Opinion

Pakistan: From Crisis to Crisis
By Dr. Nazir Khaja
Los Angeles, CA

The decision by President Pervez Musharraf to resign comes at a time when Pakistan is facing enormous internal turmoil and external threat. Civilian rule in Pakistan has never taken root. The ineptness and the corruptness of civilian leaders leading to repeated military takeovers have left Pakistan bankrupt both politically and economically.
It is against this background of blinding ambition, political turmoil and grinding poverty of the masses that that the people in Pakistan are being made to witness the drama in Pakistan. Notwithstanding the election cycles in which Pakistanis` go through the voting exercise it is important to note that the people of Pakistan all along have been innocent by-standers in their own history.
This is because the basic requirements for a functioning democracy remain unobtainable in Pakistan because of mass illiteracy and a deeply rooted feudal culture compounded by religious extremism. Any acts of commission in which the masses get involved is hardly on the basis of informed choice. Through coercion and manipulation of these impoverished and partly illiterate masses, consent is manufactured or staged by the ruling elite who have enormous control on the day-to-day survival of the poor who constitute the majority in Pakistan. Sadly for the people hope has long been replaced by apathy and despair.
The charge against Musharraf of violation of Pakistan’s constitution is interesting. It is insightful to remember that after a very difficult birth, Pakistan’s constitution has been toyed with by everyone who has held the reins of power in the country. Therefore this is nothing new.
“The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft entered with the bones”, said Shakespeare. Musharraf`s own record is no worse than any one else’s who has ruled Pakistan; in fact his claim of economic growth of 7 and increase in foreign investment during his tenure need to be acknowledged. Despite the charges Musharraf’`s cardinal flaw is not corruption or nepotism and neither is it amassing of wealth like others, but his singular fault which he shares with all other dictators is his own conviction of infallibility.
Mostly because of this and partly under pressure from outside and bad advice he ended up making some key judgmental errors. Ironically both had to do with the question of justice in the general sense. On the one hand he fired the Chief Justice and under a false illusion and pressure from US he chose to forgive Benazir and all others who had grievously hurt Pakistan by their acts of commission and omission. In Mandela’s footsteps he decided to enact the NRO or reconciliation and forgiveness for all He completely overlooked the fact that in Mandela’s formulation of Truth and Reconciliation, Truth implied open acknowledgement by all who wanted to be a part of the process to confess to their role or at least acknowledge. As much as the present and past generation in Pakistan is burdened by these very people’s dishonesty, it appears that by this action of Musharraf, the entire future of Pakistan is going to have to struggle under this burden
Musharraf’s stepping down as army chief on Nov. 28, 2007, and his regime’s replacement with a weak (albeit democratically elected) government that has come to power in Feb. 18 elections have not made anything better for Pakistan and its` people. The ruling coalition is mainly held together not because of any higher cause or purpose such as the greater good of the country or to genuinely serve the people of Pakistan, but mainly due to their common enmity of Musharraf. They have neither been able to forge an agenda nor a consensus.
Musharraf’s nemesis or the Coalition government has been ruling now close to six months; their record since being in office is worse than any previous governments` in Pakistan’s history; for this also they blame Musharraf and the previous government..
It is expected that now that Musharraf will no longer be the whipping boy for the coalition partners who have deep-rooted enmities they will be in each others` face. The priorities of the people of Pakistan will likely remain unattended.
The new government may have gotten some room to exercise its power more freely yet judging from their past performance and their own internal bickering there is very little room for optimism that real progress towards democracy and genuine empowerment of the people and not just the elite will be achieved.
It seems therefore that Musharraf’s decision to resign has effectively pushed the country into uncharted territory. His exit temporarily may generate the euphoria and expectations yet Pakistan’s domestic political instability will not abate. It remains an open question whether the Pakistani state can hold together in its present form.
With the country facing a growing crisis within, and the threat of Jihadist insurgency in the border areas his resignation could lead to increased tensions between the two main partners in the coalition government to come to policy decisions regarding these matters.
The army remains the true guarantor of the Pakistani state and will want to maintain its power of oversight. Ending the repetitive cycles or army rule has been the genuine aspiration for Pakistan and the recent elections could be the start of that beginning. The recent failed attempt of the coalition government to transfer the ISI from the army to the civilian control speaks of the possibility of potential tug of war between the army the government.
There are some hopeful signs yet. This time it seems that the army Chief Gen. Kayani is trying to steer the army away from the paroxysms of power. If he remains committed to this then hopefully there will be a new beginning despite the weakness of the government; this may lead to constitutional processes being reestablished. With the army’s help to maintain law and order and safety despite the likelihood of failure of a couple of successive governments and repeated cycle of voting and elections, in the