The National Reconciliation Ordinance Blanket Cover

The last two months have been wrought with political controversies in Pakistan. Where the nation was yet to pick up the left over of the Nawaz Sharif deportation saga, suddenly there came in a confirmation from the government that over the last three years it had been in contact with the Pakistan People’s Party and was working jointly with them on a future political set-up in the country.

The press, since the release of Asif Ali Zardari (husband of the Chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party Benazir Bhutto) had been in speculation about an ongoing ‘deal’ between the government and the People’s Party.

Since 2002, the People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) had been vehemently opposing General Pervez Musharraf as a President with or without uniform. The two former archrivals had been closing on their ranks to jointly fight against General Musharraf. This was particularly the case after the MMA facilitated passage of the 17th Amendment in December 2003. the Amendment allowed General Musharraf to keep the posts of President and the Army chief till December 2004. The General had promised the nation that he would doff his uniform till the time that he was allocated under the 17th Amendment. He, however, like his military predecessor was not obliged to keep his word. The Supreme Court had dismissed petitions filed by small opposition parties against the 17th Amendment in early 2004 on the pretext that as the Parliament had already passed it, individual politicians should now honour it.

In 2003 however, General Musharraf had shown his first signs of his growing political maturity and his farsighted intellectual smartness. This he did by initiating high-level talks with the Pakistan People’s Party in Dubai. Initially, Major General Nadeem Taj kicked off these talks. Later on, the task of ‘political reconciliation’ with the Pakistan People’s Party were to be headed by the then ISI chief, Lieutenant General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, who has been seeing them to this day. No wonder that General Musharraf has promoted Major General Nadeem Taj to the post of DG-ISI and Lieutenant General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani the next Army Chief!

The efforts of two of the most trusted subordinates of General Musharraf have finally started to bear fruit, as all the stated objectives of the so-called ‘reconciliation’ have been achieved, hands down. Irrespective of what Benazir Bhutto is saying these days, in reality she has had nothing much to gain from this patch up with General Musharraf, but indeed she has lost ground to her political rivals. Her loss has been Pervez Musharraf gain. Consider the following realities.

The National Reconciliation Ordinance that was promulgated and signed by General Musharraf on October 5th 2007, does offer temporary respite to Benazir Bhutto from all the massive corruption charges that were plotted against her by the second Nawaz Sharif government. However, so far, her demands of the constitutional amendments that remove the controversial and highly notorious Article 58 (2b) and the restriction on being Prime Minister for a third term have surely fallen into deaf ears. As this deal has been making rounds in the media and the civil society (since many months now), Benazir’s credibility has been slashed pretty badly. She has compromised on the essential principles given to the party and the nation by her honourable father and has also shaken the party’s ideology. Her credibility as being the sole face of Pakistani democracy and a liberal who would never negotiate with a General, has been seriously dented! Since she became Musharraf’s newest partner, Benazir Bhutto has only managed to show the people of Pakistan that all what she is concerned about is getting back into the corridors of power and she can do anything for it. She too is now a member of the group of generals and politicians who are selling out Pakistan’s noble middle and working classes to West, thus opening up the nation’s vulnerabilities, society and culture to easy and rampant exploitation at the hands of the West. History credits the PPP’s founding father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for fighting against the unconstitutional rule of not one, but three Army Generals over a period of 21 years spanning from 1958 to 1979. He gave his life for establishing democracy in the country and did have an important role in giving the PPP its general reputation of being an anti-establishment party. No wonder that no politician in this country’s history, other than The Quaid-E-Azam could draw in so massive crowds and rally them against a military dictator. Benazir Bhutto has all along been claiming that this reconciliation is the way through which she can ensure that Pakistan can get back on the track of democracy. However, her dealing with Musharraf is plagued with various constitutional and political complexities that have collectively hit her credibility amongst the masses pretty hardly and have also caused splits within her own party. The first and most major compromise has been against the party’s foundation ideology of never cosying up with dictators. Even the hanging of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto could not get this deeply inscribed foundation changed. Miss Bhutto’s dealing with General Musharraf has however agonised many in her party, including senior barrister Aitzaz Ahsan. Through out the early 1980s, the Pakistan People’s Party’s workers had undergone severe prosecution at the hands of General Zia, but their stance and principled position against military rule remained unchanged. This however is not the thing happening today. Is this because of Musharraf’s acute political smart mindedness and foresight, or because of BB’s greed of getting into power through back-door illegal diplomacy? Or perhaps a bit of both? Giving a definite answer to this question would not be justified at this moment.

