In the dock With woe piling upon woe one or all to go

In the dock
With woe piling upon woe, one or all to go?

The Mansur Ijaz memo has become the proverbial albatross around a faltering and weakened government’s neck that is trying desperately to escape its monumental repercussions. The critical question that awaits an answer is whether ambassador Haqqani did it on his own initiative, or he was asked by his leader to approach the US military hierarchy in a bid to save his occupation of the presidency from (real or imagined) danger from the military?



Reportedly, in the wake of the May 2 attack near Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden, a memo from President Zardari promising a variety of initiatives including an independent enquiry into allegations that Pakistan harboured and offered assistance to Osama and other al-Qaeda operatives, constituting a new security team to either hand over those left in the leadership of al-Qaeda or other affiliated terrorist groups on Pakistani soil or giving the US military forces a “green light” to conduct the necessary operations to capture or kill them on Pakistani soil, developing an acceptable framework for discipline for the nuclear programme, eliminating section ‘S’ of the ISI charged with maintaining relations with the Taliban and Haqqani network and promising cooperation with the Indian government on bringing all perpetrators of Pakistani origin to account for the 2008 Mumbai attacks was delivered to Admiral Mike Mullen in exchange for the US support to save his tottering government. Treasonous to say the least!



While the initial denial by Mike Mullen’s office in the US regarding the existence of any such memo has since been retracted, Islamabad has become the hot-bed of activity among the troika in a bid to come to grips with the grievous fallout. Understandably, the military is shaken by the blatant accusation contained in the memo that it was planning a coup to topple the government and that the matter had to be addressed to the US for intervention. Actually, it should not have come as a surprise as a besieged government, stricken by accusations of massive corruption, abdication of governance, rubbishing of the judiciary’s adjudications, crass nepotism and systematic dismantling of state institutions had no option but to beseech its master, ala National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), to intervene. In an unfortunate development, the memo became public knowledge raising a question mark about the fate of the regime.



After faltering at the internal and external fronts, the PPP government has been showing signs of increasing vulnerability in the face of mounting pressure from different quarters, both political and security. While its performance on numerous fronts has been the subject of lethal attacks for long now, the serious charges levelled by its former foreign minister have further dented its credibility. Shah Mahmood Qureshi has accused President Zardari of having exerted pressure on him to grant diplomatic immunity to Raymond Davis. He has also said that the President failed to safeguard Pakistan’s interests.



Not to be left behind, Zulfiqar Mirza added his bit to further precipitate the raging controversy when he took off for the UK in a bid to show ‘proofs’ of the MQM’s involvement in heinous crimes. It had been speculated for long that he had many friends in the Sindh government and also in the centre. He showed a glimpse of it when Sharjil Memon was shown accompanying him on his visit which prompted the MQM to raise a ruckus asking the PPP to explain why Mirza was being accorded the official protocol even after he had been ‘expelled’ from the government and the party that seems headed for an implosion.



While there is no denying the gravity of the crisis that the government has landed itself in, the question that everyone seems to be asking is that whose neck would it be? Will the resignation that, ostensibly, has been offered by Ambassador Haqqani be enough to soothe the rattled tempers, or will it end with the exit of President Zardari? One understands on the basis of sheer logic that the ambassador would not have acted without the prompting from his leader, but he has obligingly offered his sacrifice to save President Zardari. When the military intervened in the matter, summons was sent to the ambassador to return to Pakistan immediately to explain the matter. That was a few days ago and Mr. Haqqani is reportedly still busy finalising his travel plans as if he were returning from the Mars. It is not beyond speculation that, knowing his complicity in the matter and that of his leader, he fears arrest once he returns to Pakistan. That’s why he may actually abort his travel plans altogether pending favourable developments of which he would be kept informed by his friends in the government.



But, it could also be that Mr. Haqqani returns to confirm the complicity of President Zardari in the matter on the understanding of being allowed off the hook. After all, it would not be the first time for Mr. Haqqani to be deserting his benefactors to advance his cause. So, it is yet to be seen whose trap will work to get whom, or whether both of them together with other accomplices would fall prey to their vile machinations.



While there is no doubt that the federal and provincial governments have far outlived their utility and relevance if ever there were any, the institutions tasked with checking their corruption and lack of governance fall woefully short on realising the urgency of the matter and taking adequate steps to come to grips with the issues. The long pendency of critical cases before the Supreme Court is a case in point as also its apparent unwillingness to move against the rulers of Punjab whose files have remained unattended without any credible reason. This appears discriminatory and may prompt the judiciary to go slow on cases against the federal government and its errant functionaries just to give an appearance of impartiality.



But, true to tradition, with a government squarely in the dock, plans may be afoot already to craft another NRO for reprieve!