Press Gallery 

Interest Warriors, MD PTV and Mr. Gilani

Saeed Minhas

Islamabad: As both MQM and Peoples Party continue to play ping-pong over Karachi for their respective political gains, the only cosmopolitan city and economic hub of the country continues to bleed on daily basis thus bringing into question the real agenda of President Zardari, Altaf Hussain and even Asfand National Party.

At a time when Khakis are themselves asking for mercy by telling the political leadership to take the onus of sorting out the mess not only in Karachi but also in Baluchistan, is it true that political leadership is more concerned about their personal agendas than caring for a bigger national agenda of saving the country from falling into hands of economic, religious and even foreign funded gangs?

Parliamentarians belonging to various political outfits believe that currently Pakistan is besieged by interest warriors where political agendas hardly matter. What matters according to this concerned bunch of legislators is who carries what value. Had that not been the case, lamented a senior Jiyala member parliament from central Punjab, Peoples Party would not have been overshadowed by C-Leaguers (Chaudhrys)—who according to him are busy stuffing in their like-minded bureaucrats on key positions in and around presidency and Prime Minister to control the executive branches of the country. According to this Jiyala soon it will be hard to differentiate that who actually is ruling the country, Peoples Party of Chaudhrys?

An Asfand loyalist was of the view that no matter what goes on in tribal areas or Karachi, his party would remain busy protecting the silence of their wanton leader. Whereas MQM Bhai logs believe that certain guarantors (both local and foreign) have come so hard on them that despite sustaining lots of losses (both financial and physical) they have to not only roll back from various fronts but had to accept the Bahria’s plane to bring Ishratul Ibad back to Governor House Karachi to ensure that status quo is maintained till the time ‘Big Boss’ (sitting in the safe confines of hill top) executes certain changes at the top level and heads for a well controlled Senate elections.

To find out more about these changes as some of us (pen-pushers) tried to scratch the thick skins of some frequent visitors to the hill top houses; it was no surprise to find out that they all were hinting at a change of face in Prime Minister’s House in the coming month or so. To understand the reasons for such an expected move as we, understandably showered volley of queries on these insiders, they retorted “just look at the Hajj Scandal” and then gave us indications that how one of the Gilani is considered to have got something to do with this commotion.

Whether corruption is the real cause or sharing of its dividends with all the stakeholders remains the point of contention, these insiders believe that an unceremonious exit for the top man is likely to happen. Since there are so many ifs and buts involved with this change, as we saw during the first of many exits of MQM from federal cabinet when even the government had lost the simple majority in the parliament, it is hard to believe these insiders because they were as sure then as they seem now. So one can hope that when Prime Minister Gilani while shattering his own reconciliatory stance during his challenging speech on the floor of the House on Monday said that “I have always said that parliament not the prime minister will complete its five year tenure” was not indicative of any such move in near future.  

Wondering about the fate of Mr. Gilani as we were heading back to the fasting parliament house, where debate on Karachi was going on, we heard another interesting episode of our state run media; i.e. PTV. Having exposed the incumbent MD of (inching towards bankruptcy) PTV just few weeks back in these very columns, it was not hard to get something on him from the top bureaucrat who prefers to lurk around presidency than PM House and he did obliged us all by telling that YBM has tendered his resignation to the Presidency just a few weeks back.

The resignation or intent to resign did not come because of inclusion of a new Deputy Managing Director (DMD)—who has been accommodated on the recommendation of none other than the former PS to former dictator Gen. Musharraf—but was the culmination of the fact that MD has already siphoned off more millions than he was expecting from cricket world cup extravaganza. Having fuelled his appetite from the airing of mega event at the rate of three per cent, YBM is learned to have resigned because he has already found out that managing this huge ship is neither his expertise nor his capacity, therefore, he is already busy securing his return to one of the two older masters with bagful of PTV archives, three per cent (fully en-cashed) dividends and of course more than five damning investigations for misappropriation of state funds during his previous two terms, revealed our mole.

The top bureaucrat was of the view that the current state of affairs of PTV is bleak as from a Rs. 70 million surplus State Corporation, it has plunged deep into a deficit of over Rs 700 million within the short span of six months because of YBM’s management and may be (special merchandise) marketing skills. On top of that he said that since there was no money left in the coffers and Corporation had to resort to commercial bank’s over draft facilities at exuberant interest rates, therefore, MD found it convenient to take his three per cent share (the share which he was contracted to get on PTV revenues on top of the salary package) from the pension head of the organization. Resultantly, our friend revealed that many of the recently retired PTV employees have not been paid a single penny in the past six months, thus depriving them of their life time hopes.

Before parting ways with us, as we were entering the chilled halls of the parliament, the bureaucrat amused us by whispering the final orders from presidency for this professional MD of PTV, Mr. YBM. “Neither anyone comes here without our blessings nor anyone dare to leave without our approval so sit tight and start delivering the goods instead of looking for greener pastures.”

What it proves is that neither corruption nor mismanagement is a factor to fear when it comes to governance in Pakistan, rather it is the likes and dislikes of the top man which matters. Now I will leave it to your good judgment and understanding that if MD PTV is given STOP orders and insiders are convinced that Mr. Gilani has been shown a green light to move his flag car out of the power corridors, then what else are the criteria and what is the agenda?  Therefore, if MD PTV is preparing to dole out production contracts to his fashion days friends, it should not surprise anyone, because staying in this government means making more money and moving out with consent means securing the dividends but without one—why not ask Dr Shahid Masood?