Allah, Army and America : Pakistan's alphabet soup
Jyoti Malhotra -
Friday, May 23, 2008 10:09 AM
Pakistan may be the best-kept secret in the world, but is it also its own worst enemy?
For most of its independent existence, Pakistan has been an alphabet soup of three As, Allah, the Army and America.
And now there’s a fourth, one who encompasses the political order from A-Z. His name is Asif Ali Zardari, and in his capacity as Benazir Bhutto’s widower, he seems to be the master puppeteer pulling several strings in Pakistan.
Zardari and the Americans seem to have a good thing going. Zardari and Pervez Musharraf, who still controls the levers of the National Security Council as well as the Army, seem to be shadow-boxing all the while – whether its about bringing back the judges Musharraf sacked last year, finding out who was behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, or simply, figuring out the balance of power between themselves.
At last count, Zardari was winning. He told the Press Trust of India on Wednesday that Musharraf was a relic of the past. The president’s spokesmen simply haven’t been able to believe their ears. Was this the same man who, until a few days ago, was widely seen as amenable to a political deal with the President, brokered of course, by none other than the Washingtonians?
One of Pakistan’s foremost political analysts, Nasim Zehra, puts it succinctly. Zardari is performing a balancing act, she told Dawn News television. Zehra’s right. In Pakistan these days, at least in the cities, everyone has several opinions about what’s happening to the country, and some of the worst calumny is dumped at Zardari’s door.
So if Zardari’s calculating that his flirtation with Musharraf isn’t paying off, even if the wooing was financed by Bush & Co, then it may be time to explore other options.
In Pakistan’s case, the Queen is dead, and has been for nearly six months. But before the people begin chanting slogans in favour of the King’s health, wealth and happiness, a few things must be sorted out.
For one, the economy is on a roller-coaster going down, foreign exchange reserves are
expected to last only a few months and the international credit agencies like Moodys are downgrading Pakistan’s ratings yet again. Riots against food and power shortages are breaking out in some cities. For too long, say economists, Pakistan has lived on a financial powder keg, as if there’s no tomorrow. Now it seems to be on a short fuse.
Sounds like India in the early Nineties? Not really. Even if India had to sell its gold to the Bank of England at the time and foreign exchange reserves were down to a 100,000 dollars, the political consensus favoured the Narasimha Rao government to institute market reforms and open up the economy.
In Pakistan, the political situation is so unstable that Nawaz Sharif, the key political partner, has walked out of the coalition.
If revolutions were considered acceptable in South Asia, Pakistan would be ripe for one right now. Coups, on the other hand, are far too commonplace affairs.
That’s why it’s important for Asif Ali Zardari to re-read his Julius Ceasar. Apart from the necessity of being seen, by his people, to be just as honest as Ceasar’s wife, there’s the simple matter of Brutus.
Et tu, anyone?