Despite some transitional hiccups like the roughing up of Arbab Rahim, Sher Afghan Niazi and the violent mayhem in Karachi, good things are happening in Pakistan.
All the coalition governments at the centre and in the provinces are in place without any indecent squabbling among the coalition partners for the prized slots. Indeed, the elections of the Leaders of the House, the Speakers of the House and the Leaders of the Opposition in the House all went smoothly. There is a sense of propriety in the air, a realization among politicians that the public is watching and the media will brook no wrong doing that could bring the transition to democracy into disrepute or, worse still, derail it after all the soul searching and hand wringing of recent months.
It is also commendable that President Pervez Musharraf has stopped throwing his weight about. After the elections, he could have been a red rag to the bulls if he had insisted on hogging the show as in the past. But he has wisely dipped on the radar screens and let the politicians get on with it. Theoretically he is still armed with many powers but practically he can only play a ceremonial role in the future. Any attempt at reassertion would lead to a confrontation with the people and parliament which he could not hope to survive. So it is just as well that he has been invited to China and Indonesia to lecture the untutored Muslims of those countries about enlightened moderation and good governance. Clearly he still enjoys goodwill abroad and can be an extraordinary ambassador of the country. The happiest surprise has been the maturity shown by Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari. Both are concentrating on issues of governance and cooperation. They have shared the ministries in Islamabad and Punjab amicably. Mr Sharif has nominated the deserving Shahbaz Sharif as the CM-designate of Punjab even as he has succumbed to pressure from party stalwart Zulfikar Khosa to slot his son as interim-CM. Much the same strategy has been followed by Mr Zardari vis a vis Yousaf Raza Gilani as PM who will keep the seat warm for him until he is ready to occupy it. There are some hurdles in the path of both Mr Sharif and Mr Zardari but these will surely be surmounted in time to come. The former has to persuade the election commission to let him contest a provincial by-election just as the latter has to persuade it to accept the validity of his degree from a UK based institute.
Fortunately, too, there are not many unacceptable surprises in the federal cabinet. The key slots are in the hands of reputable people. Shah Mahmood Qureshi will make a good foreign minister, Ishaq Dar a non-nonsense finance minister. Sherry Rehman’s experience as an independent-minded editor in an earlier life should comfort the media now that she is on the other side of the fence in her welcome reincarnation as Information Minister. Dr Fehmida Mirza, the NA Speaker, who looks like her dear departed leader in a trademark white dopatta, should chasten all unruly elements in parliament. The choice of Hussain Haqqani as ambassador to the USA and Gen (r) Mahmud Durrani as National Security Advisor to the PM are merited too. Mr Haqqani has made good contacts in the US political system and knows how to milk them in Pakistan’s national interest, while General Durrani has established credentials as a mutually trustworthy go-between the PPP and military high command, including President Musharraf. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Ahmad Mukhtar, Khawaja Asif and Naveed Qamar are all heavyweights who are known to deliver.
The new government is faced with three issues that require immediate attention. The first relates to the matter of the deposed judges. Mr Zardari’s political acumen will be tested because this is a highly charged and emotional matter. The second concerns the war on terror. The government has to own the new tactics and strategy of this war and satisfy both the international community as well its domestic constituency and will require wisdom and diplomacy of the highest order. The third is how to fix the economy without unleashing a popular backlash or alienating the foreign investor who is eyeing the Pakistani market.
The good news on the first issue is that the lawyers movement, by roughing up Sher Afghan Niazi, has demonstrated unwarranted aggression that has discredited its confrontationist posture and strengthened Mr Zardari’s hands in formulating a democratic and parliamentary solution to the problem. The good news on the war on terror is that the army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, has briefed the government about its options and asked for orders on which option to execute. The good news on the economy is that the wisdom of taking hard decisions now rather than deferring them seems to have dawned on the government.
To be sure, the latest bout of violence in Karachi is a signal from the MQM that it should not be taken for granted by Mr Zardari nor provoked by Mr Sharif and the confrontationists. Good politics requires this message should be heeded in the national interest.