It is a shame that Pakistan’s political sovereignty has been, in recent years, so badly fractured by its own diffident, cringing and puny politicians that the US State Department could come out with a statement that is open to interpretation as a direct intervention in the country’s domestic affairs.

While a political ferment had been generated by the 19-party opposition alliance, while some leaders of this motley group had been nudging the army to take over power by booting out Nawaz Sharif, the State Department came out with a statement, on Sept. 20, warning the opposition against any extra-constitutional change, the army against any Bonapartic scheme, and the government against suppressing harshly peaceful strikes and demonstrations and the freedom of expression..

This affront to Pakistan’s sovereignty has been attracted by an unscrupulous, morally bankrupt political elite that had made a virtue of invoking US intercession whenever it suited its interests. One cannot therefore find fault with the State Department for administering the warning; nor, can one take issue with its substance since it did no more than underline the supremacy of the constitution and the democratic norms expected to be followed in any civilized society.

The editor of this weekly, Faiz Rehman, has admirably described, in a column last week, the pilgrimage of politicians to Washington turning it into their political Mecca.

Benazir has set up a PPP office with flags and all in the Washington premises of her lobbyist, Mark Saegal, whom she had paid, while in power, large sums from public funds. She is likely to spend a good deal of her time from now onwards in Washington. She has already held meetings with senior officials of the Department.

Predicting that Nawaz Sharif would quit before the end of December and that she would be the next leader -“the only leader who can save Pakistan at this critical stage”- she has, according to a press report, already assumed the airs of a Prime Minister -the typically haughty attitude of the Bhutto clan.

The Finance Minister has arrived in Washington to talk about the delayed IMF installment. The Foreign Minister is currently attending the UN General Assembly but might visit Washington before returning to Islamabad despite the fact that his task in Washington had been assigned to and carried out by Shahbaz Sharif.

It is a shame that his assignment was given again to some one else after Naik’s track II diplomacy. He appears reconciled to this treatment.

The ISI chief, Lt-Gen. Ziauddin, was in Washington when the US statement was issued.

Pakistani media has underlined the significance of

Shahbaz Sharif’s mission to Washington in the context of the statement.

Among the opposition leaders who saw rewards of travel to Washington were: Farooq Leghari, Imran Khan, Aftab Sherpao, Ahmad Raza Qasuri and Jamaat-I-Islami leaders.

Never before in the eventful history of Pakistan has there been so much of reliance on the pleasure of the State Department. No wonder, the army chief, Gen. Musharraf, lost little time in responding to the statement by clarifying that there was no rift between the civil and military leaderships and that the army had no secret agenda.

Nawaz Sharif’s reliance on his kitchen cabinet and his small circle of friends and relations for all major decisions might have evoked flak, if not shame, of his own party men. His overwhelming craving for power has led him to forsake the democratic norm of decisions by consensus. He has domesticated and personalized policy-making. Even the daily Nation of Lahore, which usually supports Nawaz Sharif, had this to say: “His brother’s talks with senior US officials reflect poorly on the confidence he has in his own Foreign Minister. Has CTBT turned into a domestic and a Punjabi issue at that.”

Last March too he had sent his younger brother as the PM’s personal emissary to sort out, to the satisfaction of the IMF and the World Bank, the issue concerning the high tariff rates of Independent Power Producers agreed to by Benazir allegedly for kickbacks. This personalized style of decision making almost does away with the possibility of subsequent disclosures and the inconvenience of accountability.

It is a shame that the commitments made by him to President Clinton in the 3-½ hour meeting or by his younger brother to international agencies or the State Dept. have escaped the norms of transparency as much as of responsibility.

It is a shame that this style of governance, bordering on the fascism of a tribal leader, a feudal lord, has gone unmentioned in the State Department’s admonitions. The individual carrying out some one else’s responsibility would be under no obligation to take his job seriously or be accountable for that. Niaz Naik’s statement and subsequent prevarication prove this point.

It would, however, be a folly to underestimate Nawaz Sharif in his search for power and personal pelf: public weal is another matter. Winning a vast majority in the January 1997 elections, Nawaz Sharif moved swiftly to consolidate his hold on power. He used his two-thirds majority in the parliament to amend the constitution to take away the power of the President to sack governments. He then took on the other elements in the traditional power structure and soon got rid of a hostile President, a Chief Justice he could not cow down, and an army chief who acted independently. He installed in the Presidency a family loyalist, in the GHQ a pliable Commander-in-Chief. The rabble-rousing leader of opposition and an equally fiery Karachi leader, who commanded the third largest party, had to seek refuge in London. All of these are no mean political attainments.

Yet, it is a shame that a leader, who had every thing going for him, lacked the requisite perception, integrity or the determination to tackle the economy –the principle problem. People had voted him to power as they believed that his background of commerce and industry would enable him to put the economy back on the track. He turned out to be like a 6-year old who throws the book in a corner to pick up a shiny toy to play. He built a motorway which will pay for itself, through toll tax, in no less than 400 years, a yellow cab scheme which caused many banks to reach the brink of bankruptcy and the cabs to wind up in different foreign centers, a glittering airport which did not attract any more passengers. Many industries which the nation owned, were passed on at below cost, to private parties, mainly cronies, without the proceeds goings towards reduction of debts as originally planned in the scheme of privatization. The money received was quietly consumed. The debt has kept mounting. He has little compunction in reaching the donors with the begging bowl in hand. He lacked the vision or the courage to cut down the defense expenditure; nor, could he apply the axe to wasteful civil expenditure. The decision to freeze foreign exchange accounts scared away both local and foreign investors. He has himself acknowledged this to be great folly. He had inherited an economy which was in a mess, and he has made it messier.

Like a drugged and disoriented individual he has been moving from crisis to crisis. Things would not have been this bad had he followed the norm of decision making through debate and discussion. He rarely graces the elected parliament by his presence; nor, does he call meetings of his cabinet as often as required under the Rules of Business. He goes by the advice of his family, his kitchen cabinet and the ISI or other covert agencies.

Indeed, he was elected for 5 years by a heavy majority. But, the electorate has the right to express its displeasure over the manner the elected government has handled national problems. The State Department message underlines this democratic right of the people and political parties. According to reports, at the time of writing, the rallies planned by the opposition have been ruthlessly crushed in Karachi with the arrest of hundreds of persons including prominent leaders.

The two opposition leaders who really count in so far as Karachi is concerned are both fugitives from law enjoying these days a beautiful British autumn. Most of the other political parties in the Grand Democratic Alliance exist only in their letterheads. Even the MQM smacks of murders, extortion, car jacking and other crimes particularly since the conviction of its activists in the murder of Hakim Said. The PPP, despite all the loud claims of BB, is a relic of a dead past. It has discredited itself in the public eye. Benazir stands convicted in a court of law; her husband is in jail facing a number of criminal charges. Yet, the infrastructures of these two major parties are being exploited by the multi-party alliance, Grand or Insignificant, to draw the people to the rallies and demonstrations.

Each complete strike in Karachi costs the cash-starved economy, it is estimated, some 200 crore rupees ($40 million).

To recapitulate the situation, Nawaz Sharif still enjoys all the advantages to handle effectively the opposition’s pressures and to take tough decisions to salvage a sinking economy. But, first he has to take the people into confidence and adopt a transparent and truly democratic system of decision making. If he comes clean with the people instead of continuing to bluff them, the people will astonish him by giving him gladly the loyalty he could not even dream of getting.

It is a shame if he fails to do that! The Humpty Dumpty will then have a great big fall. No external support will be able to save him or be a substitute for the indigenous support that had, to begin with, put the reins of power in his hands. The givers will take them back.