Right now, there are many corruption cases against Benazir Bhutto languishing in courts across Pakistan and Switzerland (considering that the NRO has not been fully enforced right now). Before getting rid off them, if Benazir decides to run for another term of premiership, then this is supposed to be a political crime according to the constitution of Pakistan and the international law, therefore any future political setup comprising of the BB led PPP and General Musharraf can be easily labelled as being unconstitutional and perfectly illegal. The situation and the loosely cobbled political framework would then be like a ripe fruit for an enthralling judicial investigation and Watergate style investigative reporting in the media.

Regarding corruption cases against BB, it has also been rumoured that the government is currently planning to withdraw the cases that are languishing against her in courts in Switzerland. To claim that the current relationship between General Musharraf’s military establishment and BB would be on the basis of what we can call political equality, would be jut like fooling oneself. General Musharraf has categorically ruled out the removal of the legislations that constitutionally empower him to dissolve the national assembly, impose emergency and bar individuals from becoming Prime Ministers for a third time. This means that in real terms what Benazir would get to see is just a shadow or glimpse of power, which in real terms would still remain very much within the hands of the President and General Ashfaq Kiyani, the next army chief. Benazir and her party would be kowtowing the agenda of the military establishment in the future, as mentioned by Hamid Mir in his detailed article ‘How Benazir played into Musharraf’s hands’, in The News on October 7th in which he goes on to say that “ Now the PPP will become another Pakistan Muslim League-Q and act according to the instructions of the Army Generals in the future.”

The respite that Benazir is getting from the NRO, would be short lived, or perhaps none at all, in case the Supreme Court rules against the alleged constitutional conformity of the highly dubious ordinance. The government has made it clear that the cases against Benazir would remain intact in case the Supreme Court gives a ruling against the NRO.

As mentioned earlier, BB’s loss has been Musharraf’s gain. The deals were basically done on the terms and conditions of General Musharraf, who did not even give the lady salty peanuts and fresh cashew nuts to eat! None of her demands have been entertained, whereas General Musharraf’s objectives have all been met, hands down. By promulgating the ordinance one night before the elections and almost after one month of sheer confusion and media speculation, General Musharraf ensured that the PPP, the only party that could hurt his presidential candidacy, could not buy the time to go for legal counselling or resign from the assemblies. Through the dialogue with the People’s Party over the last three years, the military establishment has been able to engineer permanent splits between Mian Nawaz Sharif, BB and the whole of the political opposition and has then gone on to use these splits to confuse the public and get the favours of the Supreme Court. Not only this, General Musharraf, through the rubber-stamps of this so-called dialogue, has also managed to engineer splits within the APDM. The most significant achievement from the General’s point of view, would have surely been the second banishment of Nawaz Sharif, who this time has been forced into political isolation. Unlike before, today Nawaz Sharif cannot play a decisive role, at least none at the moment, in national politics. As Mawlana Fazlur Rehman of the Jamiat-E-Ulema- IsLam-Fazal (JUI-F) has shown how big turncoat is he, today even the APDM is without a strong leader. People like Imran Khan and Javed Hashmi cannot really pick up the left over pieces.

