The advent of democracy was a welcome and remarkable change in Pakistan.The restoration of deposed former judges including the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Iftikar is also a significant achievement of this democracy.
However, it seems with the restoration of democracy, the four pillars of democracy including the press have also got activated, resulting in the sharp criticism of the Pakistan Government. The criticism has emanated from Fatima Bhutto, who was none other than the former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s niece.
Fatima Bhutto laments Pakistan’s obsession with the cult of personality. She did not spare anybody else in her scathing attack on the Pakistan Government. Fatima blasted President Pervez Musharaf’s dictatorial government, Pakistan People’s party leader Asif Ali Zardari’s corruption and late.Benazir Bhutto’s self-serving machinations in an interview with the Newsweek.
Ms.Fatima Bhutto spoke at length about the recent Pakistan election, Mr.Zardari’s new Government, the real Benazir Bhutto, the role of Bhutto and Mr.Zardari in her father Murtaza Bhutto’s assassination, the disastrous results of American foreign policy and the future of the President Musharaf.
Ms.Fatima Bhutto vehemently criticized the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) promulgated by President Musharaf to withdraw political cases against politicians, describing it as, ‘an odious piece of legislation’ which is a bill signed unilaterally into power by President Musharaf when he was the General and not the President. ‘The bill effectively wipes out 20 years of corruption for politicians, bankers and bureaucrats.And it makes it virtually impossible to future charges against a sitting parliamentarians. It effectively puts those in power above the law. And today NRO is being used not to excuse just financial crimes, but also extortion, murder, smuggling cases.I mean this certainly the case of Asif Zardari.,’she said.
Though Mr.Asif Ali Zardari has been declared as the most powerful man in Pakistan, he has not been reformed an iota. The present position or the reformation attained by Mr.Zardari was through NRO, which is an unconstitutional and illegal piece of legislation.
When asked about the murder of her father Murtaza Bhutto, she replied that some high level police officers were at the scene of the murder, they placed themselves there, who authorized the police to stage a killing of a member of the Assembly and coincidentally the PM’s brother
.Fatima also contended that she has always been maintaining, Benazir bears moral responsibility for her father’s murder.