Raja Pervez Ashraf Becomes New Pakistani Prime Minister: Political Instability in Country Continues

Water and Power Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf has taken over as the new Pakistani prime minister. Filled with little difficulty with the country’s National Assembly (parliament) electing Ashraf as a replacement for Yousuf Raza Gilani, disqualified by the Supreme Court.

The 61-year-old loyalist of the Bhutto family was pitchforked into the hot seat after the original choice Makhdoom Shahabuddin faced an arrest warrant. But the new leader himself is dogged by corruption charges relating to his tenure as power minister.

The 342-member National Assembly chose Ashraf as the country's 25th prime minister with 211 votes, against Opposition PML-N nominee Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi who got 89 votes.

Undoubtedly, Ashraf is lucky to have been elevated to the highest executive post, as the first choice of President Asif Ali Zardari, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, missed the bus because of an arrest warrant issued against him by a Sindh court in an ephedrine scam case.

Since the issue was contempt of the highest court in the land the verdict was not unexpected, though the scale of punishment is. While all Supreme Court verdicts must always be honored even if they do not appear to be sound, it may not be possible to avoid a prolonged discussion on the present judgment. There are quite a few issues that will need to be clarified.

To his admirers, Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry is a hero whose relentless pursuit of a money-laundering case against the president is teaching a generation of the country's leaders a long-overdue lesson in respect for the law.

To his critics, he is a runaway judge in the grip of a messiah complex whose turbo-charged brand of activism threatens to upend the power balance underpinning Pakistan's precarious embrace of democracy.

Recently, Chaudhry made his boldest move yet by disqualifying Prime Minister Gilani as punishment for his repeated refusal to obey court orders to re-activate a corruption case against President Zardari.

Gilani's downfall marked a watershed in a long-running showdown between the judiciary and the government that has laid bare the institutional tensions plaguing a country that has test fired ballistic nuclear missiles, but has yet to agree on how it should be run.

"In practical terms, democracy is finished because the balance of power between the parliament, the executive and the judiciary has been ruined," said a senior member of Zardari's ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

Judicial Coup

The military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half of its 65 years as an independent nation, has also not hidden its disdain of the Zardari government, but has made it clear it does not wish to seize power. And it has its own problems with Chaudhry's activism.

The present crisis has its roots in Gilani’s refusal to follow the Supreme Court’s 2009 order to request Swiss authorities to reopen cases of graft against President Zardari. On his part, Gilani has pointed out that the President enjoyed immunity from such charges. But the apex court had disagreed — having only recently overturned a 2007 presidential amnesty to politicians accused of corruption, from which Zardari and his late wife Benazir Bhutto benefited the most. Since then, an epic battle has ensued, with both institutions attempting to protect their own turf. Ultimately, in January the Supreme Court ordered legal proceedings against Gilani, and in April, the then Prime Minister was convicted for contempt of court. At the time, he was given only a token sentence with the apex court leaving it to the Speaker of the National Assembly to decide if Gilani could continue as prime minister.

The drama has been spiced by allegations of bribe-taking brought against Chaudhry's son by a billionaire property developer, who has himself been accused of land-grabbing and fraud. The controversy briefly put the stern-faced judge on the defensive before he regained the initiative by disqualifying Gilani.

The next chapter in the saga started when the Supreme Court holds its latest hearing in more than two years of legal wrangling aimed at forcing the government to re-open proceedings against Zardari.

Pakistan's political class is now transfixed by the question of whether Chaudhry will opt to pause in the wake of his victory over Gilani, or press home his advantage by demanding that Raja Pervez Ashraf, the new prime minister, reactivate the case.

Charges Against Gilani

Earlier on June 19, the Pakistani Supreme Court declared that Gilani stood disqualified as the prime minister since April 26, 2012 and ceased to be the premier since that date. The court punished with 30-second imprisonment. It also asked President Zardari to take steps for continuity of the democratic process, an apparent reference to the election of a new prime minister. Gilani was elected Prime Minister in March 2008 and has remained in that office longer than any other elected leader in the country’s history.

Capping approximately 30 months of bitter feud between the judiciary and the government, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Chaudhry held that Gilani, “ceased” to be the prime minister from April 26, 2012.

Gilani was then convicted and sentenced for not obeying court orders to reopen graft charges in Switzerland against President Zardari.

Contrary to expectations that the PPP will back him to the hilt, the ruling party said it would abide by the verdict and set in motion the process of selecting Gilani’s successor.

The Election Commission also issued a formal notice disqualifying Gilani as a Member of Parliament, hours after the Supreme Court ordered it to do so. A session of the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament is likely to be convened for the formal election of the new prime minister.

The present verdict came in response to several petitions that had challenged National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza’s decision not to disqualify Gilani following his conviction.

