A dream Cabinet
SINCE the general elections of 1977, every loser has alleged, that elections were rigged.
All political pundits of that era were unanimous that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto would have won the elections anyway hands down, but for the over zealous party workers, rigging did take place in a few constituencies.
But it wasn’t widespread as seen in later elections, however, as little as it may have been, those elections proved a turning point in the life of this Nation.
Till today, in our 73 years of existence, the only elections considered by all and sundry as clean and fair are the 1970 elections, but the results thereof proved to be also a turning point, the country was dismembered.
The accused for rigging are either the Government in power, or the establishment ( especially when it is an interim government overseeing the electoral process). We are bad losers.
There is no grace to accept results. It is always heads I win , tails you lose phenomenon. The winner finds them fair and free, the loser always finds them altered.
Every single election is followed by a galore of accusations, the hapless electorate is subjected to this dirty milieu, each time they exercise their power of enfranchisement.
Sanity, which should be a permanent factor, is now temporary and insanity is all around. There is a heightened sense of insecurities prevailing in the ranks of the opposition. They should join in the building process , than ,merely sit on the sidelines to criticise.
Two major political parties formed a Charter to cooperate to oust a government, they considered not legitimate, in spite of them having won elections, however farce they may have been, the fact is a good proportion of the population had cast their vote.
Nevertheless, the objectives of the charter can be assumed to have been very noble—restoration of democracy. But once restored, that very same Charter of Democracy was referred by opposition parties as charter of corruption.
The accusations have no end. The divide and polarisation is only growing each day, with each politician making derogatory and insensitive remarks about their opponents.
The nation witnessed this acidic exchange in last weeks elections in AJK.
Even though being a poor student of history, I have read so much about so many leaders, past and present , who bent backwards for the achievement of national objectives, at the cost to their own self. Deng Xiao Ping, Chou en Lai, Nelson Mandela, and many more are a case in point.
Like the Corporates, at the State level we should consider instituting such a thought process. Start by breaking the nurturing of accusations. We can start to think differently.
Aldous Huxley , in “ Do what you will “ , wrote, “ The consistent man, the consistently moral man, is either a walking mummy or else, if he has not succeeded in stifling all his vitality, a fanatical monomaniac “. Let there be a breath of fresh air of emancipated thinking.
Abraham Lincoln, one of the finest President, USA ever had was one such Statesman. Immediately following his occupying the Oval Office, almost seven states of the south had passed resolutions for secession— the outlook was bleak.
To face the tumultuous times, Abraham pieced together the most unusual cabinet in the history of United States.
He made the jigsaw into a smooth mosaic by having in his cabinet representation of each faction of the new Republican Party — whigs, soilers, etc, coupled with conservatives, moderates, radicals, hardliners and conciliators.
The general tendency of leaders is to collect like minded people, who ultimately lose their spine and become sycophants and yes-men, to the ultimate peril of the leader himself.
Abraham instead brought strong-minded, independent thinking and some more experienced than himself to his cabinet.
Each of them who thought they ought to be the President instead of him, were given portfolios of State Department, Treasury and Justice department, that is William Seward, Salmon chase and Edward Bates, respectively. These three were arch rivals of Abraham — they joined up for nation’s sake.
Thinking along those lines, I dreamt ( dreaming doesn’t require any sanction or permission and is neither injurious) and imagined (like John Lennon did), that if only Prime Minister Imran Khan would invite all politicians and ask them to join hands in building this poor nation that has been wrecked by the cohort of corrupted politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen and the establishment for the last 73 years. A difference of opinion does not and should not create enmities between political parties.
If the upright politicians were to gather on a single agenda of economic well being of this country, Imran Khan, like Abraham Lincoln could form a cabinet, with the following alongside their portfolios: Minister of Foreign Affairs: Sherry Rehman; Minister for information: Maleeha Lodhi, in fact the portfolios can be swapped between the two because of their known competence in both fields); Minister for Planning: Ahsan Iqbal; Minister for Finance: Miftah Ismail; Minister for Commerce, International Trade, Investment & industries: Shaukat Tareen (he has the proven talent, vision and grit to deal with these areas); Minister for interior: Shaikh Rashid, Minister for Provincial coordination: Fawad Chaudhry, Chief Minister of Punjab: Shah Mehmood Qureshi, based on available competency the list can be very healthy. The cabinet size can reduce by half, if competent are placed.
Moving from a background of discord to harmony requires courage, conviction and steadfastness of purpose, and if achieved it will be pleasant setting for the youth of Pakistan.
History will judge and measure politicians not in the wake of placid and peaceful circumstances but by how they fared in challenging times. Are our politicians up to the task? Wonder!
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Karachi.
