THE acid test of a person’s character is to see how he behaves in a position of authority.

Does he allow power to go to his head, and become arrogant and pompous? Or does he maintain an even keel? Over the years, many among my friends and acquaintances have risen to positions where they wielded considerable authority.

I am glad to report that most of them behaved well, and remained unaffected by the trappings of power.

However, others did not pass the ‘power test’: I was saddened to see a front-page headline in a local newspaper the other day that proclaimed “Memon warns ex-servicemen, media to behave”. Quoting an independent television channel, the newspaper went on to inform us that “Caretaker Federal Information Minister and Broadcasting Nisar Memon has asked ex-servicemen and media to remain within their limits, otherwise action would be taken against them…”

I have known Nisar for a number of years, and although he is not a close friend, he is somebody I respected. He ran the IBM operation in Pakistan for a long time before entering public life. Although he was elected to the Senate under Musharraf, I did not hold that against him.

But considering he is a caretaker minister, I fail to see why he has taken it upon himself to defend Musharraf to the point of saying, according to the statement attributed to him and not denied anywhere: “President Musharraf was elected with a heavy mandate and unelected ex-servicemen were polluting the environment of free elections through their irresponsible statements.”

Elected by a heavy mandate? Excuse me, Nisar? My recollection of that disgraceful electoral exercise is slightly different. What actually happened was that Musharraf was rubber-stamped by an assembly in its dying days, contrary to the law and logic. The opposition either boycotted the proceedings or did not cast their ballots. The proceedings were challenged, and the Supreme Court was due to give a verdict when Musharraf mounted his coup of Nov 3, dismissing most of the higher judiciary. The offending statement issued by ex-servicemen was the demand made by them for Musharraf to leave the scene. This is hardly ‘irresponsible’. Indeed, the only thing these ex-officers can be faulted with is not having had the courage to raise this issue much earlier. But unfortunately, generals usually see the virtues of democracy after they have taken off their uniforms.

Often, the line between the merely comical and the positively evil is a fine one, and Nisar Memon crossed it when in response to a question, he called ‘deposed and detained’ Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry a ‘security risk’. He went on to say that the judge would remain under ‘protection’ until he gave an assurance that he would not create security problems.

Clearly, Nisar Memon’s definition of a security risk is very different from the generally accepted meaning of the term. Normally, it refers to a person who represents a risk to a country’s security, and therefore has to be locked up. In this case, the only risk Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry represents is to Musharraf’s grip on power.

Echoing his master’s disconnect with reality, the minister said that “the foreign visit of President Musharraf was successful”. Having observed the fallout of this recent trip from London, I can only say that Nisar Memon’s interpretation of ‘success’ is very different from mine. In fact, the western media were generally appalled by much of what Musharraf said about the judiciary and democracy in Pakistan.

The question to ask is why perfectly decent people allow their sense of judgment and plain commonsense to be suspended during the period they exercise power. For an unelected caretaker minister who is in office for a brief stint, in particular, the first rule is to stay neutral. But here is the information minister, making blatantly pro-Musharraf (and therefore pro-PML-Q) statements.

What can he hope to achieve by hectoring the ex-servicemen and the media? When he threatened to close down any TV channel that violated the code of conduct, what did he think he was achieving? Surely he does not have expectations of high office in the next dispensation?

My intention here is not to launch a personal attack on Nisar Memon who, after all, is a very minor player. Basically, I am trying to examine the whole phenomenon of power, and why it is such an intoxicating brew. The ‘high’ it delivers is universal, but in established democracies, the worst excesses of power-drunk people are limited by societal and institutional constraints.

I suspect one reason those exercising authority feel they can throw their weight around is that they are insecure, and use their positions as substitutes for personality. These same individuals, once removed from their office, become deflated, sad figures with no role left to play. And this is why they cling so desperately to their positions. Bureaucrats and generals are prime examples of this category, pathetic in their attempts to secure an extension to their careers as they approach the mandatory retirement age.

Politicians, as we all know, live forever, except the good ones who die too early. Many of them are in politics despite the fact they have never been elected, and these peripheral characters assume the air of popular leaders, making statements as thought they were speaking for the whole country. To remain in the limelight, these worthies make every attempt to suck up to those who exercise real power, whether they are generals, or, for brief periods, elected leaders.

In backward countries like Pakistan, where even the basics are bounties to be accorded by the state, those who need everyday things like electricity connections and roads look to people in authority for help. These intermediaries, due to their access to the government of the day, get an inflated idea of their worth and their importance. Understandably, this goes to their head.

Clearly, the relationship between power and those who exercise it is complex and complicated. But as the current dispensation is about to be replaced by another one, hopefully for the better, I would like to urge the new players to try and retain their equilibrium.