Great revelations in this book.
The book is filled with palace intrigues and power games in Pakistani politics. Former friends ditching old friends for new ones, relationships breaking due to assumed personal slights, grudges due to flippant remarks exploited by willing sycophants, and professional flatterers and go-betweens archiving high office, in short the political arena of Pakistan is exactly like a children's playground without any adult supervision.
Most Pakistani politicians are in politics due to their privileged contacts not ideologies. There is little merit and a lot of opportunism, that is primarily the reason why most of them are easily played by army generals who have risen on merit. That makes sense as Pakistan Army is run on democratic principles where anyone can rise to the top slot regardless to caste or creed.
The book is filled with political gems like when referring to Farouq Leghari's dismissal of Benazir's PPP government in the 90's, the author makes the following very astute point, how could Leghari choose to retain office after dismissing the corrupt government of PPP when he was put in office by the support of exactly same 'corrupt' people?
The book is filled with a number of revelations like, how was the expatriation deal brokered between Nawaz Sharif and Musharaf, the freezing of foreign currency accounts, did Nawaz know about Kargil or not, how PPP Patriots group got formed, secret negotiations between Musharraf and Amin Fahim which were vetoed by Benazir, the list is endless.
Asif Ali Zardari's interview provided the most be benefit from Benazir's killing. It seemed Zardari had realised that the establishment could not do any deals with an untrusting Benazir, this making her a liability not asset in the quest to power. It also appears that there was a power tiff between Zardari and Benazir, after all which relationship is complete without friction? Only in this case its core was power and prestige.
One of favourite interviews was with Ex-PM Jamali taken right after his forced resignation. Consider the following nugget from Jamali sahib, there are three types of politics, power politics, surprise politics and acquired politics. I will wait for his book for a proper explanation of these subtle types. But the other observation was very acute, a politician has three three types of friends, college/university, political career and jail. Never trust the friends acquired during political career.
Unfortunately for Pakistan, the worst personality interviews for me was the current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by a long stretch. With his street philosophy and untrustful attitude he seemed unsure of his every move, even to the extent of not sitting alone for his own bloody interview!! Maybe he takes a couple of advisers to the toilet as well, lest he does something wrong? It is like the village idiot had been made the head of the country and could not actually believe the sanity of everyone around him. Were they actually serious or were they trying to pull his leg as always and worst of all, when would the game be finally up. Poor Nawaz Sharif looked completely bereft of any close friends but had millions political acquaintances who like sawdust fly away with the changing wind. Klasra's description of Nawaz Sharif's first 'coming home from exile' trip is a must read. He has captured all the drama in a very captivating manner.
How many years does it take to become a successful politician in Pakistan? After 20 years, according to the god father of Pakistani politics Pir Pagaro. And what certifies him as a successful politician? When he learns to use others to gain political benefits instead of using himself. Kia baat hei.
The best interview and profile is kept for the last and that is Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's profile by Aurina flossy conducted when he was president of Pakistan in the seventies. Bhutto comes across as a true people's person and a leader of men, someone the current leadership can hope to aspire from. I suspect that is precisely the reason why Klasra has included this particular interview in the last of this wonderful book.
The book is filled with palace intrigues and power games in Pakistani politics. Former friends ditching old friends for new ones, relationships breaking due to assumed personal slights, grudges due to flippant remarks exploited by willing sycophants, and professional flatterers and go-betweens archiving high office, in short the political arena of Pakistan is exactly like a children's playground without any adult supervision.
Most Pakistani politicians are in politics due to their privileged contacts not ideologies. There is little merit and a lot of opportunism, that is primarily the reason why most of them are easily played by army generals who have risen on merit. That makes sense as Pakistan Army is run on democratic principles where anyone can rise to the top slot regardless to caste or creed.
The book is filled with political gems like when referring to Farouq Leghari's dismissal of Benazir's PPP government in the 90's, the author makes the following very astute point, how could Leghari choose to retain office after dismissing the corrupt government of PPP when he was put in office by the support of exactly same 'corrupt' people?
The book is filled with a number of revelations like, how was the expatriation deal brokered between Nawaz Sharif and Musharaf, the freezing of foreign currency accounts, did Nawaz know about Kargil or not, how PPP Patriots group got formed, secret negotiations between Musharraf and Amin Fahim which were vetoed by Benazir, the list is endless.
Asif Ali Zardari's interview provided the most be benefit from Benazir's killing. It seemed Zardari had realised that the establishment could not do any deals with an untrusting Benazir, this making her a liability not asset in the quest to power. It also appears that there was a power tiff between Zardari and Benazir, after all which relationship is complete without friction? Only in this case its core was power and prestige.
One of favourite interviews was with Ex-PM Jamali taken right after his forced resignation. Consider the following nugget from Jamali sahib, there are three types of politics, power politics, surprise politics and acquired politics. I will wait for his book for a proper explanation of these subtle types. But the other observation was very acute, a politician has three three types of friends, college/university, political career and jail. Never trust the friends acquired during political career.
Unfortunately for Pakistan, the worst personality interviews for me was the current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by a long stretch. With his street philosophy and untrustful attitude he seemed unsure of his every move, even to the extent of not sitting alone for his own bloody interview!! Maybe he takes a couple of advisers to the toilet as well, lest he does something wrong? It is like the village idiot had been made the head of the country and could not actually believe the sanity of everyone around him. Were they actually serious or were they trying to pull his leg as always and worst of all, when would the game be finally up. Poor Nawaz Sharif looked completely bereft of any close friends but had millions political acquaintances who like sawdust fly away with the changing wind. Klasra's description of Nawaz Sharif's first 'coming home from exile' trip is a must read. He has captured all the drama in a very captivating manner.
How many years does it take to become a successful politician in Pakistan? After 20 years, according to the god father of Pakistani politics Pir Pagaro. And what certifies him as a successful politician? When he learns to use others to gain political benefits instead of using himself. Kia baat hei.
The best interview and profile is kept for the last and that is Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's profile by Aurina flossy conducted when he was president of Pakistan in the seventies. Bhutto comes across as a true people's person and a leader of men, someone the current leadership can hope to aspire from. I suspect that is precisely the reason why Klasra has included this particular interview in the last of this wonderful book.
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