Dawn Editorial 4 March 2021
Senate upset
THE Senate election results have delivered a stunning blow to the PTI. While the ruling party has seen an increase in its overall Senate numbers, the control of the upper house remains with the opposition parties — a development which is viewed by many as a much-needed victory for the PDM. The key Islamabad seat, which saw a battle between the PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gilani and Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, has been the defining moment of this election with significant symbolic and practical consequences. With 169 votes, Mr Gilani defeated Mr Sheikh who got 164 votes — a shortfall that not only has shaken the PTI’s confidence but which also warrants introspection within the party.
Predictably, elements in the government have already started the conversation about Mr Gilani’s disqualification, based on the leak of a controversial video which shows his son Ali Haider Gilani instructing someone on how to waste a Senate vote. Though the video is a dramatic last-minute twist to the Senate election saga, it is very much in keeping with the season of horse-trading, vote-buying, threats and engineering that haunt every upper house poll — a continuation of an unsavoury tradition that favours personal gain over party stance. While there may be some truth to the allegations of horse-trading in the Gilani-Sheikh upset, the unscrupulous deal-making on Senate seats is not something restricted to any one party.
The PTI must seriously reflect on how a seat Prime Minister Imran Khan himself was so confident about was lost. It is entirely possible that elements in the PTI, who make no secret about their grudges against non-elected position holders, defected to thwart the possibility of a cabinet dominated by technocrats. Time and again, there have been reports of factions in the PTI that have worked against each other, to the extent that some have been accused of engineering sackings and cabinet reshuffles. The ‘unelected versus elected’ guard in the PTI has been at war since the beginning of this government — a reality ignored by Mr Khan who placed his trust in unelected individuals. Today, those rifts in the party have come to the fore. The PTI will pay a heavy price for it, as it appears it will have to find a new finance minister at a time when the economy needs stability. No doubt, this seat is a huge symbolic victory for the opposition, and the new composition in the Senate will set the tone for the future of political discourse in the country. For all its bravado ahead of the Senate election, the government’s desperate push to have an open ballot perhaps was one indication that it feared the upset that was witnessed yesterday. One thing is certain: the Gilani victory will haunt the PTI for a long time — even if the prime minister goes for a vote of confidence in parliament.
ME ‘security pact’
THERE has been an overflowing of bonhomie between the Gulf Arabs and Israel over the past few months, much of it engineered by the Trump administration. It was barely a secret that Tel Aviv and the sheikhdoms had been enjoying clandestine relations for some time, and last year’s so-called Abraham Accords, brokered by the US, saw relations established between Israel and the UAE and later Bahrain.
While the parties involved — the US, Israel and the Gulf sheikhs — gushed over the prospects of ‘peace’, more critical voices said the Palestinians had been thrown under the bus by their Arab ‘brothers’. Moreover, it was said that the alliance was basically being formulated to counter Iran, a country both the Israelis and their Gulf allies consider their arch-nemesis.
Now, it appears these suspicions are being confirmed, as the outlines of a military alliance between the Israelis and the Gulf potentates is shaping up. Talking to the media on Tuesday, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said that while it would not be right to term it a “defence pact”, there is a process under way of “setting up [a] special security arrangement” between Israel and its friends in the Gulf.
While the Gulf states — and indeed any other states within the Muslim world — are free to choose their friends and enemies, forming alliances to counter any member of the Islamic comity of nations is a matter of grave concern. Already Iran and Israel have been fighting a proxy war in Lebanon and Syria; now, as Israel has established an official toehold in the Gulf, the situation is likely to escalate.
An Israeli-owned vessel was recently attacked in the Gulf of Oman, an attack Tel Aviv blamed on Tehran, which denied involvement. Moreover, the Israelis have regularly been targeting Iranians and their allied militias in Syria. Should this confrontation spill over into the Gulf — Iran has said it will target US bases in the region if attacked — the results would be catastrophic.
Instead of joining controversial military alliances that will disturb the balance of power in the region, the Gulf Arabs need to resolve their differences with Iran at the negotiating table, while Tehran should also respond positively to Arab concerns. Moreover, Israel must refrain from taking any provocative steps. The Arabs and Iranians must not fall into a trap as they will be the primary sufferers in case of conflict as outsiders watch.
Students’ protest
A GROUP of university students in Karachi and Hyderabad caught the media’s attention when they announced a 100-hour-long hunger strike outside the press clubs of both cities. The students are affiliated with a small group that calls itself the Sindh Students Council, comprising mostly university students. According to them, their hunger strike will end today ie March 4, a date they remember as relevant to the Sindh students’ struggle against the dictatorship of Ayub Khan. Their demands include the restoration of student unions, provision of adequate facilities such as hostels and eviction of the security forces from university campuses. Additionally, their demand for checking ‘fake’ students’ domiciles in Sindh may create the impression of nationalistic aspirations but the issue of falsified documentation has been of concern and must be addressed to ensure that the process of granting domiciles does not entail any kind of unscrupulous tactic.
Meanwhile, it is a pity that there seems to be no move to revive the defunct students’ unions. University campuses must be avenues for the intellectual and ideological grooming of young men and women to allow them to be part of a vibrant political discourse. These unions also play a key role in resolving day-to-day student issues and can guard students against the unsavoury influence of those holding obscurantist and narrow-minded beliefs. The platform of unions is also considered an equaliser of sorts, making it easier for students from modest backgrounds to enter politics in a country with dynastic traditions. Though several governments, including the present dispensation, have declared their intention to revoke the Zia-era ban on student unions, none have actually acted on their promise. In fact, not too long ago, the incumbent rulers displayed an authoritarian streak by registering cases against student activists, not unlike the 1960s when Ayub Khan’s government unleashed the state’s force on protesting students. The authorities, instead of suppressing the voices of young people, should listen to them. Dissent only grows when voices are silenced.
