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Pakistan: No-trust motion against Prime Minister |
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The Pakistan Parliament has admitted a no-confidence motion jointly submitted by the moderate and Islamic Opposition parties against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and it will come up for voting on August 29. A total of 137 Opposition lawmakers in the National Assembly signed the motion which said the “House is of the opinion that Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz has lost confidence of majority of the members and should no more hold his office.” The Opposition charge-sheet says that besides indulging in corrupt deals, the Prime Minister has failed to check lawlessness and price-hike in the country and proved ineffective. It said they only exploited the minority community for their vested interests and never thought of its welfare. The motion also criticized military operations in the country’s tribal region and southwest Balochistan province, where the nationalist rebels have waged an armed revolt demanding more autonomy. A total of 101 members stood in favour of the motion on August 25 when the Speaker asked the House who supported the motion. The Opposition enjoys the support of 141 members in the 342-strong National Assembly and needs 31 more votes for the success of the motion. The Government and its allies have 201 members in the House and it does not appear that the motion will succeed.
Despite the near- uncertainty of failure, the Opposition is gearing up for the event. The spokesman of the Benazir Bhutto-led PPP, Farhatullah Babar, said the Opposition has already proved it was setting the political agenda with the announcement of its non-confidence motion sparking a crisis between the PML(Q) and its ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Babar also disclosed that during the Prime Ministership of Ms. Benazir Bhutto, he had issued arrest orders against Shaukat Aziz who was then holding a senior executive post in Citibank, New York. However, Bhutto stopped her arrest saying that Aziz was an American citizen and his arrest would create problems.
Bhutto, who is living in London in self-exile, has blamed the West for backing the Army regime in Pakistan and said its support for military leader Pervez Musharraf has made the country a seedbed of terrorism. She said in an article that President Musharraf who is also the Army Chief, has dispensed with occasional support in the war on terror to keep West off his back as he proceeded to arrest and exile Opposition leaders, decimate political parties, pressure the Press and set back human and women’s rights by a generation .
Reports that Pakistani National Security Council Secretary Tariq Aziz met Benazir Bhutto and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, have been denied.
Giving credence to Bhutto’s observations, a survey conducted by the Washington-based International Republican Institute on “Voters perceptions” in Pakistan, has shown that 50 per cent of the voters in the opinion poll said Pakistan was moving in the wrong direction.
The institute carried out the survey from May 15 to June 20, 2006 and interviewed 3,046 random respondents in person. The conclusion in the report portrays what it describes as a “pessimistic” nation with the government’s performance rated as poor on most issues with crime, terrorism, employment and provincial autonomy receiving the worst sectors and being included amongst Pakistan’s top 10 national problems. The Government’s performance received its worst rating, with terrorism (77 per cent), employment (75 per cent) and provincial autonomy (60 per cent). Fifty per cent of the respondents also held the view that Pakistan had not transgressed in its transition to democracy.
More signs are available that the people of Pakistan are fed up with General Musharraf’s rule. His foreign policy is being criticized all over the world, by the US for not doing enough to block the activities of the Taliban across the Durand Line, by New Delhi for turning a Nelson’s eye on groups engaged in terrorist activities in India, and within Pakistan for being too soft on the US and Israel. Musharraf’s domestic policy is virtually non-existent, focused only on retaining his grip on power. The two main political parties - Benazir Bhutto’s PPP and Nawaz Sharif’s PML – are showing signs of joining forces by agreeing on a charter on democracy. At the same time, the Islamist parties in Pakistan are forever ready to take to the streets opposing Musharraf on one pretext or the other.
There is more that suggests that the ground may be shifting from under Gen. Musharraf’s feet faster than he may think. Last month, a group of retired generals had joined politicians and academics in an attempt to end the stranglehold of the military on politics in Pakistan. In a letter to Musharraf, the Prime Minister and heads of political parties , they declared : “Besides being a constitutional office, the office of President of Pakistan is also a political office and combining the Presidency with the office of Chief of Army Staff politicizes the post as well as the Army.” The letter reflects the fears of those holding mainstream opinion in the country that Gen. Musharraf’s single-mindedness may lead to a collapse of law and order in Pakistan, which will result in greater chaos than at present.
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