In focus: Pakistan
The common statement that is circulated is ‘Musharraf has done it again’, within and outside Pakistan. International criticism has turned it’s eye towards the nation and it’s dictator of 8 years Pervez Musharraf. Interestingly enough, with all the internal and international pressure on him, he has been forced to call off the restraining orders on the Chief Justice, however he has yet to lift the state of emergency, which from his press conference on Sunday the 11th of November is well into its first week and showing no signs of being lifted! Musharraf’s defense has all the skeptics raising their eyebrows and hopeful idealists shaking their heads. How can emergency laws be a facilitator for the formation of democracy within a country?
In his statement to the press regarding the ‘emergency decree’ he defends this action as a necessity taking into consideration the ‘ground situation’ which has come about through Pakistan’s involvement in the war on terrorism. Yet, though it becomes clear that he has explained it as a measure to maintain law and order it also becomes inexplicably clear that holding a ‘free and fair’ election under these circumstances is a dubious affair. But the question that should have been asked by many from the very beginning is why should a dictator be worried in securing democracy within his country? Surely he could continue a dictatorship (we have more than one example to look at within the South Asian region itself) even with all the opposition in his country as after all he is a military man (the basis of the supreme court to contest the winning of elections being the very same; that he shouldn’t be standing for elections in his uniform in the first place). So does this mean that the man with the stick is maybe after all on another agenda?
The major debates consist of how far Musharraf has become the puppet for the United States. When he took the restraining orders off the Chief Justice after an important request made from Bush himself, it just seemed to reinforce the fears of idealist and convince the extremists and Islamic fundamentalist that he is going to continue to pay such lip service to the Western Powers. But we must also take into consideration that extreme forces are building up within Pakistan. The formation of Pakistan is both diverse and complex. For over two decades Pakistan has had an influx of refugees from Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Chechnya at various if not simultaneous time frames. The unique Tribal form of governance in the Border States that separate Pakistan and Afghanistan has made it even more important that government separately identify the tribes and their armed forces that are loyal to the Government of Pakistan from the mercenaries that infiltrate these borders from Afghanistan. The very mercenaries trained and sent in by The United States to combat Russia (ironic isn’t it?) that then coalesced with the Taliban and Al-Qaida.
The fundamental extremists are susceptible to be won over by these elements as they are in fact in favour of a rule established on the Holy Koran (under their interpretations), which they see is threatened by the democracy which Musharraf seems to promise. Already terrorist elements have spread into the Northern and Southern frontiers. It becomes vital that they deal with this if there are any intentions of bringing democracy. In the history of Pakistan the Army and mullahs have always gone hand in hand, one sustaining the other, and now, there seems to have arisen a deep rift between the two powers. What is preventing Musharraf from actually coming to a deal with the religious parties instead of antagonizing them? Surely he could still try to maintain a balance between them and the Western Powers. Their suspicions would have been curbed had some sort of power balance been settled, but instead Musharraf still wants to be identified separate from them. Yet he is under constant flak from liberals at the same time, for being either a collaborating force with the Mullahs or siding with the United States. Musharraf has only made this picture more complex by bringing Bhutto back. It is obvious that he is trying to maintain his status quo throughout all these political intrigues, but the question is how dedicated is he to bringing democracy to Pakistan and how far will he go to ensure that it happens under his leadership.
The fact of the matter is no matter how ‘good’ Musharraf maybe, he still remains a dictator, a man who was not elected by his people through any election and that for many is impossible to accept. Musharraf claims that he is indeed facilitating a democratic awareness and changes from the grass-roots. . It is in ‘Pakistan’s interests’ to eliminate extremism at the source. And for all these aims to be realized what he asks is “please give us time” (address to the nation after declaring emergency). His request remains to the critiques and idealists is ‘not to expect or demand your level of democracy which you learned over centuries”. It is true that for real democracy to evolve in any new nation it takes time. And it has to be contextualized. Musharraf has had 8 years already and still he is trying to balance the various powers within his country and battle poverty, a key obstacle to the people of a country to function democratically. And even if his intentions were genuine he is still surrounded by corrupt politician who are in the end the central manipulators. So how does he hope to overcome these various challenges? Questions which (for now) only time can answer.
However, in the end no matter how much international scrutiny there is, it is up to the people of Pakistan to decide what they want. Democracy is in simple terms the will of the majority. So do they want a democracy or dictatorship and can such a unanimous voice be heard in a population where more than 70% live in rural areas under severe strains of poverty. There is also another more deadly question, what if Musharraf never was able to land his plane on that fateful night in September 1999 when then Prime Minister Navaz Sherif tried to establish an Islamic take over. What if there was no military coup? What Pakistan would we have on our maps now? And if indeed now Musharraf is ruled against contesting in his uniform, what viable options does Pakistan really have.
