The recent shortage of flour and other essential items of everyday use, shortage of electricity and gas- is nothing but a sharp reminder of the ways the present regime headed by former General and Chief of Army Staff, Musharraf has failed. Perhaps if Musharraf, who was unable to restrain himself from committing every constitutional deviation known to a political theorist and adhering to the oath he solemnly pledged to stay away from political life, had provided relief to ordinary man, it would have been a consolation for an otherwise unpopular rule. Instead, in the wake of the present crises and towards the end of his non-stop marathon rule of 8 years which continues to date, we are still faced with shortage of important commodities.
The disruption of everyday life coupled with the loss of property and transport post-Benazir Bhutto assassination is conveniently being cited as an excuse to almost all such woes that ordinary citizens are being forced to deal with. If during peacetime, mass unrest for a few days can cause such crises and famine like situations, one hopes Pakistan is rescued by divine forces if God forbid Pakistan was in a state of war in future. The severe energy crises of the country as well as deficiency of food supplies speaks volumes of the inability of the state to perform the tasks that it is bound to perform as well as narrate the story of the weak position of this country.
Regarding the shortage of electricity, non-feasible and costly power agreements, entered by PPP in the past during its government is time and again cited as the reason for the electricity crises. The question is not whether such agreements with independent power producers the reason for the shortfall or not. It must be rephrased by Musharraf to himself. The question must be what he has done all these years to mitigate the effects of these alleged agreements and as to why he was caught unawares that the country would be in such a dire state and failed to encourage the necessary planning and execution.
It is strange that an act such big as abrogating the constitution becomes ‘unavoidable’ for Musharraf in order to prolong his rule in the guise of ‘necessity’ and ‘counter coup by army’ but no such urgency is deemed to be necessary when possibilities of such crises are overlooked and no end is in sight for the plight of the citizen. Since Musharraf considers himself paramount and takes credit for the so-called high growth rate that Pakistan has managed to achieve over the years in the wake of an unprecedented inflation and growing poverty, all shortcomings and crises must also be accepted by him as personal failures and the precedent of blaming past governments and personalities must be abandoned. As opposed to democratic governments which can face restraints and opposition as to the form or mode of policies for achieving economic development in the presence of a pro active parliament, Musharraf had no such obstacle and had absolute authority starting off as ‘Chief Executive Officer’ who could have engineered any policy towards economic sustainability. Instead, this was not to be so. It is imaginable that had Pakistan remained under democratic rule but for Musharraf’s coup, a meaningful parliament and a representational government would have remained focused on such real issues rather than the previous parliament which remained ineffective as it was full of a whole bunch of pro-Musharraf dummies put together by the ISI and worked as a rubber stamp of Musharraf. All forms of legislation and policy-making was controlled by a single man and the deficiencies of one-man rule are still being felt in the present crises. Although dictatorial rule has brought prosperity in the economic field for some nations but Musharraf’s inability to do so was compounded by the extra role he was expected to play in America’s so called ‘war on terror’ and remained an increasingly subvert ruler who had neither the ability nor the means to govern this country.
As if this was not enough, the recent bomb killings in Lahore are a stark reminder to the insecure environment that we are left to deal with on our own. If an inefficient police force which works under the corrupt thana culture was not enough to make the life and property of ordinary citizens insecure in a lawless state, citizens feel more insecure as bomb blasts become more frequent. The corruption and inefficiency of the police was checked by the judiciary in the past which increasingly took upon itself to fill the vacuum and reprimanded the police force, amongst other emanations of the executive, and the citizens felt relieved. There was a fear of punitive action amongst those who misused their authority for personal gains with little concern for the ordinary whose interests they were bound to protect.
It is a matter of time before critics and historians would judge Musharraf and his continued occupation of his own land as an era of grand aggrandizement by a dictator of his own kin and person. As they say history is the best judge of all. Musharraf still has the chance to go down in history as someone who did something in the end for which he can be commended and wash away some of his sins if not all of them. The starting point would be a free and fair election-something which he has already promised but like all his past promises must not remain a mere promise with no real intention to fulfill it. The best course to execute the plan would be to start off with a neutral caretaker setup and not a bunch of personal followers, as it is presently, who are shamefully aligned to the king’s party- PML(Q). That would pave the way for a truly representational government after the elections which would have the mandate of the people to support it against threats that we face today-be they economic in nature or in the shape of terrorism. To restore the dignity of the state, he must restore the judiciary to the pre-November 3 state. Otherwise, just like they say that man himself chooses his fate as he wants, Musharraf would choose to go down in history as a dictator who chose to hold on the corridors of power rather than bowing away to the will of the people and a democratic system where justice prevails and ultimate sovereignty lies with the people themselves.
