1 January, 1998
One-party State
By Ardeshir Cowasjee
Is there one thinking man in this country who can deny that Benazir and
Nawaz, their families, friends, and hangers-on have not all grossly
over-misused power each time they have alternately been in the driving
seat? Who can deny that they have plundered and robbed, bringing the
country to its knees?
When Benazir was dismissed for the first time in 1990, President Ghulam
Ishaq Khan filed six well-documented references against her personally for
'misconduct' -- a euphemism for the robbery of State funds, nepotism,
favoritism, the misuse of power, and all the rest of the crimes committed.
Nine other solid cases were filed against her husband, her ministers, and
her MNAs.
The first reference against Benazir related to the use of secret service
funds for the buying of MNAs and MPAs at the time of the no-confidence vote
against her government. According to the applicable rule : " The Secret
Service Fund is intended solely for the purpose of buying information and
for no other purpose. No expenditure which is legitimately debitable to
'Contingencies' or any other 'Head' of account must be incurred from the
Fund." Payments and receipts must be properly recorded.
>From the SS Fund, Benazir paid out Rs.2 crores to herself, Rs.3 crores to
Nasirullah Babar, Rs.1 crore to Malik Waris Khan, Rs.1.5 crore to Aftab
Sherpao, Rs.1 crore to Hanif Khan, Rs.40 lakhs to Mohibullah Shah, Rs.26
lakhs to Naheed Khan, and various such sums to others.
The second reference concerned the allotment of 287 acres of prime
Islamabad land to a bogus company, ostensibly for the construction of a
hotel.
The third related to the use by the PPP of PAF special flights to
carry away the bodies bought for the no-confidence motion to be safely
stored until needed.
The fourth concerned the distribution by Benazir of
LPG marketing licenses to her relatives and friends, the fifth the award of
a raw cotton contract to a favoured firm causing a loss of over Rs.10
crores to the State, the sixth for the misuse of USD200 million worth of
loans given for consultancy services to KESC by the appointment of a
favoured consultant -- and so it went, on and on, scam after scam.
When Nawaz came in for his first round, he went off on his own
money-collecting binge, robbing the cooperative societies, denuding the
financial institutions, generating his own multiple scams. He thus neither
had the time nor inclination to bring to book Benazir and her men, and
ensured that all the presidential references simply died.
When Benazir was given her second round, she made no move against Nawaz for
his crimes against the State, but concentrated instead on doing down his
industrial empire built up by the misuse of State funds, without recovering
anything for the exchequer and preventing Nawaz from paying back what he
owed. She and her husband were far too busy robbing the country, this time
milking it dry. No holds were barred, the nation was robbed of billions,
in multiples of crores.
Now Nawaz is back again. This time he has systematically gone about
chasing Benazir's deals and has managed to completely expose her. Each
time one of her scams is unmasked, she shouts, "Victimisation." Each time
a reputable foreign newspaper (a broadsheet not a tabloid) reveals her
doings, she threatens to sue, but then realizing that she would further
incriminate herself, she desists.
The New York Times, having made its "own investigation, lasting three
months, extended from Pakistan to the Middle East, Europe and the United
States," has just come out with a full-page special report sidelining the
Bhutto family as a "house of graft". Her billions worth of dollar accounts
and foreign properties have been detailed. A central figure is Jens
Schlegelmilch, "whom Bhutto described as the family's attorney in Europe
for more than twenty years and as a close friend." He was Zulfikar's
lawyer who had handled the money he stashed away in his time, and an
honoured guest at Benazir's Karachi wedding.
The NYT continued, "Apart from bolstering Sharif's power by exposing Bhutto
and her family, Sharif's aides hope to protect him against the possibility
that she may one day return to office and turn the tables on him. Sharif,
who is 48, battled for years during Bhutto's tenure to stay out of jail on
a range of corruption charges, including allegations that he took millions
of dollars in unsecured loans from State owned banks for his family's steel
empire, then defaulted."
