Jonaid Iqbal in Islamabad
Mamoon Husain took office as Pakistan’s 12th President after Asif Ali Zardari relinquished power completing his five year stint as the head of the state as well as the top leader of the most formidable Pakistan People’s Party political machine.
Zardari has left his office winning laurels from everyone, including his arch rival Nawaz Sharif, the current prime minister. In his farewell speech Sharif lauded the former President for keeping his cool as he pushed to implement his slain wife’s concept of reconciliation. In the words of the New York Times, ‘Zardari has relinquished power with a smile in his face –not going out in a coffin, or in handcuff, or in disgrace’, as some of worst critics kept wishing for him to be his fate.
However, the real action on the day Zardari left office was to be seen in the all party conference (APC) where the government leaders and heads of political parties were grappling with far more formidable issues. This happened to be the third such conference, which earlier had been sponsored individually by an assortment of politicians including Asfandyar Wali Khan (ANP), Maulana Fazlur Rahman (JUI-F) and former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani (PPP). All three talked through these meetings, but ended up forgetting to walk the talk aimed at bringing peace, or stopping militants from sabotaging the country’s tranquility.
This time the APC was convened by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He should get credit for getting all heads of political parties to sit together under one roof agreeing unanimously to hold negotiations with Taliban militants, who surprisingly responded by issuing a pleasing statement welcoming an opportunity to negotiate with the government. It may be noted that the Taliban militants have all gone back on peace treaties that were signed with them in the past. The APC also recommended that the federal government should raise the subject of U.S. drone strikes with the United Nations Security Council in an effort to dissuade unilateral U.S. actions undermining national counterterrorism efforts.
The Karachi problem received due attention at the APC, which felt that the federal government should take the initiative in taking all stakeholders into confidence to discuss how the continued threat to life, property and business in Karachi is to be sorted out. The federal government should also provide total support to the provincial government for restoration of peace and order. As for the troubled situation in Baluchistan, the conference shared concerns of Baloch citizens and thus authorized the chief minister of the province to initiate the process of dialogue with all estranged Baloch elements so that they could be brought back to the national mainstream.
While generally the public was excited as the leaders waxed lyrical about the success of the APC where all political leaders, including the Pakistan military, appeared to be supportive of the move, skeptics say that it is still a paper resolution and people might have to wait for its implementation. A concerned observer said: “We now want anxiously that the daily gory incidents should stop, especially in Karachi. The public now cry for real peace and its return to Pakistan so that the masses could get on with their normal lives”.
Source: Weekly Holiday
