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| India-Pakistan |
| No sacred cows in democracy |
| 2015-06-19 |
| [DAWN] WORRYING as it is for a major political party and the military leadership to be at odds with each other, the reaction of the PML-N government and other mainstream political parties has been disturbing too. In cancelling a meeting with PPP boss Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... has sent the wrong signal on the civil-military front. Similarly, words of condemnation by PML-N and PTI leaders in particular of Mr Zardari's fulminations against the military appear to have unfortunately aligned major political parties closer to the military than to the democratic system. Clearly, the swirl of corruption allegations around the PPP and repeated accusations of epic mis-governance in Sindh have at least some basis in fact. The PPP is in need of serious and urgent internal reorganization and repurposing. But set that issue aside and consider what it is that Mr Zardari really said earlier this week. His words may have been impolitic, his accusations blunt and none of it good for political stability in Sindh -- but were any of the former president's claims entirely unheard of or not made by other major political figures at various junctures in history? By condemning Mr Zardari and making a show of distancing themselves from the PPP, are the PML-N and PTI claiming that blunt and direct criticism of the army is outside the democratic realm? If so, why? Consider that just yesterday a strident attack against the PTI was made from the floor of the National Assembly by a PML-N MNA, Talal Chaudhry. The PTI routinely attacks its political opponents using language that is indecorous and cringe-inducing. So, why is there one set of rules for politicians attacking politicians and another for politicians criticising the political role of constitutionally apolitical state institutions? What Mr Zardari said earlier this week amounted to a political speech against a deepening intrusion into the political realm by the military leadership -- can a politician not criticise what he perceives to be a political opponent? |
| Posted by:Fred |