AstanoshKhan
<b>PTI: NAYA PAKISTANI</b>
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Rahimullah Yusufzai
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
With the recent appointment of Syed Masood Kausar as the Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwas, three out of the four governors in the country now belong to the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party.
The other two are Sardar Abdul Latif Khosa in Punjab and Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi in Balochistan. Despite accusations of misuse of power in the past, Khosa became governor after his PPP colleague Salmaan Taseers assassination.
Magsi, whose wife is also a minister in the top-heavy Balochistan cabinet, served as the PPP chief minister in the province from 1993 to 1996 during prime minister Benazir Bhuttos second stint in power. However, due to tribal considerations in the past he made it a point to contest provincial assembly elections as an independent candidate from his native Jhal Magsi area. He then manoeuvred his way into becoming minister on a few occasions, and even became chief minister once.
The Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat Ul Ebad Khan, who was made governor by military dictator General Pervez Musharraf in December 2002, is a card-carrying member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). He hassurvived major political changes due to his loyalty to his party leader Altaf Hussain and on account of his partys enormous bargaining power. He was the youngest governor of Sindh at the time of his appointment and after more than eight years in this position should be on course to becoming the longest serving occupant of the governors mansion in Karachi.
All four governors are, therefore, partisan in the sense that they owe their positions to their political parties and remain committed to a particular ideology and leadership. They havent quit their parties and will most likely return to the fold once they lose their most coveted jobs as governors.
One cannot expect in the existing politicised situation, a different arrangement in terms of appointment of non-political persons to those positions of power that should ideally be non-partisan. There is no harm in appointing politicians to such positions including the president and governors, but they should give up politics and party offices and strive to become acceptable to all Pakistanis after accepting such well-paid jobs.
President Asif Ali Zardari, who appoints the governors, is still co-chairman of the PPP. He didnt resign from his party office after becoming the president because the PPP co-chairmanship confers on him an authority that will outlast his present job as the president of Pakistan. It would have been good for the country if it had a president who was above political and party considerations. This didnt happen instead the Presidency became a centre for political activities of the PPP and its allies.
The same was the case at the three governors houses in Karachi, Lahore and Quetta, and now the fourth one in Peshawar could become the PPP headquarters in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwas. In fact, the PPP leadership in the province pleaded the case that it needed to have its own man as the governor to facilitate party workers and get things done to improve the PPPs image and strength. They often complained that the workers of the Awami National Party, the PPPs most steadfast ally and senior partner in the ruling coalition in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwas, could approach the chief ministers house in Peshawar and seek their party nominee Ameer Haider Hotis help in removing their grievances, but the PPP activists had no such place to turn to. Now, they will have no difficulty in finding the most famous address in Peshawar where they could go to seek help and favours from Governor Masood Kausar. Their joy was evident at the governors oath-taking ceremony where slogans of PPP Zindabad, Jeeay Bhutto and Jeeay Zardari were repeatedly chanted.
President Zardari in any case wanted a PPP man as the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwas governor, but first he had to persuade the military leadership to accept the change due to the sensitive nature of the job. Unlike the other governors, the one in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwas has more than a ceremonial job as the head of the administration in the adjoining Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), which has been the focus of international attention for the past decade on account of the war on terror and where militancy remains a potent threat.
Since 2003, the military has been conducting operations against militants linked to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups in Fata and the willingness of the army high command was necessary while replacing the apolitical Owais Ahmad Ghani with someone like Masood Kausar, who has spent his life doing politics and practising law.
Another hurdle for President Zardari was seeking ANPs approval in the appointment of the governor. The ANP would have preferred its own nominee as the governor. As this wasnt possible, it began looking for someone in the PPP who shared its political ideals. Of the PPP candidates for the job, former federal minister Anwar Saifullah Khan was unacceptable to the ANP due to the Saifullah familys opposition to the renaming of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) as Pakhtunkhwa, and its support for the Kalabagh Dam project.
The ANP leadership was also unwilling to forget the betrayal of Anwar Saifullahs mother, Kulsum Saifullah, who was elected MPA in the 1970s with the support of the erstwhile NAP the ANPs predecessor before abandoning it to seek greener pastures. Even otherwise, Anwar Saifullah was a lateral entrant to the PPP, having joined it after winning a provincial assembly seat from Lakki Marwat district in the 2008 general election and support for his candidature within the party was uncertain.
