Election and the Stakeholder Dilemma, they dont say openly what I think they believe is the right thing to do

    This  article  is  based  on author"s personal impression  about  whether different   stakeholders want  election to be delayed or be held  on due date. 

( 1 ) ARMY  wants  election to be delayed for giving time to complete  electoral / political   reforms ,  full accountability of every one and  to achieve economic stability. The concerns of the  security agencies are  (1 ) the threat of terrorism in Karachi / KP  (2)  fears that nationalist parties in Baluchistan could  get together and after acquiring majority in the provincial Assembly  in first phase   may demand autonomy 

   Army , my personal  impression is that  it wants  election to be delayed but does not want to say so openly. Army will not support any one creating such a  situation but would  be happy  if some one is successful in getting election delayed. 

( 2 ) JUDICIARY  , specially  present  Judges wants  election to be delayed for completing electrole / political  reforms  in line  with the constitution  and giving  time for  full  accountability.  SC must be knowing the background ,specially about the political affiliations’ of the controversial members of the Election Commission . Assuming that SC did not know about  the constitutional violation which has taken place in the appointment of these four members but after Babar Awan ( the then Law Minister ) public statement and after reading Dr.Qadri petition and after reading Mr.Shaheen Sehbai article ,dated 16 February ,SC must be concerned and would  like to correct the situation.  However ,they know  their intervention  in this matter  will delay the election of which  SC does not want to take the blame.   

 Judiciary  would  not  like  to  intervene  in  the  political/ democratic    process but  will be happy if some one  is successful  in creating  situation  which could give SC  time to bring election process in accordance with the constitution.

( 3 ) BUSINESS  COMMUNTY  wants election  to be delayed so that  economy is stabilized  and   to create  an environment free of political compulsion   necessary to restore    Law & order  .

 Business Community  is not hesitating  to  say openly  to delay the  election. In fact  business men   from Karachi  are demanding Army to be called in to  restore Law & order and take action against Mafia who collect bhata ( money to allow them to do business )

( 4 ) VOTERS  belonging  to  middle  and lower  middle class  want  election to be  delayed so  that  corrupt  politicians are screened out so that an honest leadership emerged  out of forthcoming election . Poor voters as usual has no say.

 Voters  belonging to the Middle Classes & Lower Middle Classes  are opely expressing their  desire  for meaningful changes by participating in the Jalsas of Imran Khan and Dr.Qadri or whoever promise to bring change. For  the sake of meaningful change these voters  will  not mind  if the election  is delayed .

( 5 ) AMERICAN & WESTERN POWERS   would not mind  if  the  election  is delayed so that extremism  could be curbed without political interference. American & European also  want smooth  exist from Afghanistan  and want Pakistan to help to negotiate  a peace  accord with  Taliban. American know that it will be difficult for  Pakistanis politicians to  reach a consensus  so they  also want to delay the  election  in Pakistan until their  objective  is achieved .

 However, American & European do not want to openly encourage any undemocratic move such as delayed election in Pakistan which could create  public reactions in their own counties .

( 6 ) WORLD BANK , IMF  and other donor  agencies  would also like election  to be delayed so that  a non-political Government could have time to implement economic reform and take unpopular decision required to  ensure financial discipline.

The world Bank & IMF will  also not openly support  delayed election in Pakistan .

(7 ) POLITICIANS , SPECIALLY  TRADITIONAL POLITICAL ELITES  want  election  to  be  held  without   delay. However, if under  public  pressure generated   by Dr.Qadri, Election Commission starts  disqualifying electable candidates , PPP, ML (N), ML(Q),ANP will resist but  MQM, PTI, JI and Dr.Qadri political party will  not  election to be delayed and will  be happy  to field their candidates .

Pakistanis Trust  in Civilian  Government  has  nosedived  ; US Survey

WASHINGTON, Feb 14: Most Pakistanis have lost faith in their US-allied government and instead trust the military, says a Gallup survey released on Thursday (14 February 2013)

Ninety-two per cent of Pakistanis disapprove of US leadership and 55pc of them fear greater interaction between Muslim and western societies could be harmful.

“The public’s confidence in the Pakistani national government — sometimes seen by Pakistanis as too cosy to the US government — has nosedived, reaching a low of 23 per cent in March and October 2012,” says the survey report.

This is down from 54pc in December 2008, shortly after the beginning of democratically elected President Asif Ali Zardari’s administration.

The trust in civilian government in recent years was the highest in 2006, 58pc, dropped slightly to 54pc in 2008, almost halved to 31pc in 2010 and fell to 23pc in 2012.

Conversely, confidence in the interventionist military — the organisation that has ruled the nation for over half of its post-independence history — climbed to 88pc in October 2012.

The confidence in the military stood at 84pc in 2006, came down to 76pc — the lowest in recent years — by the end of 2008, climbed to 80pc by mid-2012 and peaked to 88pc in 2012.

