America should stop Patronizing President Zardari

March 7, 2010
America should stop Patronizing President Zardari
By Saeed Qureshi
If United States is for democracy then let her understand that there is a democratic set up in Pakistan which is patently farcical and a hoax. After two years of the incumbent government of PPP in power, president Zardari has failed to transfer powers to the prime minister of Pakistan that he had promised and which was part of the PPP’s elections manifesto. The governance has remained in a state of paralysis and there does not seem to be any chance for good and clean governance to come by. If someone is under the illusion that the worst democracy is better than the best dictatorship then let him correct his political perceptions. In Pakistan it is neither worst democracy nor the best dictatorship. It’s a government that is being run by “Ali Baba Aur Chalees Chores).

Massive civil unrest is boiling all over Pakistan. The people of Pakistan are in a state of utter tension and trauma due to lawlessness, unemployment, poverty, breakdown of the public and national institutions, shortage of power, water and basic civic services and needs. The ministers under the patronage of the arch looter are making money every moment. The independent power producing companies are being ushered in Pakistan that is simply a makeshift arrangement. Instead of devising far reaching and permanent strategies for power sufficiency, the private parties are imposed on Pakistan as an evil necessity by creating power shortage in the country. Huge kickbacks have been reported in these deals. Can one read the mockery on the face of the minister for power and water and the countless lies that he has been churning out for two years now.

In various parts of the country the jobless are agitating with sit in protests. No one in the government bothers about the misery and distress of the majority in Pakistan. Look at the civic infrastructure. The heaps of garbage and filth dot the entire length and breadth of Pakistan. Dead animals are being fed to the people making them sick. The hospitals are being run by incompetent crooks and blood sucking medicos. The prices of already scarce commodities are soaring: the latest being sudden and sharp increase in the power rate. No shame no pangs of conscience from the rulers.

If army does not step in to stem this rot and check blatant rape and loot of Pakistan then let someone lead the harried people to a revolution, a kind of street revolution that makes the things upside down: a kind of Bolshevik revolution. The judiciary alone cannot turn the tide against the bloodsucking ruling junta, because it is devoid of the administrative apparatus to enforce its decisions. Let someone from among the masses come forward and give a clarion call to the people to rally against a highly corrupt and debased system made sleazier by a lot that is yet to answer for their past countless wrong doings.

Otherwise, it is would be a civil anarchy. Let the people choose whether they want or abhor a democracy that is another fake name and cover in Pakistan to fleece plunder and suck Pakistan as much as these hardened thugs can afford to do.

The paradox with Pakistan’s politics is that it is run on personal loyalties. It is based on such parochial and narrow considerations as race, region ethnicity and party interests. Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) cadres are imbued with a romantic vision of the founder of this party. They also see in Zardari a revolutionary leader which he is not. These misguided, mesmerized and duped workers would shed their blood for the sake of an individual but not for the country. If country is fragmented where would the party stay and function?

There must be a rebellion within the party by those who want to restore the revolutionary élan and ethos of this party that made it the darling of the masses to the extent that it rose to the dazzling heights of fame within a short time under the charismatic, fabulous and matchless leadership of Zulfikar ali Bhutto. Is the opposition waiting in wings to see the government go and then come out of their hideouts? Both the opposition in Pakistan and the United
States must press for the midterm elections because almost all the high profile members of the PPP both in power and out have forfeited their credibility under the burden of their horrendous malpractices. That is the democratic way to change the loathsome status quo.

For Comments and to unsubscribe write us at qureshisa2003@yahoo.com