Have a heart, you are the president, Mr Zardari!

By Shaheen Sehbai

WASHINGTON: When an elected head of the state, who is also the head of the largest political party of the country, the Supreme Commander of the country’s armed forces and (at least on papers) the man with his finger on the country’s nuclear button, cannot venture out of his bunker in the presidency, a five-star prison of sorts, and attacks a TV channel, a newspaper editor or a talk show anchor, he must be seriously in trouble or scared to death with insecurity.

It was a great day in my professional career to get so much attention on live TV, nationally and throughout the world, with the country’s president talking about me (why did you not name me) in a furiously threatening tone, foaming and frothing as if he would shoot me if I had been somewhere close to him at the time. I have just landed in Washington to spend a few days with my family on Eid ul Azha and the first thing I hear on TV is my head of state calling me names. It was a unique welcome to the festival of sacrifices.

I heard Asif Ali Zardari’s speech, his first major political address in months, which dealt with no other burning issue of the country, many times wanting to find out what message he had for the country, other than saying that he was a brave man, he was ready to offer sacrifices and he would not be coweddown and would prefer to leave in an ambulance rather than walk out of the presidency under duress. The more I heard his rants, the more loudly I laughed, again and again.

Here is the strongest man in the country so rattled by a few reports and articles by me, or a few talk shows by Dr Shahid Masood, that he forgets to mention anything about the infamous NRO, the shame of the Kerry Lugar Bill, the gross charges of corruption, money laundering or misuse of power against him and his cronies. He did not mention the issues of sugar, atta, electricity and unemployment. He did not praise the soldiers and people fighting the deadly terrorists. He and his few people now sharing power were only worried about their own fate, with the loud spoken Zulfikar Mirza declaring to the world that he would use the Sindh Card, if worse comes to worst.

Zardari referred to me by frequently mentioning someone with “an American passport”. He also said I was not a Pakistani national. He has to get his facts right. But carrying an American passport is not something he would like to turn into a disqualification as bulk of his own cronies are exiles who have acquired foreign passports, including US passports, and they would be the ones to jump the ship first. I am a Pakistani and work in Pakistan and will continue to do so.

His biggest accusation against me was that I wanted him “to leave the presidency in an ambulance”. I think he knows better as he has been telling many who meet him in his bunker that he would not quit and people will have to take him out. This is what he reiterated in his speech on Wednesday night.

But he is wrong on this count as well. I had only quoted his own words on Nov 4 in my column: “The contours of a changed, unwritten script” in these words: “This assessment will purely be an analysis and conclusions drawn up by a journalist....So my analysis is that he will fight back. Some who still have access to him claim that he has expressed these defiant views many a time saying he would never resign and if someone wanted to remove him, he should send an ambulance because he would not walk out on his own two feet.” This is where ambulance was used. In his speech he confirmed what I had written that he would not go away.

In the same article, my opinion was: “All stakeholders agree, and this I can claim after meeting almost all of them in the last few days in Islamabad and Lahore, that President Asif Ali Zardari will have to either step down with dignity, hand over his presidential powers to the PM through a fast-track constitutional amendments process, or become a figurehead and stay within his bunker for as long as he does not create any nuisance.” I was seeing him as a figurehead as long as he behaves. This does not mean his murder, though it could mean a political suicide.

His party leaders have also been objecting to my use of the word ‘martyr’ for Zardari and one Minister, Dr Babar Awan, had the temerity to ask me in a TV show to name the people who would kill Zardari, as if I had been plotting his murder or martyrdom with these people. There has to be a limit to sycophancy and toadyism.

My words in my Nov 7 article were: “Zardari will have to make his decision very quickly on whether he wants to exit with dignity or become a martyr. The days, as they say, are in fact numbered.” It is clear for anyone who understands English what is meant here is a ‘political martyr’ and not dead in the physical sense. If someone cannot understand the language, a very handy Prof Husain Haqqani can help any time.

