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SPOTLIGHT: Let us hope this never
happens to a VVIP family: Executive somersault on NRO...
BY : WAJID NAEEMUDDIN
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ARTICLE (March 02 2010): The government and its law ministry appear to be
playing games with the judiciary. Among other things, the 17-member bench of
the Supreme Court, in its judgement of 16 December 2009, had unanimously
expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the NAB and had ordered
that the NAB Chairman, the Prosecutor General (PG) and the Deputy Prosecutor
General (DPG) be dismissed.
After sitting on these orders for nearly two months, the NAB chief carried
out the court order in respect of the DPG, which was within his powers and
moved the summary for dismissal of the PG to the Prime Minister as required
under the rules. This, after the court threatened him with coercive action,
including stoppage of his salary, if he failed to carry out the court's
orders immediately!
As for the Chairman himself, a very ingenious line appears to have been
taken by the executive whereby it is made to appear that the court order is
being complied with, but in fact the very spirit of the order is defeated.
Declared the PM that for removing the NAB Chairman, either his case for
dismissal would need to be referred to the Supreme Judicious Council (SJC),
or alternatively, in PM's view, he could resign. We have no idea if the
resignation is available as an option.
The Chairman resigned and in a very odd move, the President accepted his
resignation but asked him to continue till (no timeframe mentioned) a
replacement was in place. This has the effect of totally negating the order
of the court, which had wanted to see a more effective and forthright person
at the helm of the NAB than the outgoing one. Let us see what the court has
to say about this development.
The government has also moved a revised review petition on the NRO judgement,
belatedly defending the infamous ordinance, which amounts to a comprehensive
somersault by the government from its position all along (ever-since the
fiasco in the Parliament when MQM refused to go along with the government on
NRO), not to defend the NRO.
The revised review states that the NRO benefited Sharif brothers as well
since it made possible their return to the country and introduction of
civilian rule. The revised petition also takes a direct swipe at the CJP by
reminding him that he was part of the Supreme Court bench, which validated
Musharraf's actions of 2000. Back to square one with more legal
hair-splitting to occupy the government and the judiciary?
Meanwhile, a new law is on the anvil in Switzerland whereby the Swiss
government may return ill-gotten money from other (usually corrupt)
countries lying in the Swiss banks, to the countries from which they were
pilfered. If this materialises, it would indicate a change of heart on the
part of the Swiss government, which is frequently accused of attracting
corruption money to enrich its banking system or at least looking the other
way while this is happening.
It could also prove to be a boon for countries like Pakistan a lot of whose
stolen money is stashed away in foreign banks behind smoke screens of
various kinds. If the move goes through, will the Swiss government move
unilaterally in case of our (Swiss cases) money lying with it, without a
formal request from the government of Pakistan (which is doing everything
possible to avoid making one), it remains to be seen?
Rickshaw birth or protocol baby: Let us hope this never happens to a VVIP
(What does the term mean, anyway) and his family! Try to imagine the scene!
The traffic had been stalled for hours on a very busy road in Quetta. There
was a huge traffic jam at a number of crossings as a result of all traffic
having been blocked to give clear passage to President Zardari, who was to
pass along the main road on his way from the airport to the venue of an
official function.
A rickshaw carried a man - a poor labourer - and his pregnant (about to
deliver) wife on their way to Civil Hospital, and, blocked by police, could
not proceed further. The man pleaded with the traffic police to be allowed
to go on in view of an emergency on his hands.
His wife was suffering birth pangs in the narrow confines of the rickshaw on
an otherwise busy road jammed with traffic stalled for several hours now. A
mother and her about-to-be-born baby were at grave risk to their lives. But
the policemen blocking the traffic, were not moved.
Their only thought was that President Zardari and his huge entourage, due to
pass that point along the road, should have the otherwise busy thoroughfare
all to themselves and thus be able to move along at super speed without the
least inconvenience.
Finally, the inevitable came to pass and the poor mother gave birth to a
child within the confines of the rickshaw in the public place, surrounded by
hundreds of people also stalled in the gridlock! Allah be praised that no
harm came to the mother and child though the pain, distress and humiliation
they must have suffered for several hours defies imagination! The reactions
from the rulers were interesting.