Gallup, one of the most prominent US surveyors, based these findings on a survey conducted from Sept 30-Oct 16, 2012, in Pakistan. The survey directly followed massive demonstrations against the release of an anti-Muslim film made in the US.

The surveyors predict that the upcoming May elections in Pakistan will be of “seismic importance for the future direction of the country and for US-Pakistan relations”.

The elections will mark the first time in the country’s history that a civilian government peacefully transfers power to a new civilian government.

“Insomuch as the role of the US in Pakistan weighs on the campaign dialogue, the perceived failures of the current regime might translate into the election of political actors that are more hostile or confrontational towards US interests,” the survey warns.

“The degree to which the US-conducted operations within Pakistan have weakened the political position of the existing Pakistani government is an open question,” the surveyors argue, “but the concomitant erosion of approval of US and Pakistani leadership on the Pakistani public’s part is impossible not to notice.”

Instead, Pakistanis put their trust in the military, despite its “meddlesome history in national governing affairs”, the surveyors add.

“What these trends mean for the coming election is unclear, but they suggest that the next few months could be of vital importance for the stability of the Pakistani government and the US-Pakistani relationship.”

The survey pointed out that President Barack Obama’s first term was characterised by strained relations between Pakistan and the US. Consequently, more than nine in 10 Pakistanis (92pc) disapprove of US leadership and 4pc approve, the lowest approval rating ever.

Pakistanis’ approval of the leadership of their ostensible ally, the United States, has historically been quite low. However, perceptions began to change, albeit modestly, through much of President Obama’s first term. As recently as May 2011, 27pc of Pakistanis approved of US leadership, the apex of support.

Noticeably, approval declined after the May 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden, an event that many Pakistanis viewed as a blatant disregard for Pakistani sovereignty.

Concurrently, Pakistanis now more than at any other time in the past three years feel threatened by interaction with the West, according to a May 12-June 6, 2012, survey.

A majority (55pc) say interaction between Muslim and western societies is “more of a threat”, up significantly from 39pc in 2011.

This sharp increase is observed at a time of heightened Pakistani concerns regarding US encroachment on Pakistani sovereignty, including an intensified number of US drone strikes in Pakistan.

Nearly half of the Pakistani population (49pc) is between the ages of 15 and 29. The largely anti-western sentiment among these young Pakistanis suggests that, even as this sizable group ages and begins to have a larger role in Pakistani governance, relations between the US and Pakistan may continue to be fraught with challanges.

DRMUFTIPAKVISION: AFTER REACHING HIGHEST POSITION AS THE PRESIDENT,...

DRMUFTIPAKVISION: AFTER REACHING HIGHEST POSITION AS THE PRESIDENT,...: Dr. Qadri   has  made  great contribution in creating  public awareness   about  constitutional violation in the election processes  and ...

One of  my friend who is encourging me to write on issues facing Pakistan met me last  evening and remarked that in my last post i  only gave problems and have not given solutions.. Well for him  before he give his comments i would like to say that in my last articles titling " chronicles of a death foretold "    I  said  that  I plan to write about the future of Pakistan in 21st. century and have raised some questions whose answers he is searching before he starts writing .

DRMUFTIPAKVISION: Chronicles of a Death Foretold

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Chronicles of a Death Foretold

I  am no writer ,trained as scientist having spent all my life as a business manager--turned  businessman,   my vocabulary of English is limited to explanation of the result of my laboratory work or writing business letters, preparing feasibility reports and writing   office memos. However,  what is happening in the country and being encouraged by few friends who have more command over written English , I  have started writing in my blog.

I  have worked over forty years as a business manager from Ayub -to-Bhutoo-to Zia to Benazir to-Nawab Sharif to Musharaf eras , have did business  in highly regulated economy -to so called socialist economy to mix economy and i am still working as businessman in what i call economy anarchy. I have seen civil servant working as civil rulers, i have seen cronies of military rulers , political rulers going around as brokers.

  I   never  held  any national level position or i was never exposed to national policy making process but being person who was always interested to know what is happening and why certain  national level decisions are  made    i kept in touch with people who were involved  in national decision making  process . However ,  Bhutoo through one Dr.Kibria made me member of Pakistan Appropriate Technology Commission,  Nazar Abbas Siddique when he was Secretary Education put me on   Ministry of Education advisory panel, Nawaz Sharif appointed me member,  Economic Self Reliance Committee under Prof.Khursheed ( may be Nawaz Sharif   confused me with my brother-Humayun Mufti). Kamal Azfar as Governor-Sind made me member of NED University Senate.. Knowing my background  friends specially some  retired civil servants always insist that i should write all good and bad things i have seen but i always tell my friends that i am no historian to write all this as history for future generation to learn, So I tell my friends ,using Chaudry Shujat famous words MITY PAO ( may be he means bury the past because after burying a body people put  mitee  on the grave )

However, i have started this blog to write about the future. I have been in search of some subject . People are talking about the need of economic , education, health care, police / civil service, political , agriculture and so many structural reforms. People are talking about rebuilding of the institutions. I always wonder that if all these structural reforms are made and all destroyed institutions are rebuild, We may find educated and trained people to manage the structural reforms and institutions but will these people be equipped with moral and ethical values?

