ISLAMABAD - The euphoria of becoming a hero and political martyr, at least in the party ranks, evaporated in thin air when President Asif Ali Zardari, while setting aside the reservations of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, tossed Makhdoom Shahabuddin as the party candidate for the slot of premiership.
True to the proverbial cruel game of politics, Gilani became a victim of it too early and too sharp, when his words against the candidature of Shahabuddin were laughed off by President Zardari.
The whole scheme of things indicates that more troubles and woes await the former premier in the days ahead with no visible solace and support from any quarter.
The party leadership, which was boasting around, at the time of Gilani’s conviction and execution of the imprisonment till rising of the court were nowhere in sight at the time of his disqualification as member Parliament by the same court and not even a single person came on roads anywhere in the country expect Multan, Gilani’s home town, where a bunch of his diehard supporters came on road and staged an unimpressive show in his support.
Political analysts and observers see worst days ahead for Gilani when he would be haunted by multiple corruption scandals and administrative irregularities on his part, which he would have to face all alone or along with his family and a few close aides, as in power echelons the rulers have little time to look on at events of the past.
As it is said that when sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions, many corruption scandals would be unearthed in coming days having links to Gilani one way or the other and would add to his problems, which have multiplied the day he was dethroned as the chief executive of the country.
The corruption cases implicating both of his sons - Abdul Qadir Gilani and Ali Musa Gilani - would going to be a major challenge the elder Gilani have to face. And perhaps he would not be in a position to manage these cases like he had done so in the past six to seven months when he was holding reins of power.
Just a day after his ouster from Prime Minister’s House, a non-bailable arrest warrant of Ali Musa was issued by a local court in the ephedrine case along with former health minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin and ex-secretary health Khushnood Lashari.
Similarly, it would no more possible for Gilani to manage the Haj scam case, as he has been doing so in the past due to which former religious affairs minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi was keeping mum and not uttering anything against the main culprits behind the whole affair. But how the things are going to transpire now and how seriously the party would take care of the case is hard to predict.
A former political assistant to the prime minister Mian Khurram Rasool is likely to turn out another big challenge for Gilani as he is stated to be his frontman and other family members in a number of alleged dubious deals.
It will prove quite difficult whether Gilani would be able to wield same powers after moving out of the Prime Minister’s House and facilitate the people like Khurram Rasool, currently in the custody of FIA, to keep their mouth shut as they know a lot many things about the alleged corruption of the former premier and his family members.
Political observers are of the view that Gilani has badly failed to establish himself as the political martyr, even after ruining his political career for the cause of the party and democracy, and it is expected that he would going to be landing in serious troubles due to the administrative irregularities on his part and the corruption haunting him and his family.