Time to quit Mr. Musharraf

February 18 has turned out to be a test of the popularity of the previous governmental setup led by Parvez Musharraf as well as the former general himself. Surveys released by International Republican Institute as well as other credible polling experts had predicted before the elections that Mr. Musharraf was extremely unpopular and many wanted him to quit. However, these surveys were termed as yet another conspiracy by the ‘enemies of Pakistan’ who were working under their own ‘ulterior motives’ and were ‘far from ground realities’ by Musharraf himself. However, the people of Pakistan have by and large voted against him and it should be readily accepted by him that the only hurdle towards his ‘transition to democracy’ is no other person than himself. Rejecting calls for resignation however, he has gone back on his promise to resign if he does not receive the requisite support after the February 18 elections.

It is unbelievable that such an unpopular person is still at the helm of affairs as the head of state. He could in future attempt to manipulate the mandate of the people by trying to coerce the national assembly into submission on any conceivable issue. With powers to dissolve the national assembly (yet to be confirmed by the Assembly however), a product of the will of the people, in the hands of an unpopular person makes the whole edifice of democracy illusory.

This is just the tip of the iceberg however. The looming issues of the independence of the judiciary through the reinstatement of judges of conscience who seemed to be the only fearless bread of their kind who had the courage and stature to be termed as independent is a personal issue for Mr. Musharraf who has rejected all such calls. The Pakistan Peoples Party has, post-elections, continued to assert that reinstatement is not the only option to restore the independence of the judiciary and the same can be achieved prospectively through a new system of appointment of judges in the future. Pakistan Muslim League (N) on the other hand supports the popular demand of restoring the judges which is the only option to claim that the judiciary is indeed independent.

Throughout the election campaigning and rallies, Pakistan People’s Party has made the reinstatement demand, only to back out in the wake of increased U.S. pressure on its leaders. It is no secret that the U.S. sponsored the return of late Benazir Bhutto to Pakistan and no doubt received certain assurances that Mr. Musharraf would be allowed to retain some control of state affairs. Mr. Musharraf has proved to be a tried and tested friend of the U.S. and therefore his presence on the scene is necessary to achieve the aims the U.S. has for Pakistan, especially the fate of the tribal areas which has been severely savaged by brutal battles between Pakistan Army and tribal militants. The collateral damage, which includes loss of life and destruction of many others as well as loss of habitat and an absence of a compensation or rehabilitation effort by the government, has alienated the local populace in these areas. However, the U.S. is adamant that its own interests are paramount and the ‘war on terror’ must be dealt with severely with an iron fist and any innocent blood which flows or any dwellings which are destroyed are meaningless to it.

The newly elected people, who are now leading their respective parties in the National Assembly feel differently however. They want all avenues to be explored including an effort to engage the local tribal leaders as well as the militants themselves. However, there must not be any repetition of previous cease fires which led to nothing but a strengthening of the capabilities of the militants who used the time period to reinforce their supplies as well as manpower and are now in a position to use their command and control system, which is highly sophisticated and are disciplined enough to carry out terror attacks beyond the troubled province of NWFP.

The issue of dealing with miscreants and militants is likely to be a contentious issue between Musharraf, who would dictate the U.S. line and hope for reciprocal support to hold on to power and the parliamentarians who are seasoned politicians who must be given a chance to act independent of foreign pressure and in the best of national interest, as they perceive it.

These are only some of the issues in which common ground between, on one hand, a man, who has severely lost his credibility as well as mass support and on the other a body of elected representatives who gauge the public mood better than anyone else at the moment.

Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League (N) must unite to form a strong coalition which can defeat any threat to the sovereignty of parliament as well as reverse the gains towards achieving democracy. Lawyers, as well as other segments of the society including students as well as public in general, understand the importance of the need to restore the judges to establish an independent judiciary. Leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party would be fools to believe otherwise. If the party is unable to come up to the expectations in this regard, apart from the addition of a black spot in its party charter, history would never forget this blunder. What the party must realize and understand is that the time to receive foreign dictations must come to an end. An independent foreign policy as well as domestic handling of affairs in consonance with national interest rather than external pressures would do well to unite the people of this country as well as give Pakistan a respectable place in the region.

United, the PPP and PML(N) can handle the difficult times ahead. If they cannot come together, this would benefit the ones who have long asserted that Pakistan cannot be ruled through democracy. Disagreements between politicians and mass unrest, although justified when necessary, must not be allowed to provide an opportunity for the kingmakers in Pakistan, who work behind closed doors and closely monitor signs ripe for their intervention and capitulation of the situation. If PPP and PML(N) decide to reinstate the judiciary and accept it to be unavoidable for achieving democracy, there is no power which can stop this from happening, not even those who are thousands of miles away but are most interested in the state of affairs here. For once, politics must give way to national interest and strengthening democracy through independence of the judiciary, without which democracy cannot be sustained in Pakistan.

Mr. Musharraf needs to prove that Pakistan does indeed comes first. He would go down in history with that slogan of ‘Pakistan first’ only if he makes a wise decision which does not reflect his personal interest. He would also be remembered for only the second person, after Yahya Khan to supervise free and fair elections (at least in general). He would better the record of Yahya Khan however if he were to resign as then he would have acted early enough to prevent a disaster unlike Yahya Khan who held on until it was too late. His continuation in office would do nothing to increase his popularity. Not even another 9/11 is likely to save him now. PPP must not provide the breathing space he is looking for.