Et tu, Khan?

One of Pakistan’s enduring customs is that the pessimists often carry the day while those who think positively are seen biting the dust. The smooth democratic transition of a year ago is a case in point.

After less than six months in power, the third premiership of Nawaz Sharif was seen by cynics as heading for rough waters. There were no visible signs of trouble but the prophets of doom were beginning to propagate freshly spun tales of trust deficit between the civilian government and the military high command.

That unfortunately is a done deal now. The optimists who had put their faith in the growing maturity of the democratic system are now asking themselves why they had underestimated the ‘curse’ that afflicts smooth relations between the military and civilian rulers. The more you try to exorcise the curse – for example, by frequent meetings between the civil and military chiefs – the more threatening it tends to get.

The first lesson, though not new by any means, to be drawn from the latest power game between Islamabad and Rawalpindi is that the army chief is nobody’s man. He is his own man or he is the man of the military top brass or he is the man of the over half a million souls constituting the world’s sixth largest army. In all probability, he is a man of all these combined.

Let us assume that a new army chief is the prime minister’s man between the moment he receives the good news of his selection until the assumption of his charge. From the symbolic transfer of the swagger stick, the atmosphere begins to change. With each passing day, the chief gets a little more feel of his power. It is not long before he can start looking into the eye of the civilian executive while showing the deference that is due.

Now that the army chief has made it clear what the boys think about the army’s pride and dignity, supremacy of the constitution and indirect talks with the Taliban, most thinking minds are asking: where do we go from here? No easy answers there because the situation is getting more complex. The battle lines are becoming clearer though as the PML-N’s sympathy for Hamid Mir has added to the army’s annoyance with the largest media group. The PML-Q has joined those displaying solidarity with the military.

The big question, however, is the impact of the PTI’s sudden fury against Geo TV’s role. Imran Khan has cast his lot with the army and against the Jang Group. This posturing is part of the larger calculus and the game plan to destabilise the Nawaz Sharif government on the pretext of election irregularities. The fire-emitting Allama has threatened to join hands with Imran in the protest on May 11.

It is common knowledge that Tahirul Qadri wants to bring the haunted house of democracy down but the edifice he offers in its place sounds like the Addams Family abode. Qadri’s desperation to be seen as relevant is understandable. He does not see any place for him in the present parliamentary system. Et tu, Khan? After partaking of the imperfect system, he seems to have no hesitation in rocking the boat – at least in Islamabad.

It is distressing to see that the poster the PTI has chosen to send its message has a clenched fist as a symbol. These clenched fists will be raised at the D-Chowk right in front of the parliament building. Imran will thus become the unusual rabble-rouser against the system he and his party happily joined only a year ago. It would be far better had the PTI used parliament for its protest rather than the public square outside.

Back in the days of our revolving door democracy of the 90s, Benazir began her protest in the assembly. ‘Go Baba go, go Baba go’ chanted Benazir Bhutto till her voice became hoarse while leading the chorus of her supporters as Ghulam Ishaq Khan continued with his presidential address to the joint session of parliament. Ishaq Khan, who had witnessed or directly participated in many of the republic’s most dramatic events, remained unflappable but the point was made.

Musharraf found himself in a similar situation when he addressed the joint session. This time, the desk thumping was mostly by Nawaz Sharif’s supporters. ‘Go Musharraf go’, they called as the tormentor of ‘sham democracy’ tried to control the unruly scene in the joint session. But he left the assembly hall defiant, waving his fist and a stare that meant ‘we shall fix you’.

Two years after her chant of Go Baba Go, Benazir was out in the streets demonstrating against Nawaz Sharif. This manoeuvre was to bring the government down and she succeeded in doing that. Baba had decided to sack Sharif and call fresh elections.

These episodes were probably the most chaotic witnessed in our parliament but represented the catharsis of the opposition against representatives of arbitrary rule. It is also clear that when BB received the green light from the powers that be, she mounted an agitation. The government was extremely nervous and refused entry to the procession in Islamabad.

Can a popular show of force be achieved when the government has been in power for eleven months and has yet to commit blunders that will show its vulnerability? This aspect is bothering all those who say they are unable to figure out the method in Imran’s call to come out in the streets.

Mian Sahib should rise to the challenge from the PTI and its allies outside the assembly building by taking the debate back to the assembly hall. He can even call a joint session of parliament for a cathartic session on what ails our democratic order. Will he?

Email: saeed.saeedk@gmail.com