Hussain Haqqani leaves abroad under another NRO?
Press Gallery
Saeed Minhas
Islamabad: Things continue to shape up behind the scene between Friendly Opposition and feisty coalition leaders over the issue of saving their one-term-one-turn-policy as the house continued with its eyewash debate to condemn the monthly rise in petroleum prices without noticing that how much stressful their leader of the House is after getting the fresh summoning from Supreme Commanders of the judiciary with regard to his contempt attempt.
Leader of opposition had to spend most of his time wheeling-dealing with Maulana Diesel and other fragmented elements in his parliament’s chamber, therefore, saved the galleries with another hour-long outburst. His attempts to cut a deal with Maulana and others remained focused apparently on the issue of staging a token walk out from the parliament when the government will present and get 20th amendment passed. How much government would be able to appease the judicial commanders is not clear but Nawaz league is certainly trying to make a point here that they want to glue together right-wingers to climb out of the political isolation hole they have dug themselves in the past three years.
Though both Opposition and government are having, this time unwritten understanding because Mr. Zee believes that even written political documents are not Holy Scriptures, but both are vigorously trying to find matches for the forthcoming elections. If Nawaz League is busy trying to get back to the folds of establishment by hiding behind the Maulana Brigade—which is super active these days by holding rallies under defense conference banners—then President and his core team is busy trying to somehow save the last round by dealing effectively with judicial bosses as well as those against whom they tried to use Washington-based Haqqani network.
As we were discussing the secret deals in our previous column and the never-ending war of nerves amongst various stakeholders of our so-called national interest including the Wikileak masters, everyone of them is sensing the early elections provided Peoples Party did not throw the Senate elections in a fiasco by playing with its allies. As the political pundits are keeping an eye on these developments, they see the haste of judicial commanders in the same league because by upsetting the government and forcing them to go for a new leader of house the required first drop of mess is likely to be triggered if Mr. Gilani is shown the gate not because of his MBBS (Mian Bevi Bachon Smaith meaning busy in grabbing with the entire family) but for showing allegiance to the President–or should we credit him –or to the Constitutional immunity for the president in Swiss graft case.
Evereyone is under tremendous pressure from multiple sides, even the Wikileak Masters because the multi-pronged strategy adopted by each player in the game (Namely political, strategic, Black Robes n authoritatively Invisible hands) is nothing short of classic conspiracy theories of last days of Roman Empire like Catiline Conspoiracy or series of 15th century conspiracies in Britain including Pazzi, Babington or Throckmorton. The purpose in those days was nothing but to dislodge the ruling elite to thrust another desperate-to-become-oligarch upon the throne and same is applicable to the current situation and power corridors of Pakistani politics, where no state institution has any faith in the other and is using media in general while the agenda-setting media house (the one which remained boycotted by President and his team till late) in particular as a tool to test the other by relaying coded messages.
Out of this game as usual the media-men—not all and everyone because there are always few dirty characters in every profession who bring bad name to the whole profession—are making hey while the never ending conspiracy games are on. Some media houses are trying to get rid of their minted income tax while others are trying to play along with the known characters of stock exchange to buy fency Jaguar car to his wife, yet some others are busy trying to rise with the help of Washington dollars and if nothing else than on the secret funding of the information ministry.
As media’s role was being discussed in the parliamentary cafeteria one of the notorious Nawaz Leaguer from Lahore known for his student politics jumped into the debate to leave a feeler. “Do you know that how desperate was Hussain Haqqani to run out of the country? When President Zardari was heading off to Dubai where he eventually ended up in an American hospital for mysterious reasons, Hussain Haqqani just jumped into his plane and begged to take him out of the country. It was the time when the Supreme Court, judicial commission and even parliamentary committee to probe Memo-Gate was expecting Mansoor Ejaz to land in Pakistan and chances of his leaving the country were very slim. R. Gilani, however, asked President Zardari to not facilitate him in this regard because it would lead all the fingers towards President.” When the curious journos sought to confirm it from other sources, many parliamentarians accompanying this former student leader nodded in affirmative. But one of our mole inside the Premier team also confirmed it saying that President had to assure him of complete security as well as safe passage just in case things come to a head. Now, he also revealed that Hussain Haqqani has been allowed to return to his greener pastures because of the intervention of the Wikileak Masters as well as on the condition that he will keep mum otherwise he would be summoned back through red warrants. These revelations coming from the reliable persons was quite alarming and raises many other questions as well about the independence of our judiciary as well as the dependence of our strategists on foreign masters. Whether I should call it another national reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) or a service done to the proverbial “National Interest”?