating in the imposition of governor’s rule in Punjab in February, has done to the PPP. The party under the able leadership of President Asif Zardari is also in the process of freeing itself of some of the baggage of the past. In fact, it has already been quite successful in getting rid of the popular weight which might have carried it through many an election but that hindered a partnership with the establishment that would satisfy its leadership.



Mr Zardari’s capacity to alienate his supporters far surpasses both Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s and Benazir Bhutto’s knack of distancing themselves from their constituency. By opposing the idea of restoring Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and imposing governor’s rule in Punjab, the president had already given a poor account of himself. But it was the blows that his party suffered in the bargain that made his actions more regrettable.



Few had any great expectations of Mr Zardari, but many, perhaps out of lack of cultural (and not so much political) choice, still wished his party could come up with a better performance than it had turned in so far. And the sum of it is that after everything done in the name of consolidating power, the PPP-led executive in Islamabad still cannot claim that it is on ideal terms with all those who make and break governments.



There is an additional reason for stock-taking. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s 30th death anniversary falls on Saturday. Mr Zardari may choose to use the occasion to reflect on the vindication of ZAB so many years after his judicial murder at a time when the judiciary was not as free as it is today. He may also decide to collect the accolades being heaped on the late ZAB from everyone including the Sharifs and some new aspirants to power, and display them proudly alongside the picture of Benazir Bhutto.



At the same time Mr Zardari, who had for long been advocating a compromise with the establishment before he came to power, would do well to remember that ZAB has been vindicated and his legend has lived on because he died on the side of the people. ZAB made his blunders but redeemed himself with his cry against the establishment before his life was extinguished. Can the same be said about Ms Bhutto as part of whose legacy and in whose name Mr Zardari chooses to advance his politics? The rate at which he is expending it, the capital is not going to last for long.

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