Benazir Bhutto had it coming. She was an arrogant, reckless, capricious and corrupt ruler who surrounded herself with sycophants, lackeys and flunkeys and squandered away a second opportunity to serve the people of Pakistan for five years as prime minister. The irony is that she began her second stint with the President, Farooq Leghari, and the Chief Justice, Sajjad Ali Shah, solidly behind her and ended it by irrevocably antagonising both pillars of the state. If she had been allowed to continue much longer, there is no doubt she would have led the country into a dark abyss from which there would have been little hope of recovery.
The President’s charge sheet is substantial. Ms Bhutto’s government was guilty of violating fundamental rights, especially in Karachi. She undermined the Presidency and the Army by accusing them of complicity in Murtaza Bhutto’s murder. She did not fully implement the Supreme Court’s decision in the Judges case. Her proposed accountability bill in parliament was an attempt to destroy the independence of the judiciary. She violated the right to privacy of citizens by bugging their conversations, especially those of leading members of the state. Her government was corrupt in the extreme and her cabinet was loath to assume collective responsibility for its acts. And so on.
Such charges had been levelled against her government for over a year now. The President had advised, then warned, her to desist from violating the constitution time and again. Old friends, like TFT for example, were accused of conspiring against her and imperiously consigned “to burn in hell” for being outspoken. Ms Bhutto continued to spurn sensible advice until the sorry end. Indeed, she may be said to have written her own political obituary almost six months ago when, having already embittered the public by her reckless economic mismanagement, she embarked on a suicidal mission to undermine the organs of the state. Ms Bhutto’s dismissal therefore comes as no surprise. If anything, people want to know why it took the President so long to boot her out. What comes next?
The choice of Malik Meraj Khalid as interim prime minister is a good one. Malik Sahib is respected for his unassuming demeanour and impeccable integrity. His political career has been exemplary. Most of his cabinet colleagues are thought to be equally uncontroversial and competent. In particular, the selection of Shahid Javed Burki as finance minister is a desperately needed and most welcome confidence-building measure for the business community. Sahibzada Yaqub Khan’s vast experience in foreign affairs, including many valuable international friendships, should prove to be an asset for the government. And it is good to know that there is representation from the PPP and the PML-N in the cabinet. Hopefully, new standards of leadership will emerge.
The President’s agenda is clear-cut. An accountability commission should get cracking immediately and start from the very top. The government must hire the services of international forensic accountants to track down illegal bank accounts and assets held abroad by powerful or well connected Pakistani politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen. The establishment division should promptly root out all corrupt, incompetent or sifarashi bureaucrats who have wormed their way into government. The Public Service Commissions must follow suit in the provinces. The police, in particular, should be overhauled mercilessly. Able and honest judges should be appointed to the benches. The Murtaza case commission should be empowered to get to the bottom of the conspiracy. The election commission should comprise independent and fearless judges so that electoral rules can be enforced and a thorough screening of the next crop of election candidates can be undertaken well in time.
Most important, the new government should shake up the central board of revenue, the privatisation commission, the public sector banks and the various development finance institutions. The finance ministry must become an efficient instrument for credible economic and financial policies.
President Leghari has said that the next elections will be held three months from now. That is all very well. But he has not explained how he expects to clean up the political system in so short a time through an aggressive and credible process of accountability. Surely one corrupt and reckless group of politicians wasn’t dismissed after so much heartache so that another such assembly could be allowed to come to power again? Nor is it clear how fair elections can be organised within three months without holding a census which apportions correct weights to new voters and constituencies. Finally, we shall require cast-iron guarantees that the good deeds of the interim government are not squandered away by the new government which follows the elections, as happened after Mr Moeen Qureshi exited from the scene in 1993. Since the proof of the pudding is in the eating of it, we shall clearly have to wait and see how the President goes about fulfilling the great expectations attendant upon him.
This is a make or break moment for Pakistan. It requires vision to set an agenda and brutal surgery to enforce it. The President has broken free of the shackles of Benazir Bhutto. If he is now found wanting on either front, not all the good intentions in the world will save him from the judgment of history.