Zardari is not apologetic

The New March 31 2008
By Shaheen Sehbai
ISLAMABAD: PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is a very busy man but he is also very lonely at the top. He misses competent, loyal friends and he is not at all apologetic about the recent key government appointments, which have drawn a lot of critical fire from the media and independent analysts.
A quiet session with him, mostly off the record and on critical issues facing his nascent administration, reveals he is in an agitated mindset because he thinks the PPP, and he himself, have taken responsibilities and challenges which are far too enormous than he had ever anticipated.
He defends his appointees, Salman Farooqi, Siraj Shamsuddin, Rehman Malik, Hussain Haqqani, Farooq Naek and some others yet to come, with animated arguments about their sacrifices, loyalties and steadfastness.
About a growing perception that some of his key appointees were pre-approved by the presidency, and there may be a tacit understanding somewhere that they may not deliver, like many hawks in the coalition may wish, Zardari gets aggressive.
Each one of them, he says, faced the wrath of the dictator for years, in exile or in Pakistan, suffered tremendously, stayed the course with Benazir Bhutto, himself and PPP and earned their prized spots after a people's verdict.
"Each appointee will be evaluated according to his performance and we have to take all the coalition partners together. Is is not possible to follow someone else's agenda," he argues When I point out that his own long time attorney who will hold the key position of law minister, has been on record several times that no judge could be restored without a two-third majority in the parliament, Asif says personal opinions of individuals may differ but a minister in the cabinet has to follow cabinet decisions. It seems to be a very fair and logical argument.
"We are not yet out of the spiral of conspiracies and the web of intrigues and in this situation we need trust worthy men in key places. How do we face the continuing onslaughts without our own men," he asks.
But when he is told that public perceptions are of immense importance in this age of a free and super paced media, when word travels round the world in seconds, he insists that the basic task of control over governance is more important than media perceptions.
"I may be wrong or may falter on some decisions but you have to give me the credit that so far most of the major and critical decisions have proved to be right and have produced an overwhelming surge of strength and support for the political parties vis a vis the establishment," he argues. "I cannot be right about everything every time," he admits.
The list of successful strategy and decisions Zardari has in mind is, in fact, long and impressive. It starts with his immediate return to Pakistan after Benazir's death, naming young Bilawal simultaneously as a Bhutto and as Chairman of PPP, keeping the presidential camp and the establishment sufficiently engaged and assured to take them through the critical phases of general elections, keeping the party structure intact without major faults and fractures and keeping the opposition parties engaged and focused on working together.
In specific terms he takes full credit of developing a direct personal relationship with Mian Nawaz Sharif, a relationship full of trust and understanding, bringing on board the other fringe parties like Maulana Fazlur Rehman's JUI or MQM in Sindh, his Bhurban Declaration to form a coalition, his choice of a popular and widely accepted Speaker of the National Assembly and finally his decision to pick Yousuf Raza Gilani as the prime minister.
"So after all these correct moves, if you think some appointments are not as good as they should have been, this is your view and I respect it," he says, adding: "I have to be mindful of a lot of other things while making these appointments."
As we discuss these issues, the news breaks that the house of Justice Ramday had been broken into in the Judges' Enclave and a police standoff is continuing.
"Look," he says, "these are the kinds of missiles we will get from the other side and they are not going to stop. We will have to deal with many such situations."
Likewise, he admits, that since the prime minister is new and is not even fully settled, there may be some initial acts of omission or commission. "But we will correct the course quickly as we go along and as mistakes are pointed out."
In this context he immediately agrees that the announcement made by the prime minister about Pemra laws and returning its control to the Information Ministry was not in his knowledge and may have been done by the new PM in consultation with other colleagues. "But it has been corrected and we do not want to impose any curbs on the media, as we have always promised."
He was also surprised by some of the announcements made by Prime Minister Gilani in his 100-day package but he defended the PM strongly, saying: "He is our prime minister and I do not dictate to him. He can do many things which I do not or may not know."
This particular reference was about the surprise Asfandyar Wali Khan and Maulana Fazlur Rehman had expressed about the sudden announcement by PM Gilani that the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) had been abolished in the tribal areas. Again, he asserted, the correction was quickly made by the prime minister.
But whatever these initial hiccups in the administration and corrections in the course, Asif Ali Zardari is very firm on one basic pillar of his coalition strength. He is not going to let any issue or any conspiracy break the vital bond of understanding and trust between himself and Mian Nawaz Sharif.
He would keep meeting the PML-N leader very frequently and sort out anything that crops up, either by malicious design or any misunderstanding created by any one. To further this bond he left on Sunday to offer prayers for late Mian Sharif, the phenomenal Abbaji at Raiwind, and to finalise the cabinet to be sworn in on Monday.
A strong impression is created when discussing these sensitive issues with Zardari that the strength and unity of the grand coalition in Parliament is directly related to their common target in the presidency. As long as the president is there and stays there, this coalition will not break up. So in a way Mr Pervez Musharraf is directly responsible for the historic displays of unity and cohesion among the political parties in the parliament.
But Zardari says even if Mr Musharraf goes away, he will keep this unity in tact as the problems facing the country are enormous and cannot be handled by any party alone. A national consensus is an essential requirement.
He also gives the impression that so far the strength of the coalition in the parliament is not enough to displace Mr Musharraf. On many issues, he believes, some of the parties may not vote as they did for the Speaker or for the prime minister. So when the numbers are not there on impeachment or replacement of the president, any talk would be premature.
But obtaining the required numbers is certainly one of the main targets in the mind of every member of the coalition and this may keep these partners in power together. The entire ballgame may change if the prime target is suddenly out of sight and out of mind. Then would begin the real test of the grand coalition and the PPP Co-Chairman realizes this fully.