You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=8350

You left me alone, Musharraf tells allies
Says not even 10 among 1,000 PML legislators defended him; govt to file affidavits in CJ case today

By Umar Cheema

ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday blasted the ruling coalition, especially the Pakistan Muslim League leadership and the lawmakers for “always leaving him in the lurch” and said the country would be in deep trouble if his set-up got changed.

“I bluntly say that you always leave me alone in the time of trial and tribulation. Whether it was a change in the Afghan policy, Dr AQ Khan and Bugti issues, the judicial crisis or the May 12 incident, you never came to my support,” he told his political allies, while addressing the parliamentary party meeting of the ruling coalition here at the PM House.

Musharraf deplored that out of, what he termed, 1,000 provincial/federal ministers, parliamentary secretaries and chairmen standing committees, he could not see even 10 of them speaking in his defence. “I see the party nowhere. You people are not mobilized,” he declared.

The president termed his allies’ habit of remaining busy in gossiping while sitting in drawing rooms as a recipe for disaster. “You are not delivering. You have lost the war of nerves. You all are silent upon what the media is doing. If I have to do everything, then what is your purpose?” he asked the treasury MPs.

Defending the gagging of media through an amended ordinance, the president said he had given teeth to the toothless Pemra through this way and that it was aimed at retaliating to the media that kept pushing him to the wall with more and more freedom given to it. “It (amended ordinance) has given teeth to the Pemra and would now bring supremacy of the law,” he said.

He reprimanded lady lawmaker, Mehnaz Rafi, who questioned the wisdom of the promulgation of the amended Pemra Ordinance shortly before the National Assembly session. Senator, Javed Shah who questioned the president’s legitimacy, saying that Musharraf did not come through the power of ballot, also did not go well with the president. He, however, did not react to a lawmaker’s complain who accused the CM Punjab of conspiring against the MNAs at the cost of their political future.

Mazhar Qureshi said the president should not get annoyed with them for not defending him at a time when PML-Q’s secretary general Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed (who was sitting there) was reluctant to speak in his defence. Qureshi said the PML-Q had around 50 vice presidents and not one of them had spoken in the president’s favour.

About the affidavit filed by the chief justice of Pakistan, Musharraf said it now provided him a chance to tell the public the real story and the actual causes behind showing the door to the top judge. He said the affidavit of those present in the Army House on March 9 would be submitted before the Supreme Court today (Thursday) and that he would address the nation through a televised address the same day (Thursday).

According to insiders attending Wednesday’s meeting, the president spoke at length. For the first time, he was visibly shaken. The president also told the treasury lawmakers: “I feel disturbed for the first time”.

He expressed his frustration in detail and counted each and every incident that had put him in crisis but did not find his political allies around. According to the sources, Musharraf said since 9/11 his political allies had never come forward to extend him support during trouble. He said Pakistan without him (Musharraf) would be in deep crisis. “You do not know the problems for Pakistan if I am left out,” he said and mentioned the key problem the country would be facing then: Talibanisation. “You would see its (Talibanisation) in Lahore and Karachi as well. And that if the present state of affairs is continued, it would be a big disaster,” he added. “I am not worried about myself. I am fighting your war,” he told the allies.

He said there is nothing to feel embarrassed for the treasury MPs. “You should hold rallies, go to the TV talk shows, hold press conferences, make hue and cry and defend the government,” he advised them. About the coming budget, he said it would address three main issues: poverty, unemployment and price hike.

Talking about the CJ’s affidavit, he said it had facilitated the government that was otherwise silent for the reason that the matter was sub judice. “Now we will also tell tomorrow (Thursday) the actual reason behind taking action against the CJ,” he said.

He said the judicial crisis had halted the arrival of foreign investment and mentioned in this regard the Kuwaiti investors who had changed their mind due to the present situation. His ‘thought-provoking’ speech was followed by questions of treasury MPs. A senator from Multan, Javed Shah, asked Musharraf to give up dual attitude and take a single posture: offensive or defensive. “The government is run either through authority or through dialogue/compromise,” Shah said.

He said since he (Musharraf) had not come through the power of ballot, there was no need to become so democratic. The word of ballot power provoked Musharraf who said: “You want to behave like a dictator. You mean that I should impose martial law,” Musharraf asked. The president said he had learnt one thing. “When you get flexible, the other side would keep you pushing and it is for that reason the amended Pemra Ordinance had been promulgated.”

As Mehnaz Rafi questioned the president’s wisdom behind promulgating the amended Pemra Ordinance, it again provoked the president. “It is again a problem. You do not know the problem,” and said the action had been taken in haste because the government did not want to give more chance to the media to go scot-free.

A treasury MNA from Lahore, Farooq Amjad Mir, said they had no time to defend him for the reason they had been implicated in problems in their own constituencies by the chief minister Punjab. “You should tell me if the CM of a province tries to eliminate me politically by fielding a provincial minister in the next elections, what should I do: either to stay in the constituency or come here to defend him (the president),” Mir said in clear reference to CM Punjab’s alleged plan to give party ticket for next elections to provincial Minister Aleem Khan. The president, however, did not comment on the issue.