President Zardari moved soon in damage limiting action to express sorrow,
offer an apology and announce a gift of Rs 500,000 for the "Rickshaw Baby,"
which was well received by the obviously very poor family. He also ordered
an inquiry into the mater and, according to a report, commented:
"alternative routes must be provided to ensure that the people do not
suffer".
Meanwhile, some five hundred miles to the south, the Prime Minister was
causing another traffic standstill on the main roads of Karachi at about the
same time, when traffic was stopped at scores of places to allow his hundred
plus car encourage to "whoosh" quickly along in ease and comfort.
Talking to a gathering soon after, the PM came forward to defend the
President's by playing down the whole incident and quipping that births take
place where Allah wills or words to that effect and that, births take place
in similar circumstances even without the VVIP protocol having anything to
do with it. The audience laughed in appreciation and the PM joined the mirth
with a beautiful smile!
For shame! Subsequently, perhaps taking cue from the Presidential gesture,
the PM also came forward with an offer to meet all educational expenses of
the "protocol baby" up to graduation. Next in line, Balochistan Chief
Minister Raisani ordered an inquiry into the matter. "It's outrageous" he
said adding "people suffer unduly whenever a top government official moves".
(surprise, surprise!)
The remarks and moves by our rulers clearly betray their hypocrisy and short
sight vision. Can they not surmise for example, that if one hundred thousand
people are forced to stop in their tracks on roads and prevented for several
hours from proceeding to wherever they were going, would not at least half
of them (or fifty thousand persons) be acutely inconvenienced?
Would it not be reasonable to deduce that by the same token, at least ten
percent (ten thousand persons) would face losses of various types by missing
a flight, an appointment, an interview for a job, an examination and so on?
Would we be far out in our guess that at least three or four people (out of
one hundred thousand stalled) would suffer some grievous, irreparable loss
of one kind or another as a result of being suddenly stopped in their tracks
for hours every time a VVIP motorcade must be given the royal right of away?
Does it need the drama and near disaster of a "Rickshaw" birth or equivalent
for our rulers to "take notice" of the misery of the people on one side and
their over concern for self security on the other and to show sensitivity to
the sufferings of the people they promised to serve when they sought their
votes? If so, then our rulers are unfit to rule, judged by any standard.
The much postponed NA-55 election: Sheikh Rashid is always "good copy" for
the media. For the anchor persons of many TV channel, he appears to be a
panellist of choice. (I have always wondered if the panellists are
compensated by the channels for the time they spend in to-and-fro and in
actual discussion). And no wonder! Sheikh Sahib is very articulate, has a
"presence" and comes out loud and clear with his views - a loud mouth, if
ever there was one!
He has not only fought court battles against the Punjab provincial
government for causing the elections to be postponed, but conducted a
marathon campaign spread over best part of a year. Watching him on TV, one
got a feeling now and then that he got rather carried away during his
debates.
In one discussion when it was suggested that he participate in a debate with
Hanif Abbasi of PML-N, he declined haughtily, and said with open disdain
that he considered Abbasi to be not his peer (not at his level). Sheikh
Rashid kept eagerly demanding instead that he would want a debate with
Chaudhry Nisar Ali whom he considered to be of stature comparable to his
own.
This was in poor taste and his defeat by a wide margin by a fairly junior
and not very articulate opponent, should be a bitter pill for him to
swallow. On February 24, 2010, PML-N candidate Malik Shakeel Awan with over
77,000 votes in his bag defeated the local man of long standing and chief of
the Awami Muslim League Sheikh Rashid by a margin of nearly 29,000 votes.
The election was given much importance and heads of four political parties -
the other two being Jamaat-e-Islami and Tehrik-e-Insaf - addressed election
meetings on the last day of the campaign. JI, which secured some 7,500 votes
and TI, which could bag 4,000 tested political waters after a long gap and
will no doubt draw appropriate conclusions to guide them in the immediate
future as more bye-elections are scheduled.