Other than these references in Zardari’s speech about me, what I can guess is that he is rattled because I have been criticising his style of governance, his failures in taking successful political decisions, his U-Turns at every critical time, his arrogance and stubbornness and lately his indecent manner of speech with his own prime minister.

Neither the president nor the PM have denied any of the contents of my article about Zardari using insulting words against Gilani. In fact, my sources say, when PM Gilani was asked about my article and whether there was a tiff between him and the president, Gilani’s very diplomatic reply was: “I am not angry with the president.” He decided not to comment on what he had heard from Zardari and in what tone.

It is the right of every writer and journalist to criticise the rulers on their policies, their decisions and their actions. This is exactly what I have been doing during my 42-year-long career. I have criticised every ruler, without fear or favour and whenever the political rulers were out of office and struggling to come back, I happened to be one of their most favorite journalists and had even developed personal friendships with them. This is also true in the case of Zardari.

When he was arrested in 1990 by Jam Sadiq Ali and thrown in the Landhi jail, I and my friends Nusrat Javeed, Mohammad Malick, Shakil Sheikh and a couple of others had confronted Jam Sadiq and forced him to allow us to visit him in the jail. That was the first move in his political comeback. Then I wrote a series of seven articles in which I had questioned Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Jam Sadiq. When in 1993 Benazir and Zardari again came to power, he offered me political jobs and only one journalist, Azhar Sohail, accepted his offer. Sadly he then paid for his life and his family’s ruination three years later.

Once again when Zardari was in power I wrote against his corruption in 1994-95 and then as well he had threatened me and others. I did what I had to do then and faced the consequences.

It was Zardari and Benazir Bhutto who became very friendly to me during their days of wilderness in the Nawaz Sharif/Musharraf eras. In his years in New York, Zardari was particularly friendly and even attended my son’s wedding in Washington. He should be ashamed of now pointing accusing fingers at me for holding a US passport. Can’t he come up with anything better to accuse me? What he was doing in US himself during all those years is also known to people who were in the knowledge. My fault is that I again refused his offer to join his government in 2008 although it is totally wrong that I was ever offered to become Pakistan Ambassador in Canada. Neither had I ever asked him for a political or diplomatic job.

I am totally satisfied that even despite such anger and frustration that the president has expressed against me publicly, without any reason, he has not been able to point any single small or big finger of accusation against me for misusing my professional position or getting any benefit from his or any other government. The charge of dubbing me and others as “political actors” is ridiculous and laughable because if this is all he can come up with, it is pathetic case against me with no legs to stand on. His speech was 90 per cent rhetoric, based on shallow looking claims of pursuing Bhuttoism and the rest 10 per cent was attacks on me, Geo TV and Dr Shahid Masood.

If his corruption, amassed wealth and grabbed lands are questioned, it is pure and simple journalism in the interest of the people and the country and no one can deny us that right. He says he will not listen to any criticism except from his political rivals. What a lame statement is that. Where does he place the others pillars of state, the judiciary, the media, the civil society, the ‘ghairat’ and ‘izzat’ brigades? His political colleagues are easy for him to handle because many of them are in the same boat of looted wealth and plundered resources. But he will have to listen to all of us and hiding in a bunker while claiming to be a brave man, will not wash away his sins or wish us away from the scene.

The real issue is that since the previous government I and my colleagues in the Jang group have been highlighting important issues concerning the constitution, governance, independence of judiciary, rampant corruption and ever-increasing prices. These issues have made miserable the life of common man in Pakistan. Neither the previous government nor the present government could tolerate the Jang Groups’ decision to highlight those issues that affect the lives of ordinary people.

A Bhutto walks away with lucrative $20m deal

By Rauf Klasra

ISLAMABAD: A first cousin of late Benazir Bhutto - Mehfooz Mustafa Bhutto - has emerged as a central figure in a brewing controversy surrounding the highly questionable contract of $20 million by the Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC). Mehfooz is the marketing director of the lucky USA-based firm M/s Valerus. Mehfooz Mustafa, reportedly, also shuttled recently between the US and Pakistan to secure this lucrative contract for his Houston-based company.

