People's Power, not the Peoples' Party, Rules the Country

Usman Khalid

          Political workers have started to beat up the most obnoxious of the spokesmen of General Musharraf. The press and the politicians, as usual, are missing the point. They present such events as a threat to democracy and rule of law. It is quite the opposite. The people are alarmed that their leaders can so completely disregard their mandate so soon after the elections and have started to sleep with the enemy so willingly and so happily.

No one doubts that the vote on February 18, in which the Kings' Party - PML (Q) - slipped to the third position, was a vote against Musharraf. Yet, he is still in power; he is still busy placing his men in the new government; and his chief political ally - the MQM - is causing mayhem in Karachi. Clearly, the electors and supporters of the PPP are angry; they did not win the election in order to keep their tormentors "“ Musharraf and the MQM "“ in power. They waited because they could see that Musharraf was using his prerogative as President to delay the calling of the assembly sessions as long as possible awaiting the collapse of the coalition. The collapse did not happen. In fact, it was the Kings Party (PML-Q) that disintegrated and most of its members formed "˜forward blocs' to support the ruling coalition in every province. The only instrument still available to the beleaguered President is the MQM and he is using it to the full in Karachi.

Sleeping with the enemy is not 'econciliation' by any measure; it is "˜extreme coercion'. When Asif Zardari indicated he would offer the MQM share in power in Sindh and at the Centre, his supporters revolted. In "˜virile' Pakistan, death is preferable over sleeping with the enemy. Until last week it was thought to be smart to string along the MQM but when it became apparent that it was the President who was dictating terms, the constituency of the PPP was outraged. The ruling coalition enjoys two third majority in the National Assembly and the Senate combined, and yet impeachment proceedings against the President have not been started. The delay, it was understood, was because of all the provincial assemblies not having been sworn in and the Electoral College for the election of the new President not being in place. But Asif Zardari's outburst against the judges and the Defence Minister declaring Musharraf to be a "˜national asset' had alarm bells ringing in the constituency of the PPP and its coalition partners.

When the NWFP Assembly passed a unanimous resolution condemning the threat of air raids inside Pakistan by the head of American CIA, it showed there is unanimity in that assembly in opposing Musharraf's agenda. In the Balochistan Assembly, only one member sits on opposition benches and he too has promised to co-operate on issues of national importance. In the Punjab, whose members have been sworn in only today, its first session was characterised by mutual respect and harmony between the coalition partners - PML(N) and the PPP. It was only in Sindh that Musharraf appeared to be succeeding in getting its Trojan Horse- the MQM "“ into government. The beating up of former Chief Minister "“ an ally of Musharraf alongside the MQM "“ is the tip of the iceberg. The members of the majority party are very unhappy with their leader Asif Ali Zardari courting the MQM. The PPP is not a mafia like the MQM whose gets direction even for its chants from London.

High esteem in which Asif Zardari is held precludes an open revolt. The members asserted themselves by taunts and show of resentment against the delegation sent by the MQM to Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on the death anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Shaheed. The thrashing to Arbab Rahim was meant to be a message to the MQM and President Musharraf that the people do not see the MQM as legitimate forces of democracy; it has been and still is the "˜collaborator' of the dictator. They got the message. Yesterday evening, all the collaborators - President of PML(Q), and Dr Farooq Sattar of the MQM - were condoling with their one and only ally in Sindh, Dr Arbab Rahim in front of TV cameras. They are all aware and afraid that their bonafides as forces of democracy had been rejected by the people with contempt.

That is the rub. Any one who worked with General Musharraf over the last five years and the parties whose members voted for Musharraf as President while he was still in uniform, committed crimes against democracy; they cannot be allowed to masquerade as democratic political parties. The constituency of the PPP is far ahead of its leaders. They are not able to forgive and forget until they know what they are being asked to forgive and forget. Some of the leaders of the PPP may be willing to work with Musharraf and the MQM; their constituency is not. What is more, the people of Sindh are being asked not just to forgive Musharraf and the MQM; they are being asked to join them and share power with them. That is clearly not acceptable even if it is given a nice spin and called 'econciliation'. What we are seeing on the streets of Pakistan is a revolution; it is not bloody but it is a revolution nevertheless. It is a revolution because the people are asserting themselves in defiance of every kind of authority. It is the people, not the Peoples' Party that is in control. The situation is not out of hand yet, but it could if the assemblies do not move fast enough to impeach Musharraf.

I say again, the people are rightly impatient. They do not see any "˜deals' or foreign pressures to be an adequate reason for their leaders to ignore their mandate. They want the deal the leaders of the coalition made with the people to honoured. They want Musharraf out and they want it now. The leaders seem to have little idea of peoples' mood. They have seen how judges committed to do justice can make a difference to their lives. They see a reluctance to re-instate Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and the other judges who refused to take oath on the PCO on 3 November 2007. No wonder the Defence Minster Ahmed Mukhtar is out of sight since he called Musharraf a "˜national asset'. Even Asif Zardari has made no public appearance or a statement after his outburst against the judges. I hope the PPP leadership realises it has no power to change the mandate of the people let alone defy it. If it fails to impeach the President and ends up failing to reinstate the judges, it would be seen to have deceived the people and would earn their wrath. That is precisely what Musharraf's game plan is. 

The Kings Party of General Ayub Khan disappeared after he was ousted from power. General Zia ul Haq created two Kings' Parties "“ PML and the MQM. The PML transformed itself under the leadership of Mian Nawaz Sharif into a genuine populist party and continues to flourish. The MQM transformed itself into an opportunist party that joins every government only to undermine it from within at the behest of its multiple foreign patrons. The writing on the wall now is: the role of Kings' Parties is finished forever. The only sensible course for Members of PML (Q) in the assemblies is to rejoin their parent parties if they can. It is only the MQM that appears unable to find a role and a place in the new scheme of things. It will take some doing to liquidate. The victims of the MQM rule in Karachi outnumber its supporters. The people of Karachi have put up with the excesses of their excesses far too long. They know best how to consign this party to the dustbin of history. Asif Zardari has better listen to them. There is no task more important for the PPP than to regain control of the capital of Sindh "“ Karachi.