Now, to what the people of Pakistan have to contend with. In 1989,
General Fazli Haq was charged with murder and took refuge for some four
months in the house of Chief Minister of Punjab Nawaz Sharif. When he
emerged from hiding, he confided in Mir Afzal Khan. "I have seen this man
from close quarters. He is an out and out fascist. Yeh Zulfikar Bhutto ke
baap hain."
As with Zulfikar, the only party Nawaz Sharif fears is the Army. As prime
minister, COAS Aslam Beg frightened him. He had problems with his
successor, Asif Nawaz. Wahid's appointment he detested and it was Wahid
who finally got him. He is now wary of Jehangir Karamat. If Nawaz could
have his way, he would render the COAS as powerless as the IG of the Punjab
Police force!
With great frequency we read in the press ISPR releases announcing that
"the Army is united." Used as we are to the true meaning of communiques,
we fear the reverse. Now, with Field Marshal Rafiq Tarar safely corralled
as Supreme Commander of our Armed Forces, and having assumed the power of
hiring and firing the service chiefs Nawaz probably feels sure that he has
satisfactorily dealt with the Army.
As happened with President Fazal Elahi Chaudhry, the Prime Minister has
instructed the President's staff that Tarar can only meet people of whom
he, Nawaz, approves. Outdoing Benazir, who told President Farooq Leghari
at his enthronment that the presidency would henceforth be low-key, Nawaz
has informed Tarar that he can only be shown on PTV with prior permission.
(President Leghari's farewell address to the nation was banned from PTV.)
The opposition has been virtually destroyed. The PPP, to our gain, has
been smashed. The ANP has been bought over. In the NWFP it is now known
as the PML (Wali Group). Begum Wali Khan's brother, Azam Hoti, rewarded
with the lucrative ministry of communications (Damar), has openly boasted
in Mardan : "Baacha Khan [Wali Khan's father] was on the wrong track. He
did not know the ABC of politics. I have put ANP on the right track."
Bugti, the ageing Tiger of Baluchistan has been satisfied and now purrs.
Each time Nawaz needs his five Senate votes he sends his "Air Force One" to
fly him to Islamabad. Murder charges against Altafbhai of London Town
have been withdrawn, and his MQM ministers are encouraged to make merry at
the expense of the City of Karachi. Even Sharifuddin Pirzada was flown
to Quetta, and elsewhere, in the Punjab Chief Minister's jet last November
to jadooise his own creatures.
Nawaz's agenda is to rule over Pakistan for ten years ( his brother's is
twenty), which makes Abbaji Sharif head of State and Government for life.
This may well happen. Effectively, we are now a one-party State. Who can
now oppose them? If to remain in power for twenty years is not within the
scope of the present constitutional provisions, they can easily be amended
at midnight, ditching all rules of procedure.
Law Minister Khalid Anwer is a competent man. What he abhorred all his
life, he now justifies. He has competently tailored the Ehtesab laws to
ensure the safety of the Sharif family. This is amply clear from the
letter written by Ehtesab Commissioner Mujadid Mirza to Benazir, reproduced
in the press on January 15. The Ehtesab Judge declared that he has acted
within the law by forwarding her references against Nawaz, filed before
him, to the Prime Minister's Ehtesab Cell for investigation.
Saifur Rahman, Nawaz's trouble-shooter and head of his Ehtesab Cell, is
there to ensure that his investigations protect Nawaz. Information
Minister Mushahid, who can fool no one, is there to wrap up Nawaz's wrongs.
Commerce Minister Ishaq Dar, chartered accountant, guardian of Ittefaq's
commerce, industry and taxes, is there to ensure that the family
enterprises take preference over those of the nation. Interior Minister
Chaudhry Shujat is there to select Muslim League members as Justices of
Peace and to endow them with the powers of thanedars.
To survive as a nation, we must increase our income and cut down our
expenses. Nawaz and his Merrymen do not wish to do either. His own
household and his secretariat cost the nation, on an average, over Rs.75
lakhs per day.
__________ ac@xiber.com ___________
Ardeshir Cowasjee,
Karachi, Pakistan