 . I  have been resisting writing even about future but today ( wednesday,30 January 2013 ) daily News published four articles ,one by Dr. Yaqub, others by Ahmed QureshI and  Hussain H.Zaidi and Farrukh Saleem. Reading these  articles  on different subject but reading them in one sitting really compelled me to start writing in my poor English what  i  feel is needed .

 The  subject  i want   to write is   about  preparing  Pakistan to survive in highly globalized & rapidly globalizing  world in  21st. Century . I have many questions in mind , first question is who will lead us into 21st. century ? . Our democratic minded political scientists, so called intellectuals in media  and present discredited politicians say that if   democracy is not interrupted  ,after 5 or 6 elections corrupt  politicians will be eliminated and honest political leadership will evolved.. My second question is; can Pakistan economically survive  under the leadership of corrupt political leadership . My third question is from where the new breed of honest political  leadership will come from ?  Lets assume 4th election after 2013 election takes place after  20 years , which means if a child is of 15 years of age ,he will be a voters and a candidate for contesting  the election.  My fourth question is  those children who are 15 years of age are correctly nurtured   by parent  at home , by teachers  in schools  ?  A child form impression which later determine his personity  at the age between 6 -7 years  Do  parents and teacher   of  today behave as  role model for  our  children ? Do our parents tell children what is right and what is wrong ? . Do we teach them what is morality and what is ethics ? If  a child of a  rich family hears his parents saying that  every one  can be bought over  and  with money one can get away with  murder. If  a child is growing seeing  master -servant enviroment at home , if parent dont tell child  that there is nothing like servant i.e.,  cook  is doing a professional job and is paid for cooking , sweeper is doing a job and is paid for doing  a job, a driver and Chuukidar are doing  jobs   and are paid doing those  jobs and   master --servant relationship is  phenomena  of uncivilized world.

  . If we, as parents , our teachers in  schools do not play   our role to correct these and such  very basic causes .  , I  dont know how  even after 5-6 elections ( after  20 years ) ,we can  have honest political leadership.  Even if we design  and implement most modern education, economic, agriculture, police , health, judicial reforms and rebuild all  the institutions and put them under corrupt , immoral and unethical  people ,what good all these efforts will be ?

 

 

 HOW VERY TRUE

 Is there an imaginary cutoff period when
 Offspring become accountable
 For their own actions?
 Is there some wonderful moment when
 Parents can become detached spectators in
 The lives of their children and shrug,
 "It's their life", and feel nothing?

 When I was in my twenties,
 I stood in a hospital corridor
 Waiting for doctors to put a few stitches
 In my son's head and I asked,
 'When do you stop worrying?'
 The nurse said,
 'When they get out of the accident stage..'
 My Parents just smiled faintly
 And said nothing.

 When I was in my thirties,
 I sat on a little chair in a classroom
 And heard how one of my children
 Talked incessantly, disrupted the class,
 And was headed for a career
 Making license plates.
 As if to read my mind, a teacher said,
 'Don't worry, they all go through this stage
 And then you can sit back,
 Relax and enjoy them.'
 My Parents just smiled faintly
 And said nothing.

 When I was in my forties,
 I spent a lifetime waiting
 For the phone to ring,
 The cars to come home,
 The front door to open.
 A friend said,
 'They're trying to find themselves.
 'Don't worry!
 In a few years, they'll be adults.
 'They'll be off on their own
 They'll be out of your hair'
 My Parents just smiled faintly
 And said nothing.

 By the time I was 50,
 I was so tired of being vulnerable.
 I was still worrying over my children,
 But there was a new wrinkle..
 Even though they were on their own
 I continued to anguish over their failures,
 Be tormented by their frustrations and
 Absorbed in their disappointments..
 And there was nothing I could do about it.
 My Parents just smiled faintly
 And said nothing.

 My friends said that
 When my kids got married
 I could stop worrying
 And lead my own life.
 I wanted to believe that,
 But I was haunted by my parents' warm smiles
 And their occasional,
 'You look pale. Are you all right' ?
 'Call me the minute you get home'.
 Are you depressed about something?'

 My friends said that
 When I became a Grandparent
 That I would get to enjoy
 The happy little voices yelling
 Grandma! Grandpa!
 And now I find that I worry
 Just as much about the little ones
 As my big ones.
 How does anyone cope
 With all this Worry?

 Can it be that parents are sentenced
 To a lifetime of worry?
 Is concern for one another
 Handed down like a torch
 To blaze the trail of human frailties
 And the fears of the unknown?
 Is concern a curse or is it
 A virtue that elevates us
 To the highest form of earthly creation?

 Recently, one of my own children
 Became quite irritable, saying to me,
 'Where were you?
 I've been calling for 3 days,
 And no one answered
 I was worried.'
 I smiled a warm smile.
 The torch has been passed.