| ! Nothing succeeds like success, however simulated, and at the moment two persons - President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz - are savouring their own personal brand of success. Never before since 1999, when they first began their collaboration in the governance of Pakistan, have they appeared almost at par – as equals - as they did during the Donors' conference held in Islamabad on 19 November. They were no longer performing the roles of a military president attended by his lackey civilian prime minister. Instead, they sat next to each other on the same podium, sharing the stage with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. |
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The President and the Prime Minister, who had boasted not too long ago that they had broken the begging bowl and would never need to rely on foreign help or aid, were now welcoming charity from relays of donors. This was begging with panache. Each donor country came with its offerings - some small, some large, some with outright gifts, some with grants in aid, some containing the hidden sting of repayable loans. By the evening, commitments in excess of $ 6 billion had been piled up, $ 3.98 bn. in loans and $2.29 bn in grants. [EXTRACT]
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| Published in DAWN 8 Dec. 2005, and reprinted in WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE & OTHER WRITINGS (2006). |
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