Mazhar Qureshi chose to criticise Mushahid Hussain Sayed, questioning even if he was not ready to defend Musharraf, then the president should not expect anything from other lawmakers. He said no parliamentary party meeting was called to take the MNAs into confidence and tell them the actual situation.

Asim Yasin adds: President General Pervez Musharraf urged the parliamentarians of Pakistan Muslim League and its allies to forge unity in their ranks and forcefully defend the government at all fora while speaking to them at a luncheon hosted for them by the prime minister at the PM House ahead of the budgetary session of the National Assembly. The president had joined the lunch on special invitation, which among others was attended by 150 MNAs, federal ministers, ministers of state and a select group of senators.

Earlier, President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz held one-on-one meeting at the PM’s House to discuss the current issues. Addressing the parliamentarians, the President said the government efforts are focused on transferring the benefits of growth to the common man and the forthcoming budget will be a step in that direction.

Reflecting on some of the key current issues, the president said this was the election year. “Elections will be held on schedule and our government will be remembered for holding timely, fair and transparent elections,” he added.

He also reiterated his resolve and commitment to take all decisions in the best national interest without fear and favour. Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the forthcoming budget will fulfill people’s aspirations and positively impact all sectors of the economy and segments of the society, including the salaried class, wage earners, farmers and traders.

He said the record PSDP for 2006-07 would create economic opportunities and jobs. Poverty will further decline and there would be visible improvement in the quality and standard of life of common man. They will get better facilities of health and education.

He said the country had achieved record economic growth during the last seven years and now it was transferring the benefits of growth to the people at the grassroots level.

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

Noose is getting tighter...

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

Why did he gather them around in the first place?

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

He's screwed and he knows it. All acts of a desperate and pathetic dictator who knows the noose is tightening around his neck.

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

With all his evil policies why would anybody stay with him. Even satans are running from him.

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

When even the lotas jump off the ship, you know it is sinking

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

I agree Mushrraf’s ship is sinking fast, and the sad part is that we might be heading back to square one ie pre-1999. Those who do not learn from history tend repeat it. BTW, who would you like BB or Gunja (who is not gunja anymore)?