However, the timing of the judgment is definitely suspect as it comes only days after a business tycoon accused the Chief Justice’s son of accepting millions in bribes to swing cases. Also, the legal validity of the judgment has come under a cloud. References in the judgment, for instance, to two Indian court cases are largely misplaced.

New Cabinet

A total of 27 Federal Ministers and 11 Ministers of state were given portfolios. Hina Rabbani Khar and Naveed Qamar retained their portfolios of foreign and defense, respectively, in the new Cabinet, announced by Prime Minister Ashraf, which has some new faces. Most of the Ministers in Ashraf's Cabinet have been drawn from the previous dispensation of Gilani.

Hina retained the Foreign Ministry while Qamar Zaman Kaira, who had also filed his nomination for prime ministerial contest as a covering candidate, retained the Information Ministry. Qamar was again assigned the Defense Ministry.

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, whose PML-Q party is a key ally in the Pakistan People's Party-led coalition, was again inducted as a senior minister and given the Defence Production and Industry portfolios.

Farzana Raja, a loyalist of PPP chief and President Asif Ali Zaradri, was among the new faces inducted into the Cabinet. She was given charge of the Benazir Income Support Programme, a scheme to help the poor.

The other members of the Cabinet include Makhdoom Amin Fahim (commerce), Arbab Alamgir Khan (communication), Nazar Muhammad Gondal (capital administration and development), Rana Muhammad Farooq Saeed Khan (climate change), Abdul Hafeez Shaikh (finance), Mir Hazar Khan Bajrani (inter-provincial coordination), Manzoor Wattoo (Kashmir affairs), Farooq Naek (law and justice).

Brief Profile

A strong loyalist of the Bhutto family, Ashraf hails from a family of agriculturists and remained in his occupation until he joined PPP of Rawalpindi in Punjab. Before joining active politics, 61-year-old Ashraf was an agriculturist and businessman by profession. He obtained his undergraduate degree from University of Sindh and did his diploma from UK in Industrial Management.

Ashraf, who was PPP cochairman Zardari’s second choice for the post of premier, became the main candidate after an arrest warrant was issued against party nominee Makhdoom Shahbuddin for alleged irregularities during his tenure as Health Minister.

Interestingly, Ashraf is facing a probe by the National Accountability Bureau for alleged corruption in rental power projects during his tenure as Water and Power Minister.

He was secretary-general of the PPP (Parliamentarians), a party formed in 2002 by the PPP for the purpose of complying with electoral rules governing Pakistani parties. The party contested the 2002 elections while former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was living in self-imposed exile.

Ashraf, who was elected to the National Assembly from Gujar Khan constituency in Rawalpindi district — both in 2002 and 2008 — served twice in the cabinet of Yousuf Raza Gilani, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court.

Ashraf resigned from Gilani’s cabinet in February 2011 after allegations of corruption in power projects. He returned to the cabinet in April 2012 when he was appointed minister for Information Technology. His candidature was backed by PML-Q, a major ally of the PPP with more than 50 seats in the National Assembly.

Tough Time Ahead

The new Pakistani prime minister not only faces corruption cases against him but is also considered an “insensitive” minister. He is accused of being solely responsible for Pakistan’s energy crisis. Instead of trying to find a workable solution to the worsening power supply problem, he has been making promises which he could never fulfill. It is surprising what made Mr Zardari choose him for heading the government as people have been protesting at different places over unending load-shedding, criticizing Ashraf for mishandling the situation.

Moreover, the new prime minister is also likely to face demands for reopening graft cases against Zardari from the Supreme Court.

Ashraf, who belongs to a royal family of Rawalpindi in Punjab, was elected in a two-way contest during a special session of Parliament after three other candidates – Shahabuddin and Qamar Zaman Kaira of the PPP and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman – withdrew from the race.

Zardari, a consummate political survivor, has already sacrificed Gilani in his determination to ensure the money-laundering case, which falls under Swiss jurisdiction and dates back the 1990s, remains closed.

While many Pakistanis are happy to see his unpopular government on the ropes, the pugnacious chief justice is facing a growing backlash from those who fear his court-room victories are being bought at the price of Pakistan's stability.

India will have to watch his moves as he has declared that he will try to do all he can to improve Pakistan’s ties with New Delhi. But will he have time for such moves when he has so much to concentrate on the domestic front.

Pakistan Needs Inspiring Leaders Like Imran Khan

Few people like Imran Khan, former captain of the Pakistani cricket team and Tehreek-e-Insaf chief, have been born in this world. He stepped into the cricket ground and began his career as a moderate batsman. He played for a long time, but was unable to prove himself as a big batsman. Although Imran made his debut in international cricket in 1971, he was recognized as a cricketer in the 1976-77 series in Australia when he took 12 wickets and helped Pakistan achieve the victory under the captaincy of Mushtaq Muhammad.

