“Mr Ten Percent” has in fact given “One-Hundred-and-Ten Percent” back to the country – by Tarek Fatah
Giving up power in Pakistan
The man lampooned unfairly by the country’s powerful establishment as “Mr Ten Percent” has in fact given “One-Hundred-and-Ten Percent” back to the country
Few leaders have emulated Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, who in 1985 relinquished all of his powers and voluntarily stepped down as president of the country. At a time when African dictators, Arab Kings and Latin American generalissimos adorned themselves in bizarre military uniforms, medieval costumes and got appointed ‘life presidents’, Nyerere, known to his people simply as Mwalimu or “teacher”, quietly passed on the torch. Other Afro-Asian leaders have done the exact opposite. Notably, Mugabe, Qaddafi and the King of Saudi Arabia it seems will only leave office when the angel of death descends.
From Canada, it seems impossible to imagine that anyone at the top would ever dare to relinquish power. Whether it is the Saudi kings or Mugabe or Qaddafi, it seems in the third world, only divine intervention brings about change.
However, a quarter century later, on Monday, April 19, an echo of Nyerere’s rare statesmanship was heard and witnessed on another continent. With a simple signature, President Asif Zardari of Pakistan signed away most of his executive powers he had inherited from military predecessors to become the country’s ceremonial head of state. For 40 years military dictators who had overthrown elected governments had ruled unconstitutionally with a complicit judiciary that had legitimised their acts of treason. Zardari’s action nullified decades of damage to give Pakistan the chance for a fresh start.
In the words of columnist Raza Rumi, Pakistan “crossed a major milestone” when all of the country’s political parties — the ruling alliance and the opposition — reached a consensus on the 18th Amendment to the country’s constitution. He wrote, “The distortions inserted by the military rule have been done away with. Political elites this time, however, have gone a step further and improved the state of provincial autonomy. Perhaps this is where a civilian negotiation and democratic politics of compromise has been most effective. Who would have thought a few years ago that this was achievable? There were many sceptics who thought that the amendments might not be approved. However, the ‘corrupt’ and ‘incompetent’ politicians have proved everyone wrong.”
Two years ago when Zardari was unanimously elected president by the country’s National Assembly, Senate and all members of the four provincial legislatures, he had promised that he would work to amend the country’s constitution so that no future president was able to dismiss an elected parliament or usurp power. At the time few people believed he would do what he was promising. After all, who in his right mind gives up power, willingly?
Zardari has proven all his critics wrong and in doing so has changed the course of Pakistan’s history. The man lampooned unfairly by the country’s powerful establishment — the media, the generals and the judges — as “Mr Ten Percent” has in fact given “One-Hundred-and-Ten Percent” back to the country. While the nation celebrates, still in disbelief that anyone at the top was willing to curtail their own powers, his critics in the armed forces and the judiciary are foaming with anger, unable to stop him from enshrining democracy as an immutable reality in Pakistan.
The country’s Punjab-dominated judges and generals, though smarting from this setback, still wield the power to undo this historic development. In fact, as he signed the document, President Zardari did not shy away from suggesting there may still be some generals lurking in the shadows who may stage a military coup with the backing of the judiciary.
After the signing ceremony Zardari took everyone by surprise when he said while the doors stood closed to dictators, “mishaps” could not be ruled out. Asked about the possibility of another dictatorship, he said, “I am fully confident that no dictator would dare step in now, but then, who can rule out mishaps?”
Ever the realist, the man who has witnessed the murder of his wife, the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the judicial assassination of his father-in-law, Prime Minister ZA Bhutto and two of his wife’s brothers, Zardari has seen death at close quarters and I am told he has warned the military as well the judiciary that any attempt to stage a military coup will have to contend with his dead body. “I will go down like Allende, not Nawaz Sharif,” he told a common friend and those who know him since his days at a military cadet college say the man keeps his word.
As Raza Rumi reminds us, “Despite the march towards the democratic ideal, there are clear and present dangers that democracy is as fragile as ever. The reasons are not difficult to state: the political class that is adept at wrangling and the unelected institutions of the state whose quest for power is an ever-present reality…the relentless campaign against him [Zardari] continues unabated…The key power wielders in Pakistan are now the two institutions of the state, the army and the judiciary.”
More than the army, it is the judiciary, appointed to their privileged positions by past military dictators, which seems to be working against the current government. In one instance, the judiciary has stepped in to set the sale price of sugar, resulting in the shutting down of many private mills. It is as if these judges were not presiding over the Supreme Court but were play acting their romantic role as Qazis in medieval Baghdad. After seeing the loss of power of their military benefactors, the judges now want to try President Zardari for the same corruption cases that saw the man suffer 10 years in prison with no convictions.
Only time will tell whether the “mishap” Zardari spoke of on signing the historic document will come to fruition or whether the judges, generals and journalists will see the writing on the wall and back off to allow an elected government to complete its term in office and let the people decide whether Zardari and his PPP coalition government need to be chucked out of office or re-elected for a second term.
Tarek Fatah is a Canadian political activist, writer and broadcaster. He is the author of Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State
hello sir, you have summerized the long 20 years struggle for democracy in few quality words. and i admire your thoughts alot which are one hundred and ten percent factual. but the irony is, our people take around 30 years to realize/accept the truth. hypocrisy is currently prevailing. but there is always a silver linning to every cloud. and that silver linning is not so far now. 🙂
Tarek,
Thanks for writing this. Your view from Toronto about Pakistan’s prevalent political currents and under-currents is as objective as it is insightful.
People who know this, can recall that ZA Bhutto was accused of concentrating too much power in the office of President, albeit democratically elected, before he skillfully negotiated a consensus among all political parties to have the same authority invested in the office of Prime Minister in what we all know as the historic 1973 Constitution.
For this most eminent service to the cause of parliamentary sovereignty, provincial autonomy, and constitutionalism, apart from his many services to the people, the defence and state of Pakistan – too well known to be recounted here, he was hanged in what is universally acknowledged as a judicial murder perpetrated at the behest of a rabidly virulent and self-serving military establishment, a servile judiciary and a goading political Right.
Today, 37 years down the road, including 20 years of 2 more military coups, 11 years of 4 fragile but highly harassed elected governments, the physical elimination of almost the entire Bhutto family and many ‘constitutional’ mutilations sanctioned by judiciary, Pakistan’s constitutional history has in fact only traversed a full circle, taken a 360-degree turn. In effect, the Eighteenth Amendment once again restores the balance of power back to the office of the Prime Minister, who in this case happens to be not the same person as the President [as was the case in 1973].
Yet, the current highly charged and ominous political atmosphere reminds me of exactly the same scenario obtaining in the late 70’s before Bhutto’s hanging. The only difference in the dynamics of the two scenarios is that in 2010, a highly hostile and partisan media is added to the situation on the one hand and Prime Minister Bhutto is replaced by President Zardari on the other.
Cornered in 1977, a constitutionally powerful ZA Bhutto thundered in the parliament that “the bloodhounds are after my blood.” The same political bloodhounds are after a constitutionally ‘weak’ President this time who has voluntarily given up all the powers enjoyed by military dictators. And that says a lot about Mr. Asif Ali Zardari.
zardari is the smartest political actor in contemporary Pakistani politics . ZAB managed 1973 constitution while he had 2/3 majority in the parliament. Asif Zardari managed consensus 18th amendment while his party has only 124 members in house of 345 in lower house of the parliament .