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Editorial: Karzai’s second term

In a return of compliment gesture, President Asif Ali Zardari attended newly re-elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s swearing in for a second term. The importance of the occasion in the world’s eyes was obvious from the fact that 300 foreign dignitaries from 43 countries were in attendance. President Karzai’s inaugural speech stressed three themes: the Afghan forces would take over security duties within five years, a Loya Jirga would be called to promote national reconciliation, and corruption would be eliminated. The Afghan president may thereby have pressed the right buttons, but his words would most likely have evoked a mixture of hope and trepidation in his immediate audience as well as the world at large.

Looming over the pomp and ceremony was the shadow of the fraud-marred election, Karzai only managing to scrape through the door after his main rival, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew in disgust from the second round run-off. Karzai in his speech held out an olive branch to Abdullah, without actually inviting him to join his government. The heavy contingent of dignitaries from all parts of the world may also have wanted to send the message that whatever the misgivings about the rigging in the elections and scepticism regarding Karzai’s anti-corruption and national reconciliation sweet nothings, they were there to put the controversy about the elections to rest, pinning their hopes on a brighter future under Karzai 2.

Whatever that future holds is of profound interest and concern to Pakistan. Even if one rejects the American-speak “Afpak”, the two neighbours’ fate is now entwined as though they were co-joined twins. Events in either country inevitably have an impact on the other, given porous borders, cross-border ethnic and political affiliations and the Taliban on either side. It was therefore in the fitness of things that President Zardari used the interaction with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of the occasion to stress that Pakistan needed to be taken on board regarding US President Obama’s eagerly awaited new policy on Afghanistan.

The ambitious goal of an Afghan security forces’ replacement of foreign troops within five years before Karzai’s second term ends still looks a distant dream. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, while reiterating and praising the will, resolve and ability of the law enforcement agencies to defend Pakistan, nevertheless conceded inadequate capacity, for which he appealed to the world for help. If Pakistan, where the state is still intact and relatively robust is beset with such difficulties, it does not take much imagination to understand how much more difficult the task is in Afghanistan, a country battered and ruined by almost four decades of war. Gilani estimates that task would require Rs 25 billion. What price Afghan indigenous capacity?

The signals emanating from Washington and NATO capitals point in the direction of an exit strategy for foreign forces from Afghanistan as the local forces are beefed up and trained. The track record in this respect of the last eight years does not inspire confidence, partly because of the inadequate focus by the US and NATO, partly because of the poor quality of the Afghan forces so far. Nevertheless, if an exit strategy is on the cards in western capitals, the task of reconstructing an Afghan army and police forces assumes critical importance. Resources and will are required in equal measure if the exit of foreign forces is not to result in a takeover by the Taliban again, a prospect that should send shivers down Pakistan’s spine, given that a triumphant Taliban in power in Kabul once more may be tempted to export their jihadi ideology to their neighbours, especially Pakistan, which by now is afflicted already with a local Taliban phenomenon. *

Second Editorial: NRO ‘beneficiaries’

Prime Minister Gilani has said he will quit his office if it is proved that his wife was a beneficiary of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). The premier said that he had seen his wife’s name in the list of NRO beneficiaries sent by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Meanwhile, NAB issued a clarification and blamed the media for mentioning the name of Fouzia Gilani. There seems to be some misunderstanding here. In a fresh list prepared by NAB, there is no mention of Mrs Gilani. However, the names mentioned in the new list include some top officials in the present government.

Before going into the technicalities pertaining to the names mentioned in the list, the people need to understand the reasons why the NRO was promulgated in the first place. In a bid for reconciliation with the PPP, General (retd) Musharraf was the author of this ordinance. Since his own party, the PML-Q, proved to be an inadequate shield for the former president, Musharraf tried to bring in a mainstream political party to strengthen his position by withdrawing cases against the PPP. The NRO provided late Benazir Bhutto a door for re-entry into the country. To bring change and movement in politics, Ms Bhutto accepted this political deal. Though Musharraf’s attempt to remain in power failed, the PPP got what it wanted by winning the 2008 general elections, albeit at the cost of its leader’s life.

The reason why the NRO has been challenged time and again is because it has been termed as a discriminatory law. It grants amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats accused of corruption, embezzlement, money laundering, murder and terrorism between January 1, 1986 and October 12, 1999.

The government’s bid to get the NRO passed by parliament fell flat on its face due to lack of preparation. The deadline for parliamentary approval of the NRO ends on November 28, 2009. After that the cases can be reopened. With the exception of the president, who has constitutional immunity and who has also been acquitted in most, if not all, cases against him, the rest of those on the list will have to fight out their cases in the courts. *

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