In addition to Pakistan's success in this match, the world was introduced to a great future player. His batting also improved with time and was later included in the list of leading all-round cricketers in the world. Thousands of people across the globe became fans of Imran. He was able to win the 1992 World Cup for Pakistan under his captaincy. This was the pinnacle of his glory.

Launching Hospital for Poor
A new Imran was born after the success in the World Cup. He had seen his mother suffer from the fatal cancer disease. Imran was unable to save the life of his mother in spite of the fact that he deeply loved her. He pledged to himself at that time that he will make a hospital for cancer patients. The objective of this hospital was to serve the poor people, so that they can afford expensive health care facilities locally as they are unable to afford health care facilities abroad. Now, the rich and the poor are provided health care facilities in a uniform way, but the only difference is that the rich pay for the health services, while the poor do not pay anything.

Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital is a grand example of the ambitions of Imran. He worked day and night for the construction of the hospital. He was able to get the donations from all parts of the globe. Cricketers and artists (which included a significant majority of Indian artists) became part of his fund-raising campaign. Even, Lady Diana came to Pakistan on his invitation. The people living in Pakistan also did not disappoint their local hero. He was able to cash the status he had achieved throughout his cricket career in an effective way.

Charismatic Character
Imran had a charismatic character. The youth were mad after him. His fans were not restricted to Pakistan instead he had fans across the global. I remember that he was forced out of cricket for two years because of injury. On his return to cricket, an Australian daily published a headline on the first page stating: "He has returned to international cricket." No daily felt the need to mention the name of Imran in the daily headlines. The reason behind this was that Imran was as popular in Australia as he was in Pakistan. It was being said that during those days, Imran was the most popular cricketer in Australia after Don Bradman and Richie Benaud.

Thousands of young people in Pakistan opted to play cricket after watching Imran and they wanted to emulate their hero in the cricket field. Numerous talented cricketers came to the Pakistani team after him but no one was able to become someone like Imran. Many people would remember this very correctly that Pakistan had lost the semifinal of the 1988 World Cup to Australia in Lahore under the captaincy of Imran. The people were dejected after this defeat, but there was no protest. The cricket fans/viewers had their faith in their captain and they were aware that the team was defeated after a good fight. In addition, people may well remember that the house of the captain in the 1999 World Cup Cricket Championship was pelted with stones after the cricket team was defeated in the final at Lord's. It was the faith in Imran that people who were happy on the victory of the team were also able to bear any defeats.

Fund-Raising Campaign
The response retired cricketer Imran received after he began the fund-raising campaign for the construction of his hospital was not unexpected, but this proved to be the turning point in the life of the former captain. Imran decided to try his luck in the field of politics and jumped into the ground. A good captain makes his plan according to the conditions of the pitch.

The captain, who had a good understanding of the pitches in cricket, was unable to understand the "new pitch" after he stepped into the field of politics. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) bowled the "yorker" through the Sita White scandal and Imran, including his "complete team" was clean bowled. The beginning to his political career was nothing less than a dreadful dream. He had almost left politics after some of his close associates decided to relaunch him in politics. He entered into politics with new pride and honor, but he is still searching for success in this field.

Political Mistakes
Imran is sincere, hardworking, honest, inflexible, and possesses numerous other good characteristics, but there is a little problem with him as he knows politics as much as a politician is aware of cricket. A well-wisher of Imran after observing that his party will be unable to achieve any success in the coming elections suggested that Imran should boycott those elections. Imran did not pay any heed to this suggestion and the outcome of the elections was the same as feared by everyone.

The support of the referendum of General Pervez Musharraf is his second biggest mistake. I believe that his third biggest mistake was the boycott of the 2008 general elections. He should have fought the elections.

He had already committed a mistake in the past by not accepting the offer of seat adjustments given by Nawaz Sharif. His way of politics is very interesting as he boycotts general elections but does not feel any hindrance in taking part in by-elections. The outcome is the same on both occasions, i.e., his nominate candidates cannot win the general elections or the by-elections. Although, he is a believer that good things will finally come his way in politics.

The cancer hospital is a big achievement. The university in Mianwali is also a great accomplishment. If Imran would not have decided to come into politics and would have stayed in the health and education sector, he would have brought about a revolution in these areas. He possesses the capability to bring funds from abroad and he can even collect a lot of money if he does an appeal for funds at a local level. A big hero would have got the support of the entire country, but politics is a different sort of game. The people in politics have to even lose their "dignity and respect." The norm of mudslinging is already very common in our political culture. A decent candidate is made the target of such accusations that a person gets ashamed after listening to such statements. There is more disgrace than fame in politics. I think Imran would remember the PML-N's accusation campaign.

