PPP, MQM friendship

UNDOUBTEDLY, Asif Zardari is older and wiser after two full decades in the business. Skill comes with practice. And he has been a good practitioner of the game known as politics ever since he helped his wife Benazir Bhutto survive a no-confidence move against her in her first tenure as prime minister in 1989. Looking more like a Greek philosopher-king than a pretty ordinary politician of today, Zardari, who has been vigorously trying to be in her wife’s shoes since her assassination on December 27 last year, has nevertheless earned full marks in an effective and meaningful way. Arguably, he has learnt the ropes quite efficiently and in very little time. Speaking at the Muttahida Quami Movement’s headquarters, widely known as Nine Zero, late Wednesday night, he was able to send a strong message across by saying that all those who had pitted the workers and leaders of the two parties against each other over the past many years will never succeed in their nefarious designs. “Not only have we forgiven each other and accepted each other’s apologies for the mistakes that we have committed in the past, we also want to forgive ‘them’ with an open heart so that they no longer engage themselves in hatching conspiracies against us out of fear that would have engulfed them following our today’s show of unity,” Zardari said. While strongly indicating that he meant country’s Establishment when he made mention of “conspirators” and added that their resolution derived its strength from their entirely legitimate wish to see a better future for their next generations who include Altaf Husain’s daughter Afzaa and Zardari’s three children Bilawal, Bukhtawar and Aseffa. According to him, the decision taken by him at this point in time will be greatly appreciated particularly by “men of wisdom” if it doesn’t impress much the man of average intelligence. In making these remarks, Zardari was quite clear and coherent about his vision. He was clearly manifesting the ability to think about or plan the future with great imagination and intelligence. On the other side, Altaf lived up to his reputation of a good orator while his speech strongly reflected the maturity of his party and his own dexterity in politics. He strongly demonstrated that sanity had amply gained ground in his party’s rank and file and that he had drawn a lot of lessons during his presence in the country as well as his exile since the early 1990s. The two leaders begged forgiveness for what they had done wrong.
They had everything they could possibly wish for. Looking at the milling crowds out chanting “Jeay Bhutto” “Jeay Zardari” and “Jeay Altaf” slogans, they had to be believed when they asserted that everyone would be happy with their decision in the length and breadth of the country given that their senior coalition partner PML-N had consistently shown reservations over the prospects of a PPP-MQM ‘patch-up’. Zardari was fully mindful of the PML-N stance vis-a-vis MQM. It was at a press conference in Murree a few weeks ago that Zardari announced that he would not make MQM a coalition partner without Nawaz Sharif’s “permission”. In the meantime, Zardari successfully worked towards obtaining the required nod from Sharif before he could visit Nine Zero. After sidelining a ‘revered’ Makhdoom Amin Fahim from the race for premiership his visit to Muttahida’s headquarters was his most difficult decision as a strong section of the PPP rank and file in the province was hardly in favour of the proposition of PPP-MQM friendship given the Karachi-based party’s history of what they call betrayal and its consistent support to President Musharraf since he staged a bloodless coup in October 1999.



Change of heart

THE multistranded threads of a Palestinian settlement seemed to be drawn a little closer this week. Speaking from Damascus, Hamas political head Khaled Meshaal said Hamas had committed itself to a political solution based around the National Reconciliation document returning Israel to its pre-1967 borders allowing the formation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with its capital in East Jerusalem. This is exactly what the Saudi-proposed Arab peace initiative calls for, and Hamas’ change of heart is welcome. Meanwhile, rivals Hamas and Fatah are planning to meet again, one of the few things they agreed when Yemen hosted reconciliation talks between them in Sanaa last month. Next Monday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is due to hold talks with Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert, to see if their negotiating teams cannot agree a draft settlement on which substantive negotiations can finally begin. Washington, meanwhile, continues to press for a year-end deal. Despite President Bush’s patent craving for just one foreign policy success for his lackluster two-term administration, this impetus presents real opportunities in the coming months. The way forward must lie in seeing the violent exchanges between Palestinians and Israelis for what they are — not terrorism — but a war of blow and counterblow, attack and reprisal. Wars end first with a truce and then with a peace.
Even the most dedicated Zionists now know that however hard they strike at the Palestinians, they can never destroy their resistance. For the Israelis, a chilling part of Meshaal’s latest message was that Hamas wanted a truce and a settlement but was fully resigned to the possibility that it could take “many years”. For Palestinians, a continuation of their agony can hardly be welcome but when a people have little else to lose but their lives, they discover a grim and enduring strength. Though Hamas continues to refuse to recognize the state of Israel, outsiders of good will who are urging on the peace process can try and argue that demanding the Israelis retreat behind the 1967 borders could constitute a de facto recognition of the reality of its state. A major key to progress is the inclusion of Hamas in the political process. That will only happen if the Bush administration is prepared to talk directly or at a remove with its leadership. The refusal to “ talk to terrorists” is nonsense. Fatah was once called “terrorists”. So were Zionists. But Bush is talking to them. A divided Palestine cannot make a deal. Just because Washington finds Hamas unacceptable, that is not going to make them go away. Bush needs to sit up and smell the coffee. The Palestinian peace that will secure his place in history cannot become a reality unless it is negotiated and signed by all Palestinians. He squandered his first chance to deal with Hamas after their election victory. He must not miss it again.

—Arab News