http://nation.com.pk/daily/jun-2007/7/columns1.php

Square one

Imran Husain
Very demoralising. Think of the promises made almost eight years ago. Then think of the ten years before those. Corruption, horsetrading, blatant victimisation, ridiculing the electoral process and mandates flaunted as if they were a genuine expression of the peoples’ will. Democracy was effectively slaughtered.
Come back to the last five years. Equally if not even more disastrous. A fraudulent referendum, the transition from purity to pragmatism, rigged elections, empowerment of the most corrupt and vile, intolerable lies. A convoluted democracy and self-proclaimed enlightened moderation died before it gave birth. One is drawn to the common denominator between the two periods. Simple. Power inebriation.
Pakistan has sadly come full circle, to square one. A badly battered one at that. As if it had never moved.
It’s very evident some dunderhead in the operational retinue has ‘the ear’ more than the rest of the nation does. The first, amazing faux-pas was the mishandling of the CJ’s reference. Then, as if the last ninety days including the atrocious annihilation in Karachi was not enough, this enlightened government has irrationally decided that the media too should be elevated to a heroic stature by driving it to resist subjugation. Just as the SJC had met in haste rendering the CJ “non-functional”, a hasty Ordinance has been issued by the President, rendering the freedom of expression of the electronic media likewise non-functional.
A great victory? Not in the least. Escapism illegitimately fathered by those who wish “to poison the flow of information to the President himself and to create a situation where a President can be almost divorced from the realities in which he is acting…..”. Tragic when the only accomplishment of this government is press freedom. The rest is a fantasy. The brain-child of those endowed with pygmy brains. If after all these years of applauding your own single achievement there is need to pull back, something is seriously wrong.
The press in fact needs to be saluted. Especially the brave journalists who despite the death threats received are resolved to continue the fight to speak and report the truth. Who believe that to stay neutral in the face of oppression is to choose the side of the oppressor. A wayward government having already unleashed the judicial power is more than likely to walk right into the quicksand by unleashing the power of the press too. It will be surrounded on all sides. Only a mega-headed being or as we say in Sindh “dahesar” (ten headed) is needed to save it. I am trying hard to focus hoping to get a mental image. I see none in its ranks.
Someone who matters suggested that all the opposing players should be hammered into submission. Cold indifference is invoked towards the suffering even if the government causes it. The result is lawyers in revolt, the press carrying lanterns in protest. A literate and educated revolt, so far. Government could probably say to hell with the people. But it doesn’t stay that way for too long. Let’s not forget that the limits of tyranny are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. Let’s also quickly agree that the captioned endurance is at an end. And tyranny shall flounder.
Only history can answer the question as to why heads of government act the way they do. Neither is or was the CJ in a position to bring the government down nor can media reporting the true facts live do anything more than what is bound to happen anyway. It’s irrelevant who created the scare, the fact is that government is scared and its pathetic human resource base is ill-equipped to combat ground realities.
When leaders act contrary to conscience it becomes mandatory upon us to act contrary to leaders. There is this crying need for the soul of our country to be awakened. Shutting media down or restricting its freedom will bring more curious people into the streets than right now. Already in this present movement we have seen an energy transfer amongst the people that was considered dead after the repressive manner by which the 1983 MRD movement was crushed. High-handedness in this environment is not an option.
When force becomes the overriding factor in taking a decision, it is abundantly clear that freedom has either become restricted or has been violated. Freedom as is known in the free world is a social relationship between people with the significant absence of force. Each human must exercise that freedom and the responsibility to decide the difference between what is right and what is wrong; which course is patriotic and which isn’t. No one can shirk this and feel proud. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country. Men may label you as they want, but you know you decided with integrity and to the best of your knowledge.
The Constitution bestows upon us the inviolable right to freely express and think for ourselves. No provision can be dearer to man than that which protects the right of conscience against the enterprises of civil and military authority. Wrong is wrong irrespective of who does it.
We are prone to seeing government leaders point fingers at the opposition while themselves doing wrong. It is ridiculous to attempt to justify one wrong simply because another is being committed or has been condoned. Wrong must be protected against institutionally through systems designed specifically for the purpose.
The CJ is reported to have said in a recent address that courts have rejected human rights petitions in the past and must redress the issue. They must work for and protect the independence of the judiciary. I recall a very appropriate quote from the writings of Leo Tolstoy on Civil disobedience and Non-violence. He writes:
“The misapprehension springs from the fact that the learned jurists, deceiving themselves as well as others, depict in their books an ideal of government — not as it really is, an assembly of men who oppress their fellow-citizens, but in accordance with the scientific postulate, as a body of men who act as the representatives of the rest of the nation.
They have gone on repeating this to others so long that they have ended by believing it themselves, and they really seem to think that justice is one of the duties of governments.
History, however, shows us that governments, as seen from the reign of Caesar to those of the two Napoleons and Prince Bismarck, are in their very essence a violation of justice; a man or a body of men having at command an army of trained soldiers, deluded creatures who are ready for any violence, and through whose agency they govern the State, will have no keen sense of the obligation of justice. Therefore governments will never consent to diminish the number of those well-trained and submissive servants, who constitute their power and influence.”
Where Pakistan stands today is tragic. Regrettably we are back to square one. Those responsible are blind to the damage they have done. Those equally responsible for destroying the country stand at the brink of regaining power. The dustbins are flowing over with unfulfilled promises. The much trumpeted press freedom choked yet again. Now even the country is at loggerheads. It has been devastating this failed experiment.
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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

Perhaps, but it's clear the people of Pakistan have determined this dictatorship to be worse, more corrupt, more ineffective then the govts that preceded it.

As they are the one's who know the ground realities better than those living abroad, you can't argue with that.

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

Benazir or Nawaz would both have learned their lessons by now. And if the people of Pakistan vote for either of them, then who are we to say they shouldnt be the PM? Whatever they are, they are still better than the military dictator and his gang of lotas and thieves we have looting the country.

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

Oh dear Mushy is throwing a baby's tantrum. Anyone got a feeder?

My magic
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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

:lb:

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

musharaf has only one person on his side in pak rite now and tht person is his wife..(who knows might be she..oh janay do)

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

Majority of Pakistanis are idiots. It's a damn shame that someone like Musharraf finds himself with few friends these days. You can't always lay blame on the leaders when people/public and their political representatives won't stand up for their man.

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

Correct. The Pakistani people probably deserve worse and they are on their way to get it.

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

Its the people's fault he's there. I agree.

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

Exactly LI!

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

Very True USR!

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

he's not "our man". He occupies the post on the power of his gun...i know it, u know it, and he knows it. If he was our man, he would show the minimal level of confidence in us and the system by standing as a civilian candidate for presidential elections. He's someone else's man and that someone else just gave him the vote of confidence he wanted.

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

:rotfl:

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Re: You left me alone, Musharraf tells his allies

Sad, very sad. Those rejoicing Musharrafs sad state of affairs are simply expressing their narrow minded bigotry.

Musharraf's biggest mistake was believing the Chaudhries, these thaalee ke baigan have no loyalty to anyone but themselves. Serves Mush right to make his bed with the Chaudhries.

It maybe too late for Musharraf but that will not make things easier for the Taliban party, they still will get their backside whipped by the next saviour, as for the NS & BB's well they have always depended upon the Amerikee help rather than the People of Pakistan therefore they will still keep rolling around hoping to find Uncle Sams blessing.

Probably this was the best thing to happen for Musharraf, a real eye opener. Maybe this time he can discover the real meaning of democratic values that relies on those who believe in their people and not their money, religion or old alliances.

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