Masood Kausar was a latecomer as a candidate for the governorship, but it didnt take him long to become the frontrunner due to his party credentials and in absence of other strong candidates. He was reportedly considered for other political jobs in the government in recent years and failed to get one due to opposition from within the PPP ranks and other considerations.
Fortunately for him, the ANP decided to support him and this seems to have clinched the issue in his favour. In fact, the ANP leaders including Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti publicly congratulated Masood Kausar weeks before he was to become the governor (during the fateha said last month for the deceased PPP leader and another former governor Maj Gen (Retd) Naseerullah Babar in the latters village, Pirpiai, in Nowshera district. Like the ANP leaders, Masood Kausar is secular, liberal and democratic and on occasions also nationalist in his views. He would be expected to serve as a bridge between the PPP and the ANP.
Owais Ghani has had a long innings, having served as governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwas for three years and a month and in the same position earlier in Balochistan for four and a half years. Before that, he was a provincial and then a federal minister also during General Musharrafs rule. He clung to his job after the 2008 general election, primarily due to his smooth relationship with the military. The militarys presence in Fata meant that most decision-making there was being done by the top brass of the army and Owais Ghani didnt have to do much. The same should be true in case of Masood Kausar as long as the military remains deployed in the tribal areas and the militants arent fully defeated.
The Kohat-born Masood Kausar, who is a brother of late poet Ahmad Faraz and at 72 appears a bit old for the job, has offered sacrifices due to his loyalty to the PPP. He has been amply rewarded by his party in turn the party has enabled him to become a provincial minister, assembly speaker and senator. Though major reforms in Fata appear difficult at this stage, Masood Kausar could make a difference by implementing President Zardaris hollow announcements to amend the Frontier Crimes Regulation and extend the Political Parties Act to the tribal areas in a bid to empower the neglected tribal people.
The writer is resident editor of The News in Peshawar. Email: rahim yusufzai@yahoo.com
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
With the recent appointment of Syed Masood Kausar as the Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwas, three out of the four governors in the country now belong to the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party.
The other two are Sardar Abdul Latif Khosa in Punjab and Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi in Balochistan. Despite accusations of misuse of power in the past, Khosa became governor after his PPP colleague Salmaan Taseers assassination.
Magsi, whose wife is also a minister in the top-heavy Balochistan cabinet, served as the PPP chief minister in the province from 1993 to 1996 during prime minister Benazir Bhuttos second stint in power. However, due to tribal considerations in the past he made it a point to contest provincial assembly elections as an independent candidate from his native Jhal Magsi area. He then manoeuvred his way into becoming minister on a few occasions, and even became chief minister once.
The Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat Ul Ebad Khan, who was made governor by military dictator General Pervez Musharraf in December 2002, is a card-carrying member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). He hassurvived major political changes due to his loyalty to his party leader Altaf Hussain and on account of his partys enormous bargaining power. He was the youngest governor of Sindh at the time of his appointment and after more than eight years in this position should be on course to becoming the longest serving occupant of the governors mansion in Karachi.
All four governors are, therefore, partisan in the sense that they owe their positions to their political parties and remain committed to a particular ideology and leadership. They havent quit their parties and will most likely return to the fold once they lose their most coveted jobs as governors.
One cannot expect in the existing politicised situation, a different arrangement in terms of appointment of non-political persons to those positions of power that should ideally be non-partisan. There is no harm in appointing politicians to such positions including the president and governors, but they should give up politics and party offices and strive to become acceptable to all Pakistanis after accepting such well-paid jobs.
President Asif Ali Zardari, who appoints the governors, is still co-chairman of the PPP. He didnt resign from his party office after becoming the president because the PPP co-chairmanship confers on him an authority that will outlast his present job as the president of Pakistan. It would have been good for the country if it had a president who was above political and party considerations. This didnt happen instead the Presidency became a centre for political activities of the PPP and its allies.
