Editorial
Pakistan's fragile politics
A sense of direction is the crucial need
THE replacement of a key Musharraf loyalist in the Pakistan army has led to all kinds of speculation about the future of the embattled president himself. Brigadier Asim Bajwa has been commander of the 111 Brigade, a unit that has been instrumental in enforcing coups, especially in 1977 and 1999, launched by the army. His departure leaves General Musharraf, in the opinion of many, in a lonely state. Indeed, rumours are said to be floating around about the president finally deciding to call it a day. Such rumours have been fuelled by a meeting the president has had with the new army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, at army headquarters in Rawalpindi.
The problems faced by President Musharraf are but a symptom of the larger difficulties that Pakistan itself confronts politically. The new Pakistan People's Party-dominated government has already run into a blind alley with the withdrawal of Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League from what was earlier given out as a coalition. Mr. Sharif has of course promised to keep supporting the government from outside, but given the fragility of democratic politics in Pakistan it is hard to see how much longer the two sides can take the strain. At stake is the matter of the reinstatement of the judges, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court, dismissed by President Musharraf when he imposed emergency rule in November last year. Prior to the elections in February, the PPP's Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif reached a deal stipulating a reinstatement of the judges. It now appears that Zardari's enthusiasm on the deal has waned. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the Supreme Court, before the judges were sent packing, was deliberating on the legality of the amnesty granted to Zardari in earlier corruption cases by the regime. Separately, though, the court seemed determined to see the back of the president.
The complexities of the situation are only too comprehensible. On the one hand, it is a lame duck President Musharraf in office (though he still retains the power to dismiss the government). On the other, the elected civilian government is yet to get over its teething problems. Worse is the growing feeling that despite the elections Pakistanis are yet to be given a sense of direction by those who happen to govern them. It is a worry that the two largest parties in the new national assembly, the PPP and the PML (N), need to tackle urgently.
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