Sheikh Rashid's votes must have included a sizable chunk of the PPP votes,
in view of the way the PPP workers and flags were waving in large numbers in
the Sheikh's meetings. The wily Sheikh started his main speech on the
occasion with the slogan Jiyay Bhutto after having first gone to the site
where BB was assassinated to offer Fateha.
He, no doubt, had his eyes on the PPP vote and various estimates - 10,000 to
20,000 - are bandied about as the quantum of the PPP share in the total of
approximately 48,000 votes that were cast in his favour. Due to COD
agreement, the PPP could not field its candidate for this "PML-N seat" but
appears to have supported Sheikh Rashid informally.
Sheikh Rashid also had the backing of PML-Q, but there is some doubt whether
it did him any good. In his election eve speech, Nawaz Sharif tried to
portray Sheikh Rashid as a rolling stone and a turncoat, who proved
untrustworthy time and again. Shakeel Awan spoke in the same vein.
Sheikh Saheb has seen many ups and downs in his political career. A 6-time
winner in the constituency, he lost so badly against PML-N's Javed Hashmi in
the 2008 elections that he even lost his deposit! Hashmi then vacated this
seat in preference to one of the three more he had also won. The vacated
seat was won then by Haji Pervez of PML-N, who had to resign following an
impersonation scandal. A TV channel kept reminding the viewers on the
election day, about the nasty things Sheikh Rashid had said on various
occasions in the past against the Bhutto family.
Sheikh Rashid had been making allegations against the Punjab government, of
using state resources to help his main opponent and kept up the tirade right
up to and including the election date on which he alleged that rigging was
practised against him on a massive scale.
But these allegations appear to have been unfounded since the media, which
was freely covering the voting process, did not see any irregularities worth
the name. Sheikh Rashid worked very hard and carried out a year-long
sustained campaign single handedly. His 48,000 votes despite the PPP part in
it are a tribute to his resilience and organisational skills. Let us see if
he can survive the latest setback to his political career.
The PM continues to falter! Yet once again the PM embarked last week on his
latest periodic reconciliation mission (over breakfast this time) to Raiwind,
the PML-N chief's royal seat. The meeting (briefly mentioned in Spotlight of
23 February 2010) took place in the backdrop of the NAB opening old cases
against the Sharif family members, including the PML-N chief and the Punjab
Chief Minister as well as that of the judiciary pressing forcefully on with
the Swiss case.
During the last few weeks, the relations between the two main political
parties had considerably worsened when Nawaz Sharif called President Zardari
"a threat to democracy" when the latter ran foul of the judiciary in a
precipitous manner. In the meeting, there was no cheer on the faces of the
Sharifs and Gilani - political foes with otherwise soft corner - feigned or
real - for each other.
Very revealingly it was reported that during the meeting, the PM suggested
that Nawaz Sharif "not lay stress" on the Swiss cases against President
Zardari. In return as Quid Pro Quo, Gilani is reported to have offered not
to proceed, on NAB cases against the Sharif family!
However, after the meeting, talking before reporters, the PM appeared to
indicate that he was not fully aware of the NAB cases in question, and said
that the cases were not opened by his government and further that he would
look into the matter.
Four cases of corruption against the Sharif for a total (corruption) amount
of nearly Rs 2 billion, which had been adjourned sine die in September 2007
after the Sharif family was deported to Saudi Arabia, were moved for
reopening by the NAB on 17 February 2010 and were scheduled for hearing on
22 February 2010, ie a day before the PM's visit to Raiwind.
It will take considerable stretch of imagination to accept that the PM was
unaware of the NAB move in this sensitive matter. It is only right that all
pending cases should be brought before the courts, heard and decided without
any exception. If the reports about the deal offered are correct, this would
be rightly considered as disgraceful.
Ever-since the PM has decided to hitch his wagon to the Zardari star, he
appears to be faltering with cyclic regularity - one misstep after another!
As we write these lines, TV channels have reported PM Gilani as expressing
regrets over some of his remarks considered objectionable. Well, better late
than never.
(owajid@yahoo.com)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2010 |
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