The same was the case at the three governors houses in Karachi, Lahore and Quetta, and now the fourth one in Peshawar could become the PPP headquarters in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwas. In fact, the PPP leadership in the province pleaded the case that it needed to have its own man as the governor to facilitate party workers and get things done to improve the PPPs image and strength. They often complained that the workers of the Awami National Party, the PPPs most steadfast ally and senior partner in the ruling coalition in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwas, could approach the chief ministers house in Peshawar and seek their party nominee Ameer Haider Hotis help in removing their grievances, but the PPP activists had no such place to turn to. Now, they will have no difficulty in finding the most famous address in Peshawar where they could go to seek help and favours from Governor Masood Kausar. Their joy was evident at the governors oath-taking ceremony where slogans of PPP Zindabad, Jeeay Bhutto and Jeeay Zardari were repeatedly chanted.
President Zardari in any case wanted a PPP man as the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwas governor, but first he had to persuade the military leadership to accept the change due to the sensitive nature of the job. Unlike the other governors, the one in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwas has more than a ceremonial job as the head of the administration in the adjoining Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), which has been the focus of international attention for the past decade on account of the war on terror and where militancy remains a potent threat.
Since 2003, the military has been conducting operations against militants linked to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups in Fata and the willingness of the army high command was necessary while replacing the apolitical Owais Ahmad Ghani with someone like Masood Kausar, who has spent his life doing politics and practising law.
Another hurdle for President Zardari was seeking ANPs approval in the appointment of the governor. The ANP would have preferred its own nominee as the governor. As this wasnt possible, it began looking for someone in the PPP who shared its political ideals. Of the PPP candidates for the job, former federal minister Anwar Saifullah Khan was unacceptable to the ANP due to the Saifullah familys opposition to the renaming of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) as Pakhtunkhwa, and its support for the Kalabagh Dam project.
The ANP leadership was also unwilling to forget the betrayal of Anwar Saifullahs mother, Kulsum Saifullah, who was elected MPA in the 1970s with the support of the erstwhile NAP the ANPs predecessor before abandoning it to seek greener pastures. Even otherwise, Anwar Saifullah was a lateral entrant to the PPP, having joined it after winning a provincial assembly seat from Lakki Marwat district in the 2008 general election and support for his candidature within the party was uncertain.
Masood Kausar was a latecomer as a candidate for the governorship, but it didnt take him long to become the frontrunner due to his party credentials and in absence of other strong candidates. He was reportedly considered for other political jobs in the government in recent years and failed to get one due to opposition from within the PPP ranks and other considerations.
Fortunately for him, the ANP decided to support him and this seems to have clinched the issue in his favour. In fact, the ANP leaders including Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti publicly congratulated Masood Kausar weeks before he was to become the governor (during the fateha said last month for the deceased PPP leader and another former governor Maj Gen (Retd) Naseerullah Babar in the latters village, Pirpiai, in Nowshera district. Like the ANP leaders, Masood Kausar is secular, liberal and democratic and on occasions also nationalist in his views. He would be expected to serve as a bridge between the PPP and the ANP.
Owais Ghani has had a long innings, having served as governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwas for three years and a month and in the same position earlier in Balochistan for four and a half years. Before that, he was a provincial and then a federal minister also during General Musharrafs rule. He clung to his job after the 2008 general election, primarily due to his smooth relationship with the military. The militarys presence in Fata meant that most decision-making there was being done by the top brass of the army and Owais Ghani didnt have to do much. The same should be true in case of Masood Kausar as long as the military remains deployed in the tribal areas and the militants arent fully defeated.
The Kohat-born Masood Kausar, who is a brother of late poet Ahmad Faraz and at 72 appears a bit old for the job, has offered sacrifices due to his loyalty to the PPP. He has been amply rewarded by his party in turn the party has enabled him to become a provincial minister, assembly speaker and senator. Though major reforms in Fata appear difficult at this stage, Masood Kausar could make a difference by implementing President Zardaris hollow announcements to amend the Frontier Crimes Regulation and extend the Political Parties Act to the tribal areas in a bid to empower the neglected tribal people.
The writer is resident editor of The News in Peshawar. Email: rahim yusufzai@yahoo.com
