Incessant Gibbers

While the LHC has ruled in favor of Shahbaz Sharif, despite ruling against his elder brother, the challenges for the CM Punjab are far from over. He’s now caught in constitutional intricacies which will require more judgements from the higher courts. Shahbaz Sharif was elected unopposed from PP-48, after which he took the office of Chief Minister Punjab. Interestingly, he forgot to withdraw his candidature from other seats from which he was contesting. One of those seats is PP-10 from which he is declared the winner, unopposed, again.

According to the Constitution article 223:

“Subject to Clause 2 if a member of either house or of a provincial assembly becomes a candidate for a second seat which in accordance with clause 1 he may not hold concurrently with his first seat, then his first seat shall become vacant as soon as he is elected to the second seat”

If he does relinquish his seat, he gives up the seat of CM and needs to take another oath. BUT (the best part!) … According to Chief Executive Order 19 of 2002, nobody can hold the CM office for the third time unless the law is amended

Good Luck CM

More on this: DAWN

This further shows the gross negligence of the so-called lawyers of PML-N. Jaahil is the key word.

Politics chief minister, constitution, punjab, shahbaz sharif

Addressing the issue of the total number of SC judges in the Finance Bill is not an accident. Nor is it the result of the pressure created by the lawyers. It is an extremely clever gambit by Zardari from his bag of infinite surprises. If we come out from the domain of Musharraf vs. Anti-Musharraf forces and look at the the parties at independent political entities, the PPP is slowly but surely gaining control over the government. The control, which it rightly deserves, has been overshadowed by the theatrical performance of his coalition partner, Nawaz Sharif.

Going a few days back (just one day before the budget), the news was broken in the night that the government has decided to increase the number of judges in the finance bill. Then the following happened:

• Aitezaz claimed it as a success, that his movement has been able to pressurize the government, and increasing the number of judges will reinstate Iftikhar Chaudhry.
• Khwaja Asif of PML-N, stated on GEO twice (once alone, and then alongwith Sherry Rehman in a talk show) that this action of government has the backing of PML-N and that his party was consulted and they gave their consent.
• Ishaq Dar came out of the NA praising the budget (he said “hamara budget” implying he had a role to play as well, and why not!)

So far so good. But yesterday the Sharif brothers came out saying that they were NOT consulted (contradicting Khwaja Asif). He said he’s unaware of any consultations. He also says that he will not allow this finance bill to be passed in the house (Ishaq Dar’s work going to waste?). He has been clear in his stance earlier as well that he will not accept the post-emergency judges, so this isn’t a surprise (Khawaja Asif did surprise me though).

Now why is this such a great move to include this issue in finance bill? Because the finance bill needs to approved by the National Assembly and NOT the Senate (this is the only such bill, that I am aware of). With this move Zardari has negated the need for Sharif to support him to increase the number of judges. Now, Nawaz Sharif will be put to test whether to support the finance bill or not. And if he doesn’t, many others are waiting to do so. In effect, Zardari has done what he wanted silently without even asking Sharif for his support!

Politics aitezaz, budget, judiciary, khwaja asif, musharraf, nawaz, sharif, zardari

The procession for Long March is in full swing. Numerous of people have loaded themselves in cars, buses and wagons to move from various cities including Karachi and Quetta. I’ve mentioned these two especially because of the distance at which they are from Islamabad. I don’t know exactly about Quetta, but I’m pretty sure about the costs involved in driving from Karachi to Quetta under normal circumstances. A car running on CNG will require fuel worth of approximately Rs. 3500 for this journey (one way). In a procession which is usually slow, the cost is likely to be higher. I leave the cost of petrol and diesel to the readers’ imaginations. While Quetta is much further away in terms of distance.

As I heard from the free and fair media sources, I’ve learnt that thousands of vehicles are driving from Sindh and Baluchistan (I know they’re exaggerating). If I assume 1000 cars from Karachi joining the procession, and all of them on CNG the cost comes to Rs. 3,500,000. Oh yes, it’s Rs. 3.5 MILLION. Where the hell is this fuel money flowing from?? And this calculation is based on simplicity just not be interpreted as a anti-lawyer writer.

With the economy dangling, fuel prices soaring and people crying for low wages this is somewhat of an anomaly. There are two valid answers that I can see to this:

1) People are willing to spend thousands to get Iftikhar Chaudhry back in throne.

2) Someone is financing the whole campaign. Naturally, that someone is a big player who has no financial issues.

The first point seems invalid because that does contradict the economic situation in the country. Those who thing it doesn’t, please prove it statistically. So what remains as the undisputed answer to the contentious issue of finances involved is the second point.

To those participating in the Long Drive, have a safe journey!

Politics economy, long march

Within 24 hours of flying to Dubai (Senator) Asif Zardari has called upon his Law Minister, Farooq H. Naik, and asked him to fly to Dubai for an emergency meeting. Reportedly, Farooq Naik has already left for Dubai, where he will be engaged in consultations with Zardari over the ever-growing constitutional package (82 points so far). The hilarious thing is that leaving everything and everyone back home, the two will be discussing it in Dubai. Why? Isn’t consultation supposed to be done with your party members? And then who covers all these expenses?? The reserves are falling sharply

And then Sherry Rehman told the media today that their party would be looking at the constitutional package within a day or two. Haven’t they already done so? Aren’t they the ones designing it?

