The evolution of Asif Ali Zardari
31 Aug 2008, 0043 hrs IST,
Atul Sethi,TNN
Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sunday_Specials/Evolution_of_Asif_Ali_Zardari/articleshow/3426506.cms
Life, they say, has a habit of coming full circle. It certainly has, for Asif Ali Zardari. Perhaps that's why he's smiling a great deal. Not just because he seems poised to become Pakistan's next president and a key player in the world. He has other reasons too. Zardari has gone from being perceived as one of Pakistan's most corrupt and controversial figures to a seemingly articulate and astute politician. Eight months after the death of his wife Benazir Bhutto, the man who was said to revel in an impossible outlook and an ill-judged penchant for the high life sounds almost statesman-like.
There has been a physical transformation too. The handlebar moustache is trimmed; the dyed and gelled hair combed into a more sober style. Today's Zardari looks and sounds different from the man the world first saw when he married the Muslim world's first female head of government in 1987.
But is the metamorphosis real, or is it a carefully-cultivated makeover designed to deceive?
Those who know Zardari say his poor public image was the result of Benazir's deliberate decision to keep him away from party politics. She saw him as a political liability, says Islamabad-based political commentator Mariana Baabar. "Till Benazir was alive, Zardari wasn't much in the limelight. In fact, they had an unspoken understanding that one of them had to be with the children while they were growing up and it was Zardari who became the babysitter," she adds By that logic, today's new, improved Zardari always existed, but the world just didn't know it.
Adds Najam Sethi, editor-in-chief of the Lahore-based Daily Times, "In that sense, the real transformation of Zardari has been from playing third fiddle to Benazir all his married life, to getting all set to be the most powerful civilian president in Pakistani history, owing to a combination of unfortunate circumstances — like her assassination and its sympathetic electoral blowback."
But it is undeniable that Zardari answered the door when opportunity knocked and the rudderless PPP needed a member of the Bhutto family to steer it in the tragic aftermath after Benazir's death. Columnist Saeed Naqvi, who has covered Pakistan for decades, points out that Zardari has always been desperate for power. "Quite simply, it is a case of greatness being thrust upon an individual. The media, especially in Pakistan, built up Zardari as a statesman-like figure because the country was as desperate to taste democracy as he was eager to taste power," he says.
But, it's not just a case of being at the right place at the right time. Sethi admits Zardari is exceedingly canny. "Make no mistake. Zardari is an extremely astute politician who plays his cards close to his chest, the poker face replaced by a perennial but deadly smile. He has displayed innate political cunning to sweep aside challengers in and outside the party. He will stoop to conquer if necessary."
So, is the new Zardari the real thing? "It's difficult to trust him since he has gone back on his words so many times," says Baabar. "As for his supposed transformation, probably he has gone for an image makeover. There have been rumours that a British PR firm has been grooming him." But Sethi says it's hard to believe Zardari consulted professional image-makers. "Of course, he has got rid of his rather threatening handlebar moustache, which would have been quite inappropriate in the circumstances, and replaced it with an ashen and nondescript caterpillar across the upper lip, which has just the opposite, disarming impact. But make no mistake about it — he's as ruthless as they come where his interests are concerned," he warns.
So, who is the real Zardari? Is it the playboy Mr 10% of old, charged with every crime imaginable, ranging from murder to money laundering? Or is it the suave, articulate, political leader who calmly assumed charge after Benazir's death? "It's not an easy question to answer," says Baabar. "Over the years, there have definitely been changes in him," she says. "I remember meeting him before he went to prison and after he came out. Eight years of prison life did make a difference in his personality and to give him credit, he came across as a better person when he came out, than when he had gone in."
There are others, notably former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan G Parthasarthy, who say Zardari was always better than the way he was portrayed. Parthasarthy recalls meeting Zardari when the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited Islamabad in 1989. "I remember the PM telling me that he found Zardari to be quite a serious person, unlike the image that had been projected about him." Sethi attributes this perception to the man's natural charm. "He knows how to flatter — he can be quite charming when he wants to," he says. Baabar recalls a recent BBC interview when Zardari had the nerve to look the interviewer in the eye and tell her, "I am the cleanest politician around."
"If you didn't know his past, you would have probably believed him," she says, in a nod to Zardari's presumed histrionic ability.
Notwithstanding his past, the real test for Zardari — and positive proof of his real or faux metamorphosis from feudal upstart to wise leader of men — will come this Saturday if he's elected president and no longer has Musharraf to blame for everything, says Sethi. "He will have to prove he's different this time round and that the past was another century," he adds. Till then, the jury is out on the evolution of Asif Ali Zardari.
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