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Verbal warfare RAMAZAN is usually a quiet time, and newspapers, whose staple comprises largely statements by politicians, are hard-pressed to find stuff to fill their pages. This is not because politicians have nothing to say (they always have something to say even if there is nothing to say), but because their sugar and glucose level is so low that their appetite for appearing in the press also wanes. The phenomenon, therefore, has less to do with piety than with empty stomachs. It is different with Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, who has chosen Ramazan to take a swipe at Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah. A month ago, Mr Durrani had said the Governor’s House should not become a centre of conspiracies. Last week, he met a group of reporters for an interview that clearly pointed to a fast deteriorating relationship between the two top leaders of the NWFP. What appeared to have happened was that a local daily in an interview with Governor Iftikhar Shah had asked him why the pace of work on development schemes initiated during his term as chief executive had all of a sudden gone cold. The governor’s answer: “Ask Mr Durrani.” It appears that the journalists who met with the chief minister asked him about his reaction to this. Lo and behold, unable to hold the brewing anger within, the chief minister let it out. “What is his (the governor’s) contribution?” he was said to have asked. “Widening of the Khyber Road in Peshawar and removal of some encroachments? He is trying to portray himself as the late Gen Fazle Haq. And he is taking credit for the achievements accomplished by ‘someone else’. Mr Durrani also reportedly commented on the observation made by the governor while returning the Hisba draft bill to the provincial government. Among the queries was one regarding the definition of a journalist. “As if he does not know who a journalist is” the chief minister was quoted as having said with a wry smile. Before embarking on enumerating his own achievements, the chief minister, according to those present, tried to belittle the achievements claimed by the governor in the field of education. “All he has done is to open up private schools. Anyone could have done that.” He then went on to complain how he had to pursue the promises made by President Gen Pervez Musharraf during his trip to Peshawar for the presidential referendum campaign. “The governor did nothing. Now I have to carry the files around,” Mr Durrani was stated to have said during the interview. The governor has so far chosen not to pay the CM back in the same coin. What Mr Durrani’s one-sided tirade does show is the mistrust that appears to have developed between the two. Their relationship took a downturn when the chief minister believed the governor to be responsible for the disappearance of tribal MNAs shortly before the Senate elections. So bad did things became that the chief minister ordered registration of an abduction case against the governor. Had it not been for the intervention of former chief secretary Shakeel Durrani, the province would have confronted a serious crisis. Better sense prevailed and an ugly situation was averted. Somehow, Mr Durrani has begun to believe that the governor is out to destabilize his government. There have been reports recently of a possible no-confidence move against him and attempts to buy over certain MMA MPAs. But the governor is not the only target of Mr Durrani’s ire. Federal Minister Aftab Sherpao too has been a target of criticism. Alongside these outbursts are the assurances given to the people that “our government is strong and stable.” Such statements betray the nervousness of the man whose assurances appear to be directed more at himself than at the people. If MMA MPAs are committed party workers who will not sell their souls for a few million rupees, as the chief minister wants us to believe, why should he worry? The trouble is the chief minister knows some of his colleagues are vulnerable, and some of them have put their bargaining skills to good use. The few names that have been in circulation (and mind you they are all MMA MPAs) for a possible switchover are cooing on both sides. What is that old saying — run with the hare and hunt with the hounds? They are the classical types, steadily jacking up the price tag. So if by the chief minister’s own reckoning, his government is strong then, one may ask, why does he have to expand his cabinet to rope in some of the disgruntled party MPAs? The truth of the matter is the chief minister needs to put his own house in order. The problem is more within than without. As head of a coalition government, he needs to keep his allies in good humour, which may be a difficult job given the Jamaat-i- Islami’s occasional peevish attitude. He should also start worrying about the public perception of his government whose performance over the past one year in office has not been seen as too satisfactory by the people. A verbal war is the last thing this province needs at this time. Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)
