Gilani: Nothing left to lose

It is a bit strange to refer to Yousuf Raza Gilani as Pakistan’s longest serving prime minister. Pakistanis are not particularly enthused about him; President Asif Ali Zardari sees in him a benign face with moments of contempt; the ISI probably is less interested in him than it has ever been about anyone else; the army probably does not give him much thought.

Yet, it is this man who has been indicted for contempt of court.

In 2009, the court demanded that the government invite Switzerland to reopen corruption charges against President Asif Ali Zardari, who was accused of laundering money through Swiss banks. Gilani has refused, arguing that Zardari maintains immunity so long as he is president, and that the cases – which led to guilty findings in the 1990s – were politically motivated.

Gilani has pleaded not guilty. The question is: not guilty of protecting Zardari or not guilty in legal terms? This is interesting, for it won’t be long before the judiciary will be applauded for its independence. There is talk of the fall of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government. That is a non sequiter. It is bound to fall. Probably, this would be a good enough ruse. ‘Contemptuous’ PM, protecting illegal money of the President, making Pakistan a venal country.

President Zardari has been a protected species in the country for years, if we are to believe what we hear about monetary transgressions. It is a circuitous route to the high office and he smartly did not occupy the premier role. However, he had been exiled, so in some ways he has done his bit of penance. The politics of retribution works like a dream. The PPP’s days are numbered simply because every party has a shelf life, more so in Pakistan where the moment it is elected, the expiry date is flashed at regular intervals.

Is there a Zardari-Gilani conflict where there is a little barter to keep the latter in power if he assents to Zardari’s financial interests? The popular view is that Zardari is interested in retaining the dynasty, and until such time that Bilawal can take over, this is just one more chore for him. I think we underestimate the man’s ambitions. With his history of percentage cuts, and his rather lavish lifestyle, he has always been the poster boy of Pakistani politics. He is feudal, was married into the most prominent family, is supposedly charming in a gauche way, and is never sorry.

So, where does Gilani figure? He is the foil - a trifle less schooled in the ways of the world. Each time he speaks, and these days you do get to hear him, you imagine he has come into his own. That is the teleprompter working. Besides, these are old cases when he was not a player. Gilani has nothing to lose by contempt of court, for his position rests on such contempt. If he did not, there would be someone else doing it.

Some ministers spoke about this hearing before a seven-judge bench “with a sad heart”. No one is interested in getting back that money, it seems. It is about whether the prime minister should have tried to start corruption proceedings by getting the foreign banks to reveal such accounts. Everyone knows that the can of worms usually turns out to be empty in such cases.

PM Gilani will be fine. He did not know what hit him when he was appointed to the office, so his delicately-put statement, “If I’m convicted, then I am not supposed to be a member of the Parliament”, will be like being struck by a feather.