According to details, the OGDC awarded the contract to Valerus without floating open tenders. The tender was not even posted on the OGDC website and in a classic manner to favour its favourites, the OGDC management allegedly only invited hand-picked pre-selected firms as a formality.

Investigations carried out by The News revealed the OGDC had awarded the contract to Valerus for supply of compressors for the Qadirpur gas field as gas compression was required to stop the field from early depletion. Sources said the contract was given at the time when President Zardari’s close friend, Dr Asim was adviser on petroleum and the de facto federal petroleum minister.

The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules prohibit any public sector company to procure any material for any use without floating press tenders and also any tender valued over Rs2 million must be published in the national dailies to ensure transparency and fair play for all the stakeholders. The PPRA is responsible for prescribing regulations and procedures for public procurement.

Talking to The News, former adviser on petroleum Dr Asim Hussain said from Dubai that he had “heard” that the multi-million dollar contract was awarded to a USA-based company. He said he had also “heard” from officials about the cousin of late Benazir Bhutto working in the same US company, but he hastened to add he never met him one-on-one. “It is possible that Mustafa Bhutto might have met me with a large delegation of his company at Islamabad but I don’t remember meeting him one-on-one,” Dr Asim said.

However, Asim said this contract had nothing to do with him nor was he involved in any wrongdoings as far as this contract was concerned.

Basharat Mirza, General-Manager Projects, OGDC, confirmed to The News it was true that the multi-million dollar tender for the compressors was not invited through the press or the official website of the department. Mirza also confirmed it was true that this was the same US company which was given contract where the first cousin of late Benazir Bhutto — Mehfooz Mustafa — was working. To a question, he denied any wrongdoings in the whole process of award of the contract, as he claimed on paper everything was done correctly and since he took charge he did not see any irregularity in the award of the contract. He said the pre-qualified parties were invited to take part in the bidding and the lowest bidding firm was given the contract.

Meanwhile, this correspondent sent an email to Mehfooz Mustafa and his bosses last week, asking both the gentlemen to offer their replies to the attached questionnaire. Both gentlemen have opted not to respond. After a two-day wait, this correspondent repeated the email and waited for another three days before filing this story.

The following questions were forwarded to Mr Mustafa and his boss: 1) Please confirm that the OGDC awarded a contract to your company for $20 million for supply of compression equipment for the Qadirpur gas field. 2) Are you aware that there were no press tenders issued by the OGDC for the contract ultimately awarded to your company? 3) Mehfooz, is this true that you are the first cousin of late Benazir Bhutto and Director International Business Development of Valerus? 4) Please confirm that you are assigned to visit the OGDC for business promotion purposes and you visited Zahid Hussain, MD OGDC on several occasions. 5) Can you confirm that your company paid commission in favour of your local agent through their account outside Pakistan and 6) can you comment that your company is in this business for less than five years.

That Mehfooz and his company have opted to maintain silence over these straightforward questions, speaks volumes about the transparency of this multi-million dollar deal!

Balochistan package in Parliament

The Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan Package has been tabled in the joint session of National Assembly and the Senate, Geo News reported Tuesday.

The Head of package-preparing Committee Mian Raza Rabbani announced the package in the joint session of the Parliament. He said the package comprises four parts, i.e. constitutional, political, administrative and economic recommendations.

However, he said the package is not a substitute for provincial autonomy, adding the national history in connection with provincial autonomy is rather bitter and those who raised their voice in past demanding their rights were termed as defectors.

Mian Raza said the dialogue process would be initiated with all political forces in the province and the exiled people would be offered passage for homecoming.

Also, it has been recommended to present to the fore the list of missing people and they would be brought to the courts, adding the package recommends that those missing people would be set free who have no cases against them.

The joint session of the Parliament was held here today at 3.00 p.m. for approval of Balochistan package.

President Asif Ali Zardari under the article 54(1) of the Constitution summoned the joint session of the Parliament to discuss the package for the uplift of Balochistan.

SC says NRO validation must by parliament, or else...

