Mr. Ten Percent Takes the Reign of Power
Mr. Ten Percent, the other name for Asif Ali Zardari according to recent CBS News report, emerged at the top of the political heap as the most powerful political personality in Pakistan. During the first September weekend he was elected President of the Islamic Republic in an indirect election where only the members of the national and provincial legislatures were entitled to vote.
This choice is seen by many observers as one of the most amazing since the person selected is devoid of political experience. He has never been a contestant for any elective office or climbed up the career ladder because of his skills. Newspaper accounts have widely pointed out his lack of personal integrity or any sense of ethics. He is said to have dropped out of school in tenth grade, declaring loudly that he does not need any education since his feudalistic landowning family is fabulously wealthy.
The Pakistani election of Zardari is in sharp contrast to the democratic process underway for choosing the President of the United States. In America the two candidates who have survived a grueling contest nationwide for months beginning in January bring an insurmountable amount of varied experiences and high quality of educational training to the leadership position they are seeking.
After months of winnowing, through votes at the grassroots, the national party conventions of the two organizations narrowed their choices down to two candidates, one each for the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
The final selection for the Presidency took place in a huge representational gathering organized under the two party labels. The Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates will be voted by the entire nation in the first week of November.
No such process gave legitimacy to Asif Ali Zardari whose only claim to fame is that he is the husband of Benazir who was gunned down while campaigning to become the next Prime Minister.
The political extravaganza of the two, the Democratic and Republican Parties, cannot even be imagined by anyone in Pakistan. These might as well have been on another planet run by another people of unknown vintage. The two shows, one from Denver and the other from St. Paul, were broadcast around the world and watched by several hundred million including those quiet envious in the Third World.
For those living under oppressive governments it was an educational and political awakening to watch the proceedings organized by the common people for the top position of the nation. It probably made them yearn to seize the reign of government into their own hands.
The scions of Pakistan’s feudal elite have no worries about representational government. In fact they prefer the label of democracy to hoodwink the unsuspecting voters through clever sloganeering only to get elected. One saw those slogans used extensively during the last national election, but no one was really interested in transforming Pakistan into a democratic state under the rule of law.
In the 1990s when wife, Benazir Bhutto, became the Prime Minister she appointed her husband Asif Ali Zardari to be the Minister of Investment. He quickly turned that position into a lucrative vehicle for amassing fortune said to be squirreled away into foreign bank accounts. His nefarious activities so severely drained the wealth of the nation that it was teetering on the verge of economic collapse until the takeover of power by Pervez Musharraf.
Ironically, the representatives of the very same people hurt most by the financial rape orchestrated under Zardari elected him the President. The outcome perhaps would not have been much different had the masses voted in a general election for the head of the state. When Benazir was kicked out as a failed Prime Minister she vowed to return and predicted that the “illiterate and the ignorant masses” would vote again for her because they don’t know any better. This time it was the husband’s turn. A few years down the road it will be junior’s turn, now preparing for the slot as a student in England. The political dynasty established will become ever more entrenched.
It is frightening to most long time observers that a virtual illiterate with a reputation for corruption who made skimming ten percent off of every government contract into an art form has become the President of the seventh largest country in the world, the second largest Muslim country and a nation armed with nuclear weapons. He has not said a thing about modernization or industrialization, two strategies that Pakistan must pursue for its development. Neither has he mentioned schooling for a nation that remains one of the most primitive and backward societies in the global community.
Having Zardari at the seat of power in Islamabad is like having the fox guard the chicken-coop. The treasury of the country will be looted within months of his assumption of power. It is already on the brink of economic disaster and ominous predictions have been made about the future of the nation. A massive rescue effort will have to be undertaken by the international community if the country is to survive.
It is not inconceivable that the nation once again may be transformed into a colony of the West. It may be sovereign in name only but the real power will be exercised by others, perhaps the US, the UK or the NATO.
Rivalry between Zardari and Nawaz Sharif will intensify at once. In the coming months Nawaz is likely to pursue his single-minded goal of bringing Zardari down. Actually, these two should have been locked up years ago and the keys thrown away.
Unfortunately, Pakistan is not a country where the rule of law is the norm. It is a country where crooks run the political show occasionally punctuated by military takeover. It remains one of the most volatile, unstable and corrupt nations in the world despite Masharraf’s house-cleaning.
Earlier this year people had demonstrated genuine enthusiasm for democracy and the rule of law. The result produced the same old crooks, the recycled politicians who have made life miserable for the citizens of the hapless nation. The expected new faces did not appear and neither did someone with new ideas nor with a vision for the future. At the moment most citizens are apathetic and indifferent to politics. They are preoccupied with rising prices, shortages of basic staples and the lack of employment.
The level of distrust in government has risen dramatically even during the past six months. The media is having a field day dissecting the incessant manipulation of the political system by the same old opportunistic rascals, either in or out of the government. Regarding Zardari one Islamabad businessman was quoted in papers as saying, “He is a certified thief!”
