EDITORIAL : THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

Multan poll

BY-ELECTIONS are usually not a good barometer of the mood ahead of a general election. With political governments in place, they are usually tilted in favour of incumbents. But the narrow victory of Abdul Qadir Gilani in Multan on Thursday to the National Assembly seat that fell vacant after his father, former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, was disqualified by the Supreme Court in April has yielded some tantalising hints about the state of politics in Punjab. First, not all victories are equal and the few thousand votes by which the PPP held on to its former prime minister’s seat will have set alarm bells ringing in the party. Here, after all, was a district that the PPP via Yousuf Raza Gilani had lavished much attention on over the last four-and-a-half years. Here also was supposed to be fertile ground for two other factors the PPP will play up during the general election: a sense of victimhood, which the former prime minister embodies as yet another PPP prime minister ousted before his time, and the so-called Seraiki card, whose time is supposed to have come as an electoral factor. The election result, then, suggests all is not well in the PPP camp. It will not admit this publicly, but the party apparently still lacks a winning formula to overcome the woes of incumbency of a government often perceived as thoroughly incompetent and out of touch.

Second, the Multan by-election appears to have been a trial balloon for a possible revival of an alliance similar to the IJI, which fought it out with the PPP in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The runner-up in Thursday’s election, Shaukat Hayat Bosan, was supported by the PML-N, JI and PTI — all parties with similar politics and united to some extent by their opposition to the PPP. An electoral alliance may still be far off, but behind the scenes the debate over seat adjustments for the general election will inevitably pick up. Though it is far from a sure thing — at least publicly, the PTI and the PML-N are rivals — the lure of seat gains at the expense of the PPP will have Punjab’s eternally churning politics in a fresh state of excitement.

Third, the Multan by-election is a powerful response to the worrying speculation about care-taker set-ups and extra-constitutional interventions. The argument for recourse to the extra-constitutional has always been that the democratic process will not produce change. But as the highly competitive race in Multan has shown, the electorate isn’t so easy to manipulate and is ready to be wooed by other possible representatives.

Afridi and the US

A DATE has been set for an appeal hearing in the case of Dr Shakil Afridi, and it should be used an opportunity to set things right. From its inception his trial has raised questions about the real intentions of the state. To begin with, if he was thought to be guilty of treason in helping the CIA track down Osama bin Laden through a fake vaccination program, he should have been tried in an open court. But even within his trial under the Frontier Crimes Regulation, there are problems that should be addressed in appeal. Why haul him up under the FCR apparently for a crime committed outside its jurisdiction, only to convict him for allegedly colluding with Lashkar-i-Aslam instead? Media reports from Khyber Agency that deny such militant links, combined with the uproar in Washington, imply that the procedure followed and the charges filed may have been designed to keep the trial behind closed doors, keep Dr Afridi behind bars and relieve international pressure. So the validity of the conviction, and the long sentence handed down, need a close look during appeal, which will unfortunately take place behind closed doors again.

There is also the matter of a possible cut in US military aid for reasons that include the Afridi trial. It is true that the tenacity with which the Pakistani state has gone after a man who may have helped in the hunt for Osama bin Laden contrasts sharply with the lax justice meted out to many with real links to terrorism. But that is no justification for linking this matter to the aid programme. Whatever Washington’s concerns about the Afridi case, they should be discussed in that specific context. Slashing assistance in response, as one chamber of Congress voted to do on Wednesday, will simply be counterproductive. Using aid cuts as a tool to punish Pakistan only undermines the US administration’s attempts to repair relations and put them on a more stable basis. The case is an embarrassment for Pakistan, but allowing it to overshadow other features of the already fraught relationship will do anything but allow for the rebuilding of ties.

Tailor-made

OFFICIALDOM awoke from its slumber in a corner of Pakistan not to deal with trifles such as security, health or hygiene but to take on — wait for it — tailors. In Landi Kotal on Thursday the administration detained a number of tailors for ‘overcharging’ and rejecting customers’ Eid orders. As reported in this paper, the unfortunate individuals were rounded up (though later freed) when residents complained to the authorities. Understandably, the tailors’ fraternity is up in arms over the incident, complaining that long hours of loadshedding have prevented them from taking on more work and claiming that charges have only been increased ‘nominally’. The authorities’ move is bizarre; under which law can tailors be arrested for not booking orders? Besides, Ramazan is crunch time for tailors due to Eid, so perhaps the disgruntled parties should have booked early.

The misguided zeal aside, the fact is that overcharging remains a major problem in Pakistan, especially during Ramazan. While many unscrupulous traders overcharge consumers year-round, it seems profiteering is religiously adhered to during the month of fasting. A story in this paper on Friday indicated that retailers in Karachi have increased prices of many food items popular during Ramazan, making a mockery of government-notified prices. Every Ramazan the state announces packages and other moves to reduce the impact of inflation on the consumer. Yet these measures have little effect, mainly because traders ignore official price lists. Also, subsidised goods are often either unavailable or of inferior quality. What is needed is a countrywide price-control and anti-profiteering mechanism during all times of year to keep a check on the more unscrupulous elements of the market that fleece consumers. Authorities in Landi Kotal and elsewhere should consider this rather than hauling up tailors.