Agent Provocateur Like in earlier writings, I maintain that when our President is made a butt of extreme criticism, it is the whole nation, apart from the prestigious office that he holds, who is embarrassed. The much trumpeted concept of democracy, that has unwittingly placed him in that high office, also gets a beating. While most of us had decided that we will go forth until 2013 without rocking the fragile boat of democracy that had been put together with such hope and expectations, it is the President himself who is his own worst enemy. Can you really blame the boys in khaki, ex or otherwise, if they snigger and say hoar chuppo under their breaths but not in anyones hearing of course. A PR disaster of this magnitude has all the likelihoods of becoming a case study for future political scientists. There seem to be fault lines within the PPP, their allies in power and the different institutions of the country. I do not think the President gives much weightage to anybody or anything. Otherwise, some minister, ally or institution might have prevailed upon him to give the trip to Britain a miss for this particular time. As far as President Zardari is concerned, the case of the trip to the UK got more and more jinxed with every passing day since the inopportune remarks made against Pakistan by the British PM. An insult to injury was added because they were, most undiplomatically, made in India. Who, better than the British, would know our relationship with the Indians over the last 63 years? Who would understand, better than the British, why festering issues linger between us? Just the remarks alone were enough to delay the visit, had it been other heads of state. The worst floods in our history further compounded the problem. Against all better sense and much like a spoilt child, the President remained undeterred about his visit to the UK. The British media has done some plain speaking too, that being the latest British policy on all fronts. The forgotten title of Mr Ten Percent was raked up again and the Presidents whole track record was revisited and refreshed. The helicopter ride to his fathers chteau in France disclosed to the bewildered and flood-hit Pakistanis that their President was even more comfortably off than they thought possible. When voices were raised to ask how much the expense on this visit was coming to, someone at our High Commission in London sent out a press release. It charmingly disclosed that the Presidents entourage was to stay at the cheapest five-star hotel to curtail expenses The cheapest (sic) five-star hotel, according to a London based Pakistani journalist, is one which overlooks Queen Victorias palace (jo malika Victoria kai aangan mai khulta hai). Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the Pakistani origin Conservative Party chair, contrary to expectations, (et tu, Brutus?) defended the British Prime Ministers undiplomatic remarks against Pakistan and said that relationships between countries should be rooted in honesty and mutual respect and it is absurd to deny that Pakistan has a problem with extremism and terror inside its country. The bid to educate the British PM by our President has gone awry and the critical situation at home does not give him any advantage to do so either. The visit has also brought into focus the 'dynastic democrat Bilawal Zardari. Just 21 and not quite ready to slide into the gaddi of his famous mother and maternal grandfather. While everyone wishes him success in politics if he chooses to make it his career, a line must be drawn between gaddi nashins or direct descendents of religious saints and the hardcore, tough business of running for elections and being in power. The whole idea of not having elections within political parties and passing on the mantle of leadership in a party to direct heirs of those who founded the party is extremely non-democratic in its essence. It is certainly not going to be our fate to be ruled by the offspring of all our political leaders. As the quote goes: You can fool some of the people most of the time and most of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time The time for all of the people all of the time has arrived at last. While it was sad to note that none of the party stalwarts were available to defend or explain President Zardaris attitude and mindset, probably because the position was indefensible, two of his women aides did made feeble attempts. Fauzia Wahab, who screams when she does not have a proper response, and Farahnaz Isphahani, who is compelled to tell everyone every time that she has worked for CNN and ABC etc. Farahnaz lashed out at a TV anchor when he showed clips of people on the streets opining on the Zardari visit to England. You should be ashamed of yourself because you have shown one-sided views, she said. She had no answer when the anchor said: We did not find any other opinion. Postscript: As it continues to rain, the common Pakistani gets more and more inundated with problems. The widespread devastation will need a Herculean effort to be surmounted. Across all provinces, people are trying to help each other and to do all that is possible to help themselves too. The holy month of Ramadan is only a few days away. One is reminded of the huge calamity of the earthquake that hit us in 2005 and also the fact that it was the month of Ramadan then too. May we overcome this time too I saw a well known TV newscaster break into tears as he tried to relate the story of a flood affected woman. The picture remains imprinted on my brain. The writer is a freelance columnist. Email: tallatazim@yahoo.com