Editorial
Parvez Musharraf's civilian facade
Political uncertainty looms over Pakistan
Parvez Musharraf has finally hung his military uniform to add a civilian touch to his second term in office as the president of an embattled Pakistan. Discernibly it was a move to appease his opponents at home and abroad, while he maintained his political power. Musharraf gave an emotion-charged speech after taking oath when he vowed general elections on January 8 and lifting of emergency on December 16. But the international community did not perhaps fail to notice that underneath his civilian clothes he remained as rhetorical as before, all the time refusing to acknowledge the slogans and clashes on the streets of Pakistan. In a brazen show of self-importance, he called his standing down from the army top post and taking oath as the civilian president as a "milestone in Pakistan's transition to democracy." He went on to boast that the January elections would go ahead "come hail or high water."
We feel that such oratory has come too early in the day, because he may have to fight many more battles in the days to come. But the pertinent question is - will the civilian rule of Musharraf solve the deep-rooted socio-political problems that have been mounting in the country since he had seized power in a coup in 1999? Most likely it will not. His government lacked transparency and credibility from the very beginning and the way he dealt with the political party leaders made it clear that he wanted to have his way in running the country like a classic dictator, and to attain his goal he cared little what he trampled under his feet. We watched with great uneasiness how he played around with many of the institutions that play a role in ensuring people's rights and good governance. It is still fresh in memory how he maltreated the highest judiciary of the country and the Chief Justice himself. It was perhaps misdemeanor of the worst kind.
In the perilous game of politics in a developing country like Pakistan it is the common people who pay the highest price, in terms of life and property, hence our sympathy lies with them. They deserve to have a democratically elected government that would devote more time in listening to and solving their basic problems. So far President Musharraf has shown that he can go to any length, destroy any institution and take any step to keep himself in power. He is under the illusion that forcing himself as president on Pakistan under a legal cover, however flimsy, will automatically give him power to rule. He lacks the vital moral authority of a leader elected freely and fairly.
We are worried that in the tussle for power between various forces in the coming years the obscurantist elements in Pakistan will get space to proliferate and come out the ultimate victors. That surely would upset peace and tranquility in the entire region. Pakistan, regrettably, is entering another period of political uncertainly.
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