Rajarental: A dexterous lackey and a pariah PM









I am very unequivocal in showing my reservations about this grotesque democracy in Pakistan. The follies of the PPP- led coalition has tarnished the reputation of democracy, which is deemed as the best governing system. The government has remained unfazed by all impediments, which have marred the country. One cannot possibly delve into those impediments, for they are too much, and well-documented. The credibility of the incumbent government is at its lowest ebb; rightly so, for it has thrown the country to dogs. However, it was widely opined, that the leader of the pack (PPP), was in a position to recover some lost territory, by supplanting Mr Gillani with a somewhat, less tainted and clean PM, but they foiled this opportunity in connivance with their partners, to include MQM, ANP and PML-Q. Much to our dismay, our head of state nominated the infamous, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as a candidate for premiership of the country; an office that happens to be everything in an archetypical parliamentary democracy, not in Pakistan, though. These so-called amendments have not transferred the powerhouse from Zardari to PM. The nomination and election of Raja Pervaiz Ashraf or Rajarental is nothing less than a pariah for the nation, yet the PPP has no remorse in giving him the crown. This piece will highlight the traits of Raja Sahib, which compelled the president to repose faith in him and 211 parliamentarians to vote for him.

Firstly, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is someone, who happens to be un-assuming and docile person; doesn’t seem to be a man who wields power. In a facade democracy which, happens to be   under the thumb of our president, he is the ideal man for this task. Certainly, the 51-month epoch of Mr Gillani was dominated by Zardari; he being de facto head of the party took all major decisions. Extrapolation will not be wrong; Raja sahib will be a mere puppet, not in the hands of the establishment, but the president.

Secondly, appointing the 61 year old Sindhi cum Punjabi politician as a candidate is not something new; the PPP offers promotion based upon unmatched qualifications. These qualifications include: outstanding performances in their respective ministries; vociferous chants of Jayee Bhutto and BB shaheed and praising the services of president Zardari for democracy. Raja is thus a befitting candidate; the ministry of water and power was in full bloom under him; it tried and succeeded in crippling the country with the weapon of load shedding. The effects of the power crisis need not be emphasized more, for they are far-reaching, multifarious and ever-increasing. Raja Pervaiz was an abominable snowman for the hoi polloi of Pakistan till 2011 when he was ousted from the cabinet. He could have escaped the opprobrium, had he not made innumerable promises to eradicate the curse of load shedding. The newly-elected premier said on one occasion “load shedding will be done away with on the 14th of August.” True to his promise, load shedding was not experienced on that day, but as 15th dawned, it re-appeared. This was just one instance; Hamid Mir, yesterday showed footages of his high-sounded promises to get rid of power outages, yet he was not indignant upon his lacklustre performance. Same goes for his party; it is recalcitrant on defending his candidature, which is a criminal, to say the least. But why should we only say all this for Raja Pervaiz. We have seen the follies of Naveed Qamar and Ahmed Mukhtar were rewarded by swapping their portfolios; Makdom Amin continues to enjoy the taste of his ministry. The predecessor of Raja Pervaiz, Mr Gillani was no different.

Finally, the man in question is alleged, tainted and under scrutiny of the supreme court, in the rental power case. If the leader of the pack is venal; the ex-premier was under the scanner and other ministers, to include Makhdom Shahuddin and Amin Faheem are facing charges of dishonesty then the newly-elected premier is apt to lead a cohort of tarnished personalities and incompetent to the core. The sleeping prowess of Naveed Qamar is well-known, yet he is the man responsible for defence-related affairs, things that are way beyond his dexterity. So, Rajarental, as he is called will not be an odd man out.

Now, I come to the crux of this article, which terms the new PM as a dexterous lackey and a pariah. First, let me delve into him being a pariah. One can go in a slum and ask about him; people would hurl profanities, for they deem him as responsible for leading life sans electricity. Certainly, he is a sycophant; a loyal chum of the president and a man who camouflages his slip-ups in the name of bhuttoism.
Hence, it can be inferred that, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has nothing worthwhile to write home about; his previous idiosyncrasies compel us to deem him as a pariah, yet he fits-in well amongst the ranks of the PPP, owing to his dexterous sycophancy

Comments

  1. Unknown29 June 2012 at 11:14

    Ali you write articles in a sound quality. Expecting something from nothing is like grabbing something from air for air..........!!!!

    ReplyDelete

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