A state without a leader

A couple of weeks back when I wrote in this space about the travails of what Nawaz Sharif, the elected prime minister of Pakistan, was going through in terms of his fiduciary integrity and the accompanied scrutiny, and what could have been, I had especially mentioned that it wasn’t an obituary of his government. I am afraid this is, after what the investigating agency found on him and the entire family from top to bottom owning wealth beyond their means – unaccounted and unreported, and probably ill-earned.

The papers are full of the family lying their way through every inch of the process, and even more sadly, stubbornly standing their ground. As I write these words, the day after, it is possible that he might finally realise the futility of it and make way for someone else to lead his government through the remaining year, thus saving the PM Office some respect and dignity while choosing to focus on what faces him as perhaps the biggest challenge of his life, saving grace.

Pakistan has been unlucky as a state. The founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, barely survived its formation dying at the hand of a lingering ailment in 1948. This was followed by a retinue of musical chairs that saw governments come and go, some after as little as a month and a half. Till Zulfikar Ali Bhutto arrived. First inducted as a minister at the young age of 32 in 1958 he stayed in the government, and kept politically relevant till he ascended the mantle of president in 1972. His government lasted till 1977 and he was hanged to death in 1979. This is a story well known to all.

Bhutto was a special breed. You had to be to survive all the years under various arrangements – democratic, quasi-democratic, autocratic, and dictatorial – and yet nurse ambitions to one day institute democracy in its true spirit. He was a charismatic figure, an outstanding orator who could weave his thoughts even when he was apparently beyond himself in public engagements. He once got Bangladesh recognised as an independent state in a public gathering even though it was the separated wing of Pakistan from a war which Pakistan had lost, the wounds of which were still painfully raw to even consider such a thought. A major foreign policy impediment had been breached by his exceptional skills opening up his options as he reoriented the foreign policy from an overtly American-focus to a more independent, China-leaning orientation.

He was brave, innovative and original. He thought of something called Islamic Socialism, in reality one the anti-thesis of the other, and believed so heavily in the popular socialist philosophy that couching it in Islamic terms he was able to live the ideals for long. He faltered too, but most who try things anew, and especially for the first time, more often will. He became insecure with his own lot and began losing those who were ideally attached to him. His policy of revisionism was soon tempered by the realities of status quo.

As his ideological comrades deserted him, and as he deviated from his chosen philosophy, he began making mistakes. Stories of torture and forced disappearances started making rounds. Rather than use his exceptional political skills, he resorted to force to subdue those who he thought opposed him. That sadly signalled the end of his tenure, opportunity and the chance to structure, develop and move the country forward. Most of his economic initiatives became missteps and were reversed. Bhutto was an experiment that failed. That didn’t lower his stature as a leader of substance, except that the country lost him too early and suffered for not having him.

Two others followed from the next generation – Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Surely not of Bhutto’s class but good enough, slowly ripening, after they had made mistakes in earlier tenures, to leave Pakistanis a glimmer of hope that they could now ride us through the perpetual turbulence that had rocked this nation since its inception. A dynamic, energetic and vibrant people needed to be channelised to give meaning to their dream; they aligned their hopes with these two in making good the inherent promise that this nation had nurtured. Instead, the two faltered frequently – ravaged by sagas of corruption. The better of the two, Benazir Bhutto, was taken away far too early just when it seemed that she and this nation were both ready to make their move together. Once again, Pakistan suffered.

Alone now, Nawaz ruled the roost. Perhaps not of the same calibre as Benazir, he was three decades into politics and experienced enough in matters of statecraft. He was understood to have international recognition with an experience which could see the state through the challenges that made for the testing times of 2013. Rather than bring that experience to govern better and to carve a favourable policy towards the state and its people he got frivolously engaged with institutions at the altar of exaggerated egotism. In the bargain he lost his political capital instead of putting it to more productive use. This has been his singular failure in his third tenure when he should have been at his sagacious best.

The Panama Papers have been a proverbial bolt from the blue, demolishing the edifice on which the Sharif legacy has stood. Apparently seeped in conservative values, a family perceived to have risen by the dint of their hard work and guided by middle-class values were soon to lose their cover. Two spikes in their wealth were unearthed by the Supreme Court instituted Joint Investigation Team: in 1990-93, Nawaz’s first tenure as prime minister, and then 2007-8 when democratic politics reinitiated after the Musharraf tenure. Both events, unfortunate, are also instructive. Seemingly the family could not behold the power of unbridled authority and unrestrained access to riches and the urge to launder accumulated gains in offshore havens through illegal avenues. The case now lies before the Supreme Court to decide on the prime minister’s legal, moral and ethical standing to continue in his position.

He has chosen to fight the findings against an almost certain evidence unearthed by the JIT decimating the Sharif family’s narrative. His cohorts think they can trample the authority of the courts by creating a sense of deliberate victimisation based around false allegations. Pakistan’s unabatedly corrupt elite has frequently fallen back on stories from the past of deliberate marginalisation of the political forces as their ultimate refuge against any thought of fiscal accountability. All this while the people and the state continue to be neglected.

A government exists only in name with its only function being to save the Sharifs. What the country and the nation needs is the farthest at this time in their consideration. Instead, Nawaz stares down an abyss, desperate to save himself and his family at any cost. The end is nigh. Pakistan has lost once again as it trundles along without a leader. It is time for the next generation to step up to the plate and rekindle again some hope and faith. Surely, Pakistan deserves better.

Email: shhzdchdhry@yahoo.com