Zardari in Crisis, Machiavelli in Love
The recent statements of Mr. Zardari betray that he has lost his cool and is in the grip of fear –the most potent of all human emotions. His paranoia about the conspiracies of certain ‘non-state actors’ and ‘tenured officials’ to topple him has excited his anger and turned him into a berserk leader at the top of the power structure in Pakistan today.
An eminent lawyer appearing for the government had informed the Supreme Court, evidently on his behalf, that his regime was under threat by the American CIA and Pakistan’s GHQ (army). In his latest statement last Saturday (Jan. 2) he claimed that conspiracies were being hatched to remove him by elements opposed to the reforms he had introduced for the betterment of the people of Balochistan. Certain elements, he contended, were opposed to his package promoting their rights. “They want therefore to remove me. We would defeat them and save Pakistan. If we save Pakistan, it will amount to saving the rights of poor people.” The obvious inference - perhaps a slip of tongue or the outburst of a foggy mind - is that to remove him from his position would be the end of Pakistan itself.
Mr. Zardari was evidently unhinged with the unanimous verdict of the full bench of the Supreme Court against the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) last November. This reopened all corruption and criminal cases against him in the courts at home and abroad. But, as the President of the country he enjoys immunity from appearing before any court at home under Article 248 of the Constitution. The media and some opposition leaders kept on putting moral pressure on him to bow out of office and establish his innocence in the courts of law.
Since the major opposition party, the ML (N), had elected to silence itself and act as the ‘friendly opposition’, the media had to step in and don the mantel of the opposition. The opposition party also being in the same boat, corruption-and-public-perception wise, as the ruling party, it could hardly cut its nose to spite its face. The kettle can’t call the pot black.
The more the media and some public figures talked of his blemished track record and the sad performance over the past two years of the party that he heads, the more annoyed he grew and gave vent to his bile in a language generally thought to be unbecoming of his august office. His speech in Larkana on the second anniversary of the death of his wife is full of such bile. While denigrating the elements that he thought were conspiring against him, he held out the threat of using the “Sindh card” to set the country on fire. Also, he started donning the Sindhi cap and Ajrak to add visibility to his threat.
Following his victory in the Presidential election of September 6, he gave up his ‘wadera’ attire, his handlebar moustache to superimpose the image of a sober, responsible leader over his earlier persona of a polo-playing, graft-seeking, high-living playboy. “But make no mistake about it”, warned Najam Sethi, Chief Editor of Daily Times, “he is as ruthless as they come where his interests are concerned”.
Some cynics even viewed the fire in Karachi on December 29 that has burnt down thousands of shops in Bolton Market, the country’s major wholesale commercial center operated mainly by the non-Sindhi business community, as a bitter sample of the disruptive Sindh card. Although the incident falls within the purview of the provincial government, the Federal Interior Minister, Mr. Rehman Malik, essentially a confidante of Mr. Zardari, has taken the matter in his own hands and has assigned the investigation to the FIA, the agency under his total command. MQM chief, Altaf Husain, has pointed out in a statement that the Police and Rangers were conspicuous by their absence at the sites of the fire for hours giving a free hand to the gangs to keep setting at fire shop after shop. Was this a matter of sheer incompetence?
The people of Pakistan are poor, illiterate and backward, but intelligent enough to know that over the past two years of PPP rule, their condition has gone from bad to worse. Prices of essential commodities have shot up and some are not available at all, corruption has jumped up (according to Transparency International), purchasing power of the Rupee has kept nose-diving, load-shedding has expanded to 14 hours a day and the supply of gas has become unbearably erratic, prices of kerosene, CNG, petrol etc. are frequently increased by government, and the law and order situation has worsened and people live in a constant state of fear from terrorists’ bomb blasts.
That is the reality that Mr. Zardari has failed to grapple. And, that is what he should really be afraid of. He is a very shrewd person, indeed. But, the ugly reality of the situation cannot be swept under the rug, or attention diverted from it for a long time merely through sharp wits.
I am reminded here of the contents of Somerset Maugham’s first novel based on the life of the most shrewd Italian official and author of the famous book “The Prince”, Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) who was a foreign service officer in the city state of Florence. Posted as envoy to another city-state, he fell in love with a young girl who lived in his neighborhood. The girl, half his age, had been madly in love with a young man of her own age.
While Machiavelli lusted for her, she wouldn’t respond to his overtures because of the age difference and the commitment of her heart to the boy of her choice. That was the reality of the situation. But, Machiavelli, with all the wealth, status and brains available to him wouldn’t give up. Almost the entire story is about his machinations to achieve his objective. He cultivates the priest the girl’s family used to go for confessions. He finds out the aberrations indulged in by the priest himself. He pressures the priest to relate to him the confessions of the girl and her parents. How he exploits these makes a fascinating story and the reader’s admiration for his wits keeps growing. By the time I reached the last-but-one page of the book, I was convinced that he had gained his objective. The girl, her parents and all other members of the family acquiesce into the marriage. Next morning when the cavalcade of Machiavelli reaches the bride’s house to pick her up and proceed in a procession to the church for the wedding, they find a commotion there, as the girl had run away at night with the boy she loved. Even Machiavelli had failed to see the reality of the situation.
I had read the book over 55 years back and couldn’t find a copy in my neighborhood libraries to refresh my memory; but I am fairly sure that I have given above an honest synopsis of those contents of the story that relate to the point I wish to make in this column.
In human situations, truth and honesty ultimately prevail. All the people cannot be fooled all the time. Pakistan’s top Justices have given their unanimous verdict, showing the vista for the shape of things to come. Mr. Zardari might have discovered the veracity of the adage: Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice.