Inspirational and Positive Attitude
In the past, Imran oscillated between very close and very far from the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and PML-N. Later, he began opposition to both these parties. Afterward, he again became very close to Nawaz Sharif and decided to boycott the elections with the PML-N and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI). The state of his emotions was such that he tore the order of the Election Commission in the public. Nawaz Sharif decided to contest the elections initially after the request of Benazir Bhutto and later on the demand of Nawaz Sharif. Although Imran fully supported the JI and decided to stay away from parliament. Imran continuously accused Nawaz Sharif of betrayal and became increasingly close to the JI.

Certainly, Imran Khan would not agree to this observation. He commonly appears on the television shows. He supports the idea of having dialogue with the Taliban. He demands the midterm elections to take place.

Imran as a cricketer, and a leader in particular, was one my favorites and I hope that Imran as a politician may also become one of my favorite politicians because of his inspirational and positive attitude that will help develop good relations with Pakistan, which often does not want to restore peace between the two countries in true sense of the term. But how is this possible? I am not aware of this thing. Probably Imran is aware of this?

Government-Judiciary Standoff in Pakistan

The government decision of 13 February on the appointment of judges is being strongly criticized by all. The government wanted to appoint Chief Justice Khawaja Shareef of the Lahore High Court as a Judge in the Supreme Court, and Justice Saqib Nisar as the Chief justice of the Lahore High Court. The government issued the notification for these appointments, but it was immediately nullified by a three-member bench of the Supreme Court.
The court announced 18 February as the date for further hearings on the subject. The relations of the judiciary and the executive were strained, but the politicians and the common people never expected that the President's Camp would take such extreme action. However some reliable sources have revealed that this drama went exactly according to script because the script-writers wanted to take the country toward midterm elections.

Degradation of Values
Even this confrontation may take us toward midterm elections. This vague and murky situation can definitely damage any one party. President Asif Ali Zardari may have to quit. To defuse the situation, some ministers have given confusing statements which, I am afraid, may not work out.
In a previous column I pointed out that the time has come when people are beginning to lose patience. Incongruous policies are increasing the problems of the common people. Price hikes, injustice, the law and order situation and denial of merit have made the life of the common man very miserable. Look at the miseries of the people. When they do not find any catharsis, they tend to commit suicide or come out on the streets in retaliation against social deprivation. In fact, many start selling their own children. The stone-hearted elites of this society are not pushed at all. I have been to many countries, both developed and under-developed, but no where in the world have I seen people selling their own children. It is the lowest possible limit of degradation of the values of our society.
The rulers of Europe and America truly serve their people. If some one commits suicide due to hunger or poverty, the complete society is shaken up. People come out on the streets and make life miserable for their rulers. People in those societies cannot even think of selling their children. The European Union has recently passed a resolution which will be enforced in all its 27 member countries. The resolution states that all human beings are equal, no one is superior to another and the protection of the honor and self esteem of every individual is the responsibility of the state. But our rulers have deformed the shape of our own constitution. One does not find even a single amendment in favor of the poor masses.

Signs of Good Governance
Now, people are talking about mid-term elections and there is a hue and cry to remove all those people who are responsible for the current fiasco. When we look for signs of good governance or concern for the welfare of the people, all governments look alike. I have seen the previous governments of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as well. Now I am seeing the third government of the PPP struggling for its survival. Of the two parties, the period of the PML-N looks comparatively better. The Pakistan Muslim League can fare even better provided it discontinues its policy of a One-Man-Show, and allows space so that democratic norms may germinate within the party.
It is still a mystery why the government rejected the summary sent by the Chief Justice. I am afraid some forces in the government may want to remove the President from office or dislodge the democratic government. Double agents are within the rank and file of the government, but the rulers have been unable to recognize them. And, by the time they do, it will be too late. The present situation is ideal for these intriguing forces. These forces will be successful in killing two birds with one stone.
However, the Opposition is also preparing for the final round. Nawaz Sharif's press conference of 14 February 2010 was a clear indication of these preparations. This time he openly criticized President Zardari and labeled him a threat to democracy. His statement gives an indication that political forces are now at the brink of losing patience. These forces believe that in the presence of President Zardari, Pakistan may not be able to develop good relations with other countries.

Impression of Confrontation
On 15 February, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani addressed parliament and spoke at length on the appointment of the judges. The crux of his speech was that the Parliament also holds weight and, on sensitive issues, the position of the Parliament is superior. But his statement that the judiciary was restored through an executive order, which awaits ratification by the parliament, created a stir. In a sense it was a threat to the judiciary that the executive order could still be reversed. After this statement the political barometer shot up. It gave birth to yet another legal debate.
The impression of confrontation between the government and the judiciary must be defused immediately. In this connection, the government should cancel the notification issued on 13 February 2010 and accept the recommendations of the Chief Justice. In the war of Titans the winner will be the one who enjoys the support of the masses and stands firm on moral grounds. Due to sheer bad luck and incongruous policies, the government may not succeed in its goals.