Forthcoming
Elections
By Humayun Mirza
Bethesda, MD
The single most important contribution that General
Musharraf has made to Pakistan is to require that
all senior cabinet posts be filled by individuals
with at least a college degree. The cabinet ministers
in previous democratic governments were "elected"
not because of their qualifications or competence
but because they had money and used it to buy
influence and position. The result was a degree
of incompetence in government that bordered on
criminal. No wonder corruption on an unprecedented
scale flourished.
I was thus most alarmed to read the recent announcement
that Abida Hussain and her husband have joined
the PPP in the hope of getting back into government.
I have lived in the Washington area for almost
50 years and have seen many ambassadors come and
go. Abida Hussain was arguably the worst ambassador
that Pakistan has sent to the United States. While
she was ambassador to the US, I was advisor to
the Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle
East and South Asia in the senior Bush Administration.
Thus, I was able to observe her performance firsthand.
The general opinion within the State Department
was that Abida Hussain was more interested in
furthering her own image in Pakistan than in representing
our country effectively in the United States.
No wonder the Indians did better than us in furthering
their country’s cause in view of their superior
ambassadors.
Abida Hussain and her husband did not do much
better as cabinet ministers in Nawaz Sharif’s
government either. In my book “From
Plassey to Pakistan,” which first came
out in the summer of 1999, I predicted that if
the government continued to behave the way it
was doing there would be another military coup.
In October of that year Musharraf overthrew Nawaz
Sharif’s government.
Now that general elections are expected to take
place in Pakistan next year, people like Abida
Hussian and her husband appear to be again raising
their ugly heads. Characteristically, they show
no loyalty to anyone except themselves. They can
be moderates today and religious fanatics tomorrow
depending on the direction of the wind. Both were
strong followers of Nawaz Sharif when he was in
power but they have now switched their “loyalties”
to the PPP! Abida Hussain and her husband obviously
feel that the PPP gives them a better chance to
secure a ticket to be “elected” to
the National Assembly. They did not stand a chance
with the Musharraf government because neither
met his minimum education qualifications for government
service.
I write now because I firmly believe that Pakistan
is at the crossroads. It can no longer afford
the luxury of further fiascos in government as
those of the past. It has had to endure years
of corruption followed by years of military dictatorships.
In the meantime India has gone from strength to
strength and is gradually emerging as a power
to be reckoned with.
The time of playing games with our government
is over if we are to survive in an increasingly
hostile world. I, therefore, appeal to the leaders
of all our political parties, who plan to participate
in the elections next year, not to sacrifice competence
in government for political expediency. It is
time to strengthen our political parties and not
weaken them with opportunists if Pakistan is to
attain true democracy.
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