Zardari, others to face trials

By Ansar Abbasi



ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday made it absolutely essential for the government to get the NRO and all other ordinances revalidated from parliament within the time given by the court, to prevent all the cases, including those against President Asif Ali Zardari, from being revived automatically.



In the detailed judgment of its July 31 short order issued by the SC, all corruption and criminal cases in which benefit was given under the NRO after February 5, 2008, the date the NRO legally expired, would stand automatically reopened if parliament fails to validate the NRO retrospectively. Simply speaking it means that the benefits were given when the NRO was no longer in existence.



The apex court did not agree with the perception that the benefits drawn from the NRO are past and closed transactions.It instead judged: “Under Article 89 of the Constitution, an ordinance issued by the president if not so laid before the National Assembly, or both Houses of Parliament, stands repealed on expiration of four months from its promulgation.”



Under this judgment, the NRO stands invalid since February 5, 2008, when it completed its 120-day constitutional life. The NRO was enforced on Oct 6, 2007, and within 120 days had to be passed by parliament as a bill or re-issued as an ordinance, which it was not.



Much to the worry of the ruling elite particularly President Zardari, all their corruption and criminal cases were quashed because of the NRO after February 5, when as per the Supreme Court’s judgment, the NRO did not exist. President Zardari’s acquittal from all cases happened during March-April 2008. (See list)



“Only such rights, privileges, obligations, or liabilities would lawfully be protected as were acquired, accrued or incurred under the said Ordinances during the period of four months or three months, as the case may be, from their promulgation, whether before or after November 3, 2007, and not thereafter, until such ordinances were enacted as acts by Parliament with retrospective effect,” the Supreme Court ruled.



The Supreme Court did not discuss the NRO in isolation but set the same principle for all ordinances that were covered under Musharraf’s PCO, now declared unconstitutional. In case parliament validates the NRO retrospectively (with effect from February 5, 2008) as per the judgment of the apex court, the Supreme Court also made it clear in the same judgment: “Needless to say that any validation whether with retrospective effect or otherwise, shall always be subject to judicial review on the well recognized principles of ultra vires, non-conformity with the Constitution or violation of the Fundamental Rights, or on any other available ground.”



It is relevant to mention here that the NRO soon after its promulgation in October 2007 was challenged in the Supreme Court, which has yet to hear the petitions questioning the very validity of the controversial ordinance.



In para 186 of the detailed judgment, the SC said, “Proclamation of Emergency and PCO No 1 of 2007 having been declared unconstitutional and void ab initio and the validity purportedly conferred on all such Ordinances by means of Article 270AAA and by the judgment in Tikka Iqbal Muhammad Khan’s case also having been shorn, such ordinances would cease to be permanent laws with the result that the life of such ordinances would be limited to the period specified in Article 89 and 128 of the Constitution, viz., four months and three months respectively from the date of their promulgation. Under Article 89 of the Constitution, an ordinance issued by the president, if not so laid before the National Assembly, or both Houses of Parliament, stands repealed on expiration of four months from its promulgation. Similarly, under Article 128 of the Constitution, an ordinance issued by the governor, if not so laid before the concerned provincial assembly, stands repealed on expiration of three months from its promulgation.”



In its para 187, the detailed judgment said, “It may be noted that such ordinances were continued in force throughout under a wrong notion that they had become permanent laws. Thus, the fact remains that on the touchstone of the provisions of Articles 89 and 128 read with Article 264 of the Constitution and Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897, only such rights, privileges, obligations, or liabilities would lawfully be protected as were acquired, accrued or incurred under the said ordinances during the period of four months or three months, as the case may be, from their promulgation, whether before or after November 3, 2007, and not thereafter, until such ordinances were enacted as acts by Parliament or the concerned provincial assembly with retrospective effect.”



According to the details gathered by The News, President Asif Ali Zardari’s acquittal from all the corruption and criminal cases happened between March 6, 2008, to May 20, 2008. The likes of Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Suleman Faruqi, Zulfikar Mirza, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Usman Farooqi, M B Abbasi and many others also benefited after the ordinance lapsed.