Achakzai, Bizenjo do wonders

View from the Gallery

As observer and critic of politicians, one finds little room and less urge to praise some of their generally thankless in nature, but painstakingly difficult work. Primarily, because they are the lot always indulged in self-criticism, blame game and unending rhetoric. 

They rarely emit good vibes, and first day of the joint sitting of Parliament amply demonstrated it all. Political blame game revolving around a former dictator’s stage managed exit from the country consumed most of the time – legislative business seemed least priority. Point scoring, mostly through below average political taunts, was primarily the main stay of our easy going, fun loving legislators. As television talk show mentality has crept in fast not only on back benches but across the opposition-treasury divide, leading lights of front rows have also fallen victim to the same phenomenon. 

Sharp and crispy to below average comic interjections loom large amid noisy interactions and small gatherings indulged in pep talk from the very start to the end of any day’s proceedings. It’s a routine happening in the National Assembly Hall nowadays, the same engulfing the joint sitting too. 

Speaker has to intervene, especially when it gets out of control. But the knack for jokes is unlimited. Gen Musharraf was termed a wild elephant, and PML-N labelled as hapless Lions (Lion their election symbol) in the midst of a serious debate when Opposition Leader Khurshid Shah felt his lengthy notes, courtesy party’s media brains, were boring. 

But many a fun loving treasury-opposition enjoyed it from deep inside, till serious stuff came from Interior Minister who acts as no-nonsense on such occasions. Tuesday was surprisingly a different story, thanks to the political sagacity demonstrated by ruling PML-N’s allies from Baluchistan.

Both Senator Hasil Bizenjo and Mahmood Khan Achakzai, former being a Baluch and later a Pushtun nationalist, are linchpin of Premier Nawaz Sharif’s overall political alliance since long. In-fact, they were the ones standing firm behind the government, when PTI and partner Tahirul Qadri’s baton wielding political brigade were about to occupy Prime Minister House in 2014 after forceful occupation of the Constitution Avenue. 

And PPP’s democrat gurus were having fun in the then joint sitting of the Parliament through speeches loaded with political taunts. Painting themselves larger than life, the PPP top legislators and their leading lights, thought they stood an outside chance of establishment’s coop if the government fell, and naturally PML-N will remain indebted throughout its stint if it survived. 

Remember Ch Eitzaz Ahsan threatening Premier Sharif of imminent fall of his government in the live televised proceedings, provided he (PM) didn’t bridle Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan then and there. Sharif had to comply, but never forgot Eitzaz’s tone and over stretched body language. 

Part and parcel of PML-N’s government, Bizenjo and Achakzai, are different material altogether. Mature and committed, both the political stalwerts know they will rise and fall with Sharif, till the alliance is intact and feasible for both sides. Concerned at every hasty move of their dominant allies in the center, both had to intervene recently to inject much needed “consensus politics”. 

Last week, Achakzai prevailed and got delayed the requisitioning of joint sitting till this Monday. Bizenjo intervened as political trouble shooters Tuesday morning, and saved yet another day for treasury as well as the mainstream opposition parties. In the meeting chaired by Speaker and attended by all parliamentary leaders of Senate and National Assembly, Bizenjo handed over in writing safeguards the opposition and government allies have amassed on the PIA issue, till date. 

No retrenchment of the existing employees, job security, guarantee that existing benefits of the employees will continue unhindered, and same assurance for pensioners of the airliner were the salient features of Hasil Bizenjo’s written suggestions cum demands. PPP and PTI have exactly the same concerns. But they suspect something more sinister – privatization.  Knowing fully well situation at hand, Premier Sharif’s all-purpose second in command, Senator Ishaq Dar and rest of the ministerial bandwagon agreed to form a 10 member parliamentary committee (on bills) to discuss the issue, once again. 

And it took around two hours to come to this conclusion as the joint sitting slated for 11.30 am on Tuesday resumed at 1.30 pm, and that too, for a few minutes. A relived looking Speaker was pleased to announce formation of the consensus parliamentary committee to thrash out PIA as well as 5 other legislatives issues/bills. Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani, through his ruling, and absence from Monday’s joint sitting proceedings, had put the government under pressure. And it worked to some extent. 

Restraint was observed by the treasury to reach to the consensus at hand. And that too just when everyone was mentally prepared to witness another episode of treasury-opposition clash on PIA bill.  Corporatization as ministers put it, or privatization as the Opposition folds suspect, the whole issues was most likely to generate blame game and agitation leading to rowdy scenes in Assembly hall leading to walk outs, and what not. 

That didn’t happen for the collective good. Mandated to come up with recommendations latest by April 7, three days before the joint sitting scheduled for April 11, the composition of the committee (3 Senators and 7 MNAs) seems interesting one. Feeling severely under pressure due to their below average governance in Sindh, the PPP would still like to thrive on Musharraf related controversy as well as PIA issue. 

So of the two PPP men represented in the committee, Senator Saeed Ghani, is likely to avail a sure chance to please the leadership through his trade unionist heroics. Naveed Qamar is a serious customer, less interested in gimmicks. For its part, the PTI, largely reluctant going hard on Musharraf due to sensitivities of civil-military relations, won’t mind scoring some points on PIA issue. 

Asad Umar knows how to market his fiscal expertise to party chairman as well as to Parliament, even when brother Zubair Umar is in-charge of PML-N’s privatization ministry. MQM is more concentrated on survival tactics, looking naively towards central government, sure that Mustafa Kamal phenomenon was handy work of the establishment. 

Mushahid Hussain Syed, the PML-Q man keeping a safe distance from party activities these days, would in all likely-hood practice pragmatism, with a little tilt towards the PML-N, he is mending fences fast these days. But the man to watch would be Maulana Fazlur Rehman. 

Enjoying a federal ministry, chairmanship of Kashmir committee, chairmanship of Islamic Ideology Council, deputy chairmanship of the Senate, he knows how to utilize critical moments for the ‘larger good’ of the party. And masters the art of playing both sides. 

So many political cum personal stakes at hand, the onus of result oriented outcome is most likely to fall on the shoulders of Hasil Bizenjo and ministerial bandwagon. With chairman of the committee likely from treasury and allies, a consensus on PIA issue would prove a hard bargain. Any meat on the table for a likely give and take? Any body’s guess?