Zardari Puppeteer moving the strings with mastery

Ray

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Puppeteer moving the strings with mastery

You have to give credit to the man: despite all the unfavourable opinion piled high against him, President Asif Ali Zardari has managed to pull off the unlikeliest of alliances and political victories in the last five years.

The most recent being the Senate elections where Pakistan People's Party (PPP) quite expectedly won the majority of seats, but then unexpectedly claimed the chairman and deputy chairman posts – this all without a charged showdown and without egos scarred.

The Senate plays an important role in the running of the Parliament: every piece of legislation – from a simple bill to an amendment to the Constitution – requires the approval of two-thirds of the upper house of the Parliament. The only exceptions to this rule are the money bill and the annual budget which only need the approval of the National Assembly.

By winning with a majority, the current coalition partners remain together in the Senate even after the general elections and can make it hard for a government led by a new party to run affairs. It also means that President Zardari will remain an active part of the system even if his party loses.

After the elections, the distribution of senators in the upper house stood at PPP (41 senators), PML-N (14), ANP (12), MQM (7) and JUI-F (7) and PML-Q (5). As usual, the independents remain a potent force in the Senate, and share 12 seats among
themselves.

The next power tussle was who would lead the upper house of the Parliament: the PML-N being the main opposition party was out of the league and the PPP with its majority got the chairmanship. This meant that the deputy chairmanship be decided between the other coalition partners, ANP, MQM and the PML-Q and the PPP. ANP despite having 12 members had no big aspirations and so it was just MQM and PML-Q staking claims for the deputy chairmanship of the Senate.

But between MQM and PML-Q, it was the latter that stood a better chance even though it held a small number of senators in the current setup. With its substantial strength in the outgoing National Assembly (50 members), it plays a crucial role in supporting the ruling PPP in the centre, and so felt entitled to the deputy chairman slot. Moreover, the outgoing deputy chairman of the Senate, Jan Mohammad Jamali, also hailed from the PML-Q.

According to a PML-Q leader who was part of the negotiations with the PPP over distribution of Senate seats and election to the top slots, the party has genuine claim to the deputy chairmanship, but somehow couldn't manage it.

"PML-Q has been supporting PPP since May last year when the party joined the government, and is the sole reason that Zardari-Gilani setup has successfully fended off the crises. The party deserved some reward in response to its unflinching support," he said on the condition of anonymity.

He then proceeded to explain: "PML-Q's demand for deputy chairmanship was outvoted by the other coalition partners, MQM and ANP, who voted in favour of the PPP. Eventually the PML-Q had no option but to step back and go with the coalition partners."

When Dawn contacted a PPP leader he confirmed the statements and said: "Of course, the Chaudhrys were desperate to have the deputy chairmanship and throughout the negotiations kept on raising its demand. Chaudhry Shujaat even nominated Saeedul Hassan Mandokhail, a newly-elected senator from Balochistan, for the position. But the fact of the matter is the party only has 5 members in the current house."

"PPP's position in the Senate ultimately played in its favour to take over the top slots of the upper house," he said.

It is interesting that President Zardari did not push for the decision or even coerce, rather left it on the coalition partners to decide among themselves. "The president asked the coalition partners to decide which party wanted the position. When they failed to reach an agreement, it was decided the PPP would keep both the slots," stated the insider.

Meanwhile, both PML-N and PTI are upbeat about victory in the impending general elections – Mian Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan do not waste an opportunity to chime about the change they will bring after their electoral sweep – their enthusiasm is not shared by PPP and other coalition partners who believe that they can stage a good show in next general elections given the way the Senate election has unfolded.

"Whether one likes it or not, the next government will again be formed by 'thieves' as many love to call the present government," bragged a top leader in the current setup.

One thing is for certain that the politicking will be full of mind games and it's all about who can keep their wits till the end. As for the public and them electing 'thieves', one would conclude with the words of a senior journalist: "Let the people elect their new government. True democracy will take its toll that people bear in the form of bad governance, and it will have to be borne before democracy takes true roots."

Puppeteer moving the strings with mastery | Provinces | DAWN.COM
It takes a thief to catch a thief as they say.

It takes a clever tick to make an idiot of ticks!

The man is absolutely fit to be the Pakistani head honcho!
 

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