They have proposed an amendment which allows the President to indemnify any act, even his own.

Politics constitutional package, ppp, zardari

The late night breaking news on private TV channels came as a little surprise to me after the sour marriage of PPP and PML-N. Khalid Maqbool, appointed by Pervez Musharraf, was being considered as acceptable to the majority party of Punjab, PML-N. So why this change at the top level? And why Salman Taseer? And, who is Salman Taseer?

Salman Taseer is a highly educated man, a chartered accountant from England and Wales. His resume is extremely impressive and illustrious (read profile). But more important is his political affiliation. He has served as a federal minister earlier for PPP. More recently, he was inducted as the minister for industries in the caretaker setup under PM Soomro. Coming to the point, Mr. Taseer, on his political side, is affiliated with the PPP and also has favorable links with President Musharraf.

The presence of a pro-PPP and pro-Musharraf governor in Punjab is an alarming situation for PML-N. This act is basically designed to keep in check the PML-N’s government in Punjab while strengthening the control of PPP in the province. This is also an antithesis to what both the party leaders expressed in media regarding the support of each other’s government. In fact, this is yet another great political move by Asif Zardari from his newly acquired political wisdom, which at the moment seems invincible.

The way I see it, in the near future, PML-N will either quit or will be forced out (or forced to leave) the Punjab government as well. And when that happens, PPP will already be having their man in command even if they don’t get their own CM.

Punjab, historically, decides the dynamics of politics in Pakistan. With PML-N leaving the center (and not Punjab), it was imperative for PPP to keep a check on the PML-N’s government in Punjab (who at the moment seems to be overly aggressive).

Politics musharraf, pml-n, ppp, punjab, salman taseer, zardari

While in exile, our leaders are so desperate to return to their soil. And when free to stay at home, they are eager to fly back. And that too, to an extent that they decide issues of national interest in those lands.

It’s not their fault. Our politicians always contradict themselves.

Politics exile, politicians

Aitezaz Ahsan announced at the Rawalpindi Bar that he will be contesting the by-election from NA-55. In fact, he and his fellow lawyers moved on to submit his nomination papers as well. While, Asif Zardari has already expressed his willingness to contest from the same constituency. The rift between Aitezaz and Zardari is not hidden by any means. The interview with Dr. Shahid Masood was a demo.

Speaking of NA-55, the “great” Imran Khan has also announced his plans of contesting the election from the famous constituency of NA-55 which is left open by Javed Hashmi and which used to be considered as an unbeatable seat of Sheikh Rasheed.

Since the seat is left by a PML-N candidate, the new nominee must have the backing of Nawaz (as agreed by the coalition partners). Apparently, Aitezaz does.  But it does look awkward with Zardari and Aitezaz. [Update: Aitezaz is contesting as an independent]

In an old interview Sheikh Rasheed said that he may consider running for by-elections. With so many power horses already in the race, not-so-good start of the new government and the chances of votes splitting, Sheikh Rasheed may have a slim chance of taking advantage (if he runs for it).

We’ll have to wait and see. But not for long. The wait has been prolonged. By-elections delayed by 2 months!

Politics elections, imran khan, sheikh rasheed, zardari

The much awaited press conference of Mian Nawaz Sharif, those words, the decision and the future finally appeared on the TV screens today. Or did it, really? That’s a big questionmark.

The complete absence of the PPP, the major coalition partner, struck me hard. I do not believe completely in what I see or hear but more in those signs. And the sign language tells a completely different story. My apprehensions were further strengthened by the Law Minister (Farooq H. Naik), when he stated in Kamran Khan’s show that:

• The newly formed committee will decide whether the judges can be reinstated by a simple resolution or a legislation is necessary. And there should be complete consensus among the members, otherwise the two party heads will decide the future course of action.
• The NA session will be called on 12th May; and if the judges aren’t restored by that day, its not a big deal.

While in the same program, Justice (r) Wajihuddin strongly condemned the decision to accomodate the PCO-judges with the older ones. Will the lawyer community accept this? Will they be comfortable sitting with their friends who took oath after emergency? Will the judges in the future not consider taking oath under a PCO a safer option? Many unsolved questions.

I think there has been no progress what so ever about the judges’ issue and the current 10-day period is just a breather for the two parties. It may also be an interim face saving stunt for the coalition partners.

The decision of the reinstatement of judges is such that every party would love to take credit on it and gain politically. PPP, distancing itself of the fresh announcement and letting Nawaz Sharif take the limelight just doesn’t sound right. Afterall, they are politicians as well and, historically, more clever than their counterparts at PML-N.

Politics judges issue, nawaz sharif, PCO, ppp

The political scene in Pakistan is changing rapidly with the rumour factory running in overtime. The people and the media are busy wasting time in gossiping about what may or may not happen trying to correlate the events that have occured with those that usually occur in the past. And, when I began keying in this post, it was going to be yet another gossip. But, common sense finally prevailed.

The truth is that no one knows what’s happening, what has happened and what will happen. The truth never comes out. So let’s not expect anything, let’s not predict anything and let’s not forget anything! The bad news is that the path we follow is always a circular one. That has been the past, but I, or anyone else, can’t predict the future.

And hey, let’s not waste our precious time in gossiping. Time to WORK! Atleast we can be sure of ourselves and what’s coming next in our lives.

Politics