The disruption of everyday life coupled with the loss of property and transport post-Benazir Bhutto assassination is conveniently being cited as an excuse to almost all such woes that ordinary citizens are being forced to deal with. If during peacetime, mass unrest for a few days can cause such crises and famine like situations, one hopes Pakistan is rescued by divine forces if God forbid Pakistan was in a state of war in future. The severe energy crises of the country as well as deficiency of food supplies speaks volumes of the inability of the state to perform the tasks that it is bound to perform as well as narrate the story of the weak position of this country.
Regarding the shortage of electricity, non-feasible and costly power agreements, entered by PPP in the past during its government is time and again cited as the reason for the electricity crises. The question is not whether such agreements with independent power producers the reason for the shortfall or not. It must be rephrased by Musharraf to himself. The question must be what he has done all these years to mitigate the effects of these alleged agreements and as to why he was caught unawares that the country would be in such a dire state and failed to encourage the necessary planning and execution.
It is strange that an act such big as abrogating the constitution becomes ‘unavoidable’ for Musharraf in order to prolong his rule in the guise of ‘necessity’ and ‘counter coup by army’ but no such urgency is deemed to be necessary when possibilities of such crises are overlooked and no end is in sight for the plight of the citizen. Since Musharraf considers himself paramount and takes credit for the so-called high growth rate that Pakistan has managed to achieve over the years in the wake of an unprecedented inflation and growing poverty, all shortcomings and crises must also be accepted by him as personal failures and the precedent of blaming past governments and personalities must be abandoned. As opposed to democratic governments which can face restraints and opposition as to the form or mode of policies for achieving economic development in the presence of a pro active parliament, Musharraf had no such obstacle and had absolute authority starting off as ‘Chief Executive Officer’ who could have engineered any policy towards economic sustainability. Instead, this was not to be so. It is imaginable that had Pakistan remained under democratic rule but for Musharraf’s coup, a meaningful parliament and a representational government would have remained focused on such real issues rather than the previous parliament which remained ineffective as it was full of a whole bunch of pro-Musharraf dummies put together by the ISI and worked as a rubber stamp of Musharraf. All forms of legislation and policy-making was controlled by a single man and the deficiencies of one-man rule are still being felt in the present crises. Although dictatorial rule has brought prosperity in the economic field for some nations but Musharraf’s inability to do so was compounded by the extra role he was expected to play in America’s so called ‘war on terror’ and remained an increasingly subvert ruler who had neither the ability nor the means to govern this country.
As if this was not enough, the recent bomb killings in Lahore are a stark reminder to the insecure environment that we are left to deal with on our own. If an inefficient police force which works under the corrupt thana culture was not enough to make the life and property of ordinary citizens insecure in a lawless state, citizens feel more insecure as bomb blasts become more frequent. The corruption and inefficiency of the police was checked by the judiciary in the past which increasingly took upon itself to fill the vacuum and reprimanded the police force, amongst other emanations of the executive, and the citizens felt relieved. There was a fear of punitive action amongst those who misused their authority for personal gains with little concern for the ordinary whose interests they were bound to protect.
It is a matter of time before critics and historians would judge Musharraf and his continued occupation of his own land as an era of grand aggrandizement by a dictator of his own kin and person. As they say history is the best judge of all. Musharraf still has the chance to go down in history as someone who did something in the end for which he can be commended and wash away some of his sins if not all of them. The starting point would be a free and fair election-something which he has already promised but like all his past promises must not remain a mere promise with no real intention to fulfill it. The best course to execute the plan would be to start off with a neutral caretaker setup and not a bunch of personal followers, as it is presently, who are shamefully aligned to the king’s party- PML(Q). That would pave the way for a truly representational government after the elections which would have the mandate of the people to support it against threats that we face today-be they economic in nature or in the shape of terrorism. To restore the dignity of the state, he must restore the judiciary to the pre-November 3 state. Otherwise, just like they say that man himself chooses his fate as he wants, Musharraf would choose to go down in history as a dictator who chose to hold on the corridors of power rather than bowing away to the will of the people and a democratic system where justice prevails and ultimate sovereignty lies with the people themselves.
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