The brainchildren of the military establishment in Rawalpindi and Islamabad should be praised, no doubts. However, this does not mean that future for General Musharraf would be an easy cakewalk. Presently, his candidature and fate as president is in the hands of the Supreme Court, which I must say with all accreditations is playing its own game of chess very tactfully. The lawyers’ movement would definitely come up with many constitutional petitions and challenges that could have long lasting political implications for General Musharraf and Pakistan. Is Mr. Musharraf prepared to give them political answers? Only time will tell. If the recent past is to be a reasonable guide by any means, then answer would certainly be a ‘hell no.’ The successful banishment of Nawaz Sharif shows that General Musharraf and his hand-created PML-Q are running out of political options pretty fast. The situation in Balochistan, Waziristan and in other areas along the Afghan borders is deteriorating pretty fast and the military and political situation in these areas will consume a reasonable amount of time and energy of Musharraf and the new military leadership from 2008 onwards. Musharraf is under serious pressure from the United States to deliver more quickly in the War on Terror. The Middle Class in Pakistan is now deeply disenfranchised from the national economy and the political affairs of the state. The MQM and PPP cannot be trusted anymore to deliver security, law and order to the ordinary citizens of Pakistan, leave alone the creation of meaningful and well paid jobs and the eradication poverty and illiteracy. These issues would be discussed more in detail in the next few articles.

Coming back to where we actually were, it would now be worthwhile to have a look at how the Pakistani press takes the BB-Musharraf deal and the National Reconciliation Ordinance. In a very fiery editorial in its October 7 issue, The Nation newspaper went on to say that “The Ordinance is the final manifestation of the much talked about deal between the military regime and the Pakistan People’s Party.” Regarding its salient features, the editorial further commented, “It grants total immunity to the ruling class. There has always been disconnect between the rulers and the ruled, this Ordinance makes it official: the rulers from across the political divide, can get away with anything.”

In an article entitled ‘A great betrayal’ (The News October 6), renowned journalist Ansar Abbasi went on label the alleged deal and national reconciliation between two self serving individuals, a ‘farcical view’.

The press in Pakistan has been very critical of the government BB deal. The Post’s Wajih Abbasi, in his column of October 13 went on to say that “the ordinance issued just before the controversial presidential elections, which were opposed by the opposition and other important sections of the society, seemed like an act of betrayal by the most popular political party.”

Armchair columnists like the Nation’s Humanyun Gauhar, have even gone as far as to target the basic concept of political reconciliation that the government sought to employ in this case. In the column on October 7th, he had made some unusually tough remarks when he went on to question the very basic legitimacy of this so called reconciliation. He asked the government that “why not include businessmen who have defaulted because of senseless and ever changing government policies in the past, the corruption and inefficiency of bankers with a State Bank governor presiding over the disappearance of $11 billion of private money that he held in trust?” These tough questions do certainly have some definite answers. This government, would be recognised by historians as being extremely biased when it comes to the implementation of real accountability. Alas we all know that what a great political tool does the government have at its disposal in the face of the Non-Accountability Bureau.

However, Indian journalist and former newspaper editor Praful Bidwai has given in a drastically different analysis of the entire situation. According to him, “if the PPP were to cut such a dishonourable deal, as seems to be happening, there’s a distinct risk that it could split, losing some of its better politicians. Worse, that would help the Army entrench itself aggressively in public life, just as it’s losing its credibility altogether. This would undermine some major gains of the recent pro-democracy momentum.” This analysis is well reasoned indeed. As this has more to do with the political impact that the deal and the NRO could have in Pakistan, we would discuss it more at length once we look at the salient features of the NRO itself!

Salient features of the National Reconciliation Ordinance

As per the text of the Ordinance that was reproduced in the national press, Federal and provincial governments are now entitled to take back legal prosecutions against anyone before a trial or apex court gives in its verdict. This also applies to ‘an absconding accused who is falsely involved for political victimisation in any case initiated between 1st day of January 1986 to the 12th day of October 1999.’ Now, this clause has been a fundamental bone of contention between the government and political opposition and the lawyers’ movement. Quite clearly, this clause has been shrewdly prepared with the intention of keeping the PML-N and the Sharif brothers out of the hypnotic aura of the General Musharraf’s dumbfounded political reconciliation. This is because the government did file cases against the PML-N after the October 1999 military take over. In an amendment of Ordinance XVIII of 1999, a new sub-section to the main section 33, has been introduced, which clearly puts forward the claim for ‘Withdrawal and termination of prolonged pending proceedings prior to 12th of October 1999.’

Also does the Ordinance initiate the formation of a new parliamentary committee meant to oversee corruption related matters of seated parliamentarians, before the NAB begins formal proceedings.

Inevitably, if this ordinance is not struck down by the Supreme Court, it would go on to cast disastrous affects on Pakistani politics and society. First and foremost would be the crisis of legitimacy. In case a future set-up comprises of a BB/Musharraf collaborated effort cobbled together by General Musharraf and the ISI, the government would be completely devoid of any legitimacy. The world might consider this a schizophrenic set up comprising of a President who is a sitting military chief, in crystal clear violation of the Constitution, his own military oath and may be the Supreme Court’s verdict and a Prime Minister on whose name are blotted some of the most bigoted and heinous corruption against which she has been persistently unable to prove her innocence. In fact, by accepting the NRO, Benazir has silently accepted the fact that there had been acts of sedition and corruption committed by her during her two terms as Prime Minister, against which she has been facing prospects of a court martial. Hearings on many of the cases have taken place indeed. She has indeed silently accepted that corruption cases against her name were indeed true.

I have no reason to believe that Benazir Bhutto has ever been a leader for the masses, a leader who has the agenda of ‘roti, kapra, makan’ truly up her nerve and the political whip that can shake the very foundations of a military government. If Nawaz Sharif has been labelled as a thief and a hypocrite who does not accept the legitimacy of signed deals, then Benazir is probably no different. She has never left out any opportunity to latch upon the seats of power through betrayal and deceits against whom; the people of Pakistan have already suffered a great deal.

The petition filed by Makhdoom Amin Fahim against General Musharraf’s candidature and eligibility as a presidential candidate, truly show that what kind of dangerous and corrupt hypocrisy Benazir is capable of doing and showing. On the one hand, she is talking about cutting a deal with General Musharraf and on the other hand, one of her most trusted party members has gone on to file a petition in the Supreme Court against that same general. Keeping in mind this hypocrisy, I feel one should not be shocked to hear that the Supreme Court finally ends up legitimising General Musharraf’s presidency, and perhaps the doomed controversial uniform too, by another five years. This is because the Supreme Court’s senior judges, including Justice Javed Iqbal have warned the politicians of using judicial activism and the court’s platform for settling political scores with the government against whom they claim that the opposition now has a personal malafide.

The Supreme Court had withheld the Seventeenth Amendment mainly on the pretext that it had already been passed by the parliament. If the judgements of the apex court go in favour of the government, then the latter’s smart tactics should not get as much credit as must be the curses and blames lured on the incumbent and highly catastrophic failures of politicians like Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. General Musharraf’s case and this NRO document have many loopholes and are clearly very much against the legal and political interpretations and implications of the Constitution of Pakistan of 1973. The loss of Benazir’s public reputation, would only add fuel to the fire.

Another major implication and future consequence of the NRO and any future political settlement based upon the indemnities and withdrawal of cases granted by this document, could split the PPP from within, further strengthen the military’s political presence and its business interests in Pakistan, and would embolden and strengthen the MQM. This is because many of the PPP’s old time workers and even the senior barrister Aitzaz Ahsan have vehemently opposed this deal and threatened to severe relations with Benazir, a corrupt lady who has sacrificed the credentials and hanged the PPP’s ideology to the gallows—the same credentials and ideologies which her father upheld with great integrity and therefore did not negotiate or reconcile with military dictators, even at the cost of his life.

The military’s role in the national economy and politics would further strengthen because the PPP is being deliberately used by the military hierarchy to show the world an illusory picture of what really is not there in Pakistan, a liberal and secularist democracy. It must be well understood that in case things go as planned at the GHQ and ISI headquarters, it would be people like Pervez Musharraf, General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani and General Tariq Majid would be calling on the real shots. Real political power, would still be at least at an arm’s length from Benazir, as it is the case with the PML-Q and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, right now.

The MQM distinctively stands out as a major beneficiary from the NRO. According to media reports, as many as 25000 MQM’s political workers who have been convicted in various cases regarding murder, treason and corruption, would get an amnesty. Thus the benefits that the fascist movement, as it is labelled by Imran Khan, stands out to gain from the NRO, a document which would aid them in further strengthening their rule and presence in Sindh.

However, on the flick side, the deal between BB and Musharraf, along with the NRO could become a perfect recipe of a political disaster for Pakistan. Firstly, the discrimination that this ordinance goes on to create should be abhorred and condemned. This is because this is not what we can proudly call a true reconciliation. Firstly, because various important elements of the Pakistani society, such as the media, NGOs, the civil society, etc. have evidently not been taken into confidence. Secondly, the idea of not being held accountable for corruption is very much against the spirit of democracy. Instead, what democratic norms suggest is that even if you know and understand that the corruption charges levelled against you are baseless and do not stand ground, then you should still be given access to justice and the courts, where it should through empirical media and judicial trials and investigations that the charges against the person of concern shall be proven wrong and thus thrown out. Are Benazir and Musharraf willing to be held accountable for their actions? I think certainly not.

On the final counts, the deal and the NRO could further fuel political clashes and further divide the opposition. This is would be highly advantageous to the government and the PPP alike. This is because when the opposition is split, then there would not be anyone who can politically challenge the corrupt and unconstitutional future set up, whatever it maybe. Further more, a split opposition and a highly confused and indecisive media would ensure that the military gets a clean chit ahead of the materialisation of its plans of further delving into national politics and business affairs, hands down. Contrary to what it seems, General Musharraf is not at all ready to begin the extremely lengthy and tough process of leading the army out of national politics. Now, not only Musharraf, but even Benazir, the PML-Q and the MQM have a lot of vested political and commercial interests that the NRO sets out to protect. The mass pardoning that it brings forth, has only gone on to show the world that Pakistan is probably one of those few dark and backward countries where political corruption is so rampant at the topmost official levels that not only well known absconders, plunderers and murderers make it to the top echelons of power in provincial and federal governments, but have also now led to the successful formation of a new social class exclusively meant for corrupt political aristocrats, the ‘Lootocratic class.’ The famous 22 families of Ayub Khan’s era, which are now part of our chequered history, can also be included as the first generation members of this class.

In a fiery editorial entitled ‘Reconciled for expediency,’ The Dawn newspaper in its October 7 edition said, “the National Reconciliation Ordinance promulgated on Friday is a prime example of a bad law even though it meets the yardstick of enforceability.” It went on to comment that “the ordinance strengthens the view that crime goes unpunished in Pakistan, and that too with official blessing. This is not the right signal to send to a public that is on the verge of losing all faith in the system. If anything, the corrupt and criminal will be emboldened further by this getting out-of-jail-free pass handed by the government in the name of national reconciliation.”

Clearly, the National Reconciliation Ordinance has made Pakistan a laughing stock in many of the political quarters around the world. If the Supreme Court really wants to restore the public’s faith in the country’s justice and law enforcement system, then the foundations have to be pretty strong. The Supreme Court that we have today, was not formed in 1947, but on July 20th 2007, when it rose from the deadly ashes of the heinous Presidential reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

The foundations can only be strong if the Supreme Court gives in its verdict of disallowing the implementation of its provisions and condemns the government and the ISI for its formulation in the first place as it is in crystal clear contradiction with even the basic fundamental provisions of Pakistan’s constitution of 1973 and the basic ideas and philosophical thoughts on liberal democracy which place fundamentally concrete emphasis on the independence of the media, judiciary and on accountability of all political crimes that have been committed and caught. In my opinion, the verdicts on the petitions that have been filed against the Ordinance hold greater political importance for the time being for two big reasons. Firstly because of the overall long-term impact of the Ordinance and the BB-Musharraf deal on Pakistan’s political affairs and future democratic prospects, and secondly because once the Ordinance is disqualified in its entirety, the laws of the land and the Supreme Court would be applicable on Benazir Bhutto as well, who would in that case either be forced to go into another self-exile or would be arrested and will face trial. Given this suspected reality, it is for sure that Musharraf would soon hit a new rock-bottom again as he would be in the search for new allies again.

Here, it must be mentioned that the dual offices case of General Musharraf is unlikely to get resolved anytime soon and therefore the fate of the Supreme Court and Pakistan’s politics still hangs pretty much along the hearings and verdicts on the petitions against the National Reconciliation Ordinance. God bless Pakistan.