The Prejudices Pakistan’s New President Faces

Asif Ali Zardari, husband of the late twice-elected Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, swept the Pakistan Presidential elections of September 6 in Parliament. Cast by secret ballot, his 481 votes out of 702 far exceeded the 352 he needed to win. Flanked by his teenage daughters Bakhtawar and Asifa, their heads draped in flowing white ‘dupattas’ (long scarfs) that their mother had made her trademark, he termed his triumph a ‘victory of democracy’.

This triumph comes on the heels of a flood of criticism against Zardari in the domestic and foreign media, ranging from charges of corruption and murder that have never been proved in court to mental instability in recently reported documents that were used to excuse him from court hearings a year ago.

A whispering campaign implicated him in the 1996 murder of then Prime Minister Bhutto’s younger brother Murtaza. The controversy weakened Bhutto and contributed to the dismissal of her government six weeks later. Similar rumours sprang up after Benazir’s assassination in December 2007, implying that Zardari was responsible for her murder.

Zardari’s response to criticism has always been his wide, toothy grin, even during eleven years in prison when he suffered periods of mistreatment and negligence that may have contributed to permanently damaging his health.

The disenchantment against him may not be as widespread as it is made out to be, comments Kamal Siddiqui, editor reporting of daily The News. “Many in Pakistan could not care less who is President. They want to know when their economic conditions will improve.�

The disparagement against Zardari, most intense in recent months, is hardly new. “It started when he married Benazir and took her away from us,� says well-known psychiatrist Dr Haroon Ahmed, who was a guest at the Bhutto-Zardari wedding in 1987, “Before that she belonged to all of us. Suddenly, he became a villain.�

In this patriarchal society with its deep caste and class divisions and prejudices, Zardari with his playboy reputation also hailed from to a ‘lesser’ tribe than the Bhuttos and was less well educated than his already famous Oxford and Harvard (Radcliffe) educated bride. He knew he would be taking a back seat to her when they first got married. Particularly after his release from prison in 2005 after almost nine years, he appeared to have gained considerable political wisdom. He consistently deferred to Bhutto’s leadership, refusing to comment on the party’s position on possible elections, saying that “she is my leader, and it will be her decision.�

Abdul Jabbar, a driver in the bustling metropolis of Karachi, inadvertently sums up both the caste and the patriarchy angles while explaining why he is against Zardari becoming President, despite being a supporter of Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) that Zardari now co-chairs with their college-going son Bilawal: “He came into power because of his wife… He is being very ‘sweet’, but the Zardaris (literally, ‘camel-herders’) are not a sweet tribe.�

Political analyst and development consultant Raza Rumi in a recent op-ed drew attention to the deep-rooted misogyny in Pakistani society as a major reason for Zardari being so widely reviled in this patriarchal culture, given that he derives his source of power from a woman. His “ascension and capture of a matrilineal power-base directly confronts the overly masculine identity of power in Pakistan,� believes Rumi.

He also pointed to the PPP's “essentially ‘feminine’ rhetoric� on forgiveness and reconciliation, compared to the other mainstream political leaders’ “rigid application of ‘principle’, honour, and aggression.�

This focus on forgiveness and reconciliation goes beyond rhetoric, noted the feminist Nafisa Shah, a PPP Member of Parliament. She pointed out that Zardari has befriended political opponents and apologised to the people of Balochistan where the State has responded to nationalist uprisings with disproportionate force.

Using ties forged during his years in prison, Zardari got party workers to visit the graves of political rivals in the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) killed in ethnic conflicts and got the MQM to visit the family of a former chief minister whose brother who was also killed in the conflict. These political rivals came to condole with Zardari and pray for Benazir Bhutto when she was killed. “All these exchanges forged political ties between hitherto unlikely partners,� said Shah.

Zardari also demonstrated great political acumen and skill in forging a coalition government after the February 18 elections and “using it to peacefully unseat President Musharraf,� as the BBC’s Barbara Plett put it.

Three decades ago, Benazir Bhutto had countered tribal, patriarchal traditions by retaining her own (father’s) last name rather than taking on her husband’s. The family’s decisions after her assassination also counter the patriarchal model: their three children took on the Bhutto name, hyphenating it with Zardari. Benazir was buried by her father's grave as she had wished rather than at her husband’s family graveyard. Zardari has stated that he too wishes to be buried there rather than at his own ancestral graveyard.

Although the mud flung at Zardari all these years has stuck, some analysts point out that he is hardly more corrupt than other politicians or even the military that has ruled Pakistan for much of its existence. “Nobody asks them about their corruptions,� says one analyst asking not to be named. “You won’t see the kind of leaks about them as you see about him. Our intelligence agencies work overtime when it comes to defaming Zardari. There should be accountability, but why single out one person?�

The reason for this singling out may be the PPP’s traditionally anti-establishment stance, stemming from its nationalist, secular polity that tends to make the ruling elite very nervous – that is, the nexus known as the ‘establishment’, comprising the military-bureaucracy-feudal, and in recent years, religious elements.

“In a country where swindlers, thugs, Constitution-twisters and vulgar-rich continue to shine and enjoy power with respectability, the moralistic histrionics against Zardari appear so out of place,� said Raza Rumi. “Patriarchy ensures that all black is transformed into white, unless, of course, the power-sharing centre lies outside its orbit.�

Besides the intelligence agencies and what has been termed their ‘dirty tricks brigade’, political rivals are also actively working to discredit Zardari. According to the Daily Times, the dirt on Zardari relating to his medical condition a year ago was leaked to a foreign paper by “a leading light of the PML-N� – the Pakistan Muslim League led by Zardari’s political rival Nawaz Sharif.

“The PML-N spokesman, who hails from a religious background and is constantly targeting Zardari, got the medical certificates from a PML-N sympathiser in NAB (National Accountability Bureau) who was handling Zardari's case,� alleges the report, citing anonymous sources.




Note; This is a slightly modified version of the article originally published by InterPress Service on Sept 7, 2008.

See also "The unbearable lightness of being Asif", The News on Sunday, Jan 16, 2005 & on Chowk The unbearable lightness of being Asif