Pakistan — from crisis to crisis

By the time you will read this column Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would have had his cardiac surgery and God willing he would be on way to speedy recovery. What accelerated his medical problem is understandable. To be prime minister of any country is challenging but of Pakistan, his or her is not a bed of roses.

No doubt Pakistan and its people are resilient. They have shown their grit by living through one crisis to another. Ever since the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Jatti Umra residence in December last, it has been slide down the eddy.

First it was Pathankot in Indian Punjab followed by terrorist attack in Lahore killing 72 innocent people. Notwithstanding what has become normal, the terrorists' attacks have continued to claim their toll in rest of the country. Then Panamagate leaks of offshore companies and money laundering scandal involving the siblings of the prime minister has been rocking the boat of the government for nearly over five weeks. Latest has been the American drone attack that killed Taliban leader Mulla Mansour in Balochistan, violating Pakistan's sovereignty with impunity.

The most depressing part of the scenario in this background is cascading attacks on democracy and sound of marching boots being heard by many doomsayers. What one hears is much more of the same that had become the favourite item programme of the media when martyred Benazir Bhutto's sacrifice in blood had resulted in the restoration of democracy in 2008.

I remember forecasts were being made every day that PPP government would be out next day, next month or year next until it completed its five year tenure in June 2013. Whether one likes it or not, former president Asif Zardari had surpassed as a political chess player by his skilful moves. He not only completed the tenure but held elections in time and transferred power. No mean achievement at that.

He rendered anorchous the most dreaded institution in the country that had hordes of supporters -- both with their wagging tongues and swinging tails. He survived the Memogate plot. The then chief justice of Pakistan who was restored by PPP Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani remained hell bent in crippling his government by his abuse of suo moto actions until his last day in office.

How conveniently our sordid history is required to be forgotten to move forward by some vested interests. How conveniently they want to shelve aside our traumatic memories of 35 years of direct rule and puppeteering from behind the scene of civilian power over the years to this day.

Only now the establishment has found a match and it knows. After having orchestrated a mantra every day for five years that the PPPP government was on its way out, it has learnt the lesson of not throwing caution to the wind. Though it wants but it has not come out openly to secure exit of the incumbent government.

It is no mean achievement that after eight years democracy is still putting up a fight against odds. And this time it is not the president from the smaller province leading the counter offensive from up front but a prime minister from the majority province who is armed with the powers that were previously enjoyed by presidents in the pre 2008 period. AAZ played the master stroke by handing over powers under Article 58-2b to the prime minister and making provinces the third centre of power unlike the past when Islamabad had the monopoly control to run smaller provinces as its fiefdoms.

One often wondered why Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif did not appoint foreign minister when it is such a bone of contention and cause of too frequent criticism. Brooding to know the reason for it one finally reached the conclusion that could sound plausible. By not appointing foreign minister he has let powers that be -- wittingly or unwittingly -- assume that role. As a matter of fact he had laid bare a glaring power sharing anomaly. Now the world knows who to deal with in matters of foreign policy in Pakistan.

Looking at it in the hindsight, it seems to be very wise of him. Has any foreign minister since General Zia's coup in 1977 ever been the person who had anything to do with the framing, conduct and execution of foreign policy in Pakistan -- most certainly not! Foreign Office, as late Sahibzada Yaqub Khan used to say, was the knee for the establishment to serve as shock observer or to do PR and damage control of its blunders. I was reminded the other day of late Lt. General Hameed Gul's candid confession about his days as ISI chief. He used to claim that "we made foreign policy, controlled and executed it.” His words echoed in my ears when I was briefed by one of his successors many years later.

Indeed, sad plight of Pakistan's Foreign Office came out openly once again when it had no clue about the American drone attack that killed Mulla Mansour. It was muted as it was when Americans invaded Abbotabad, killed Osama bin Laden and took his body to dump it in the sea.

The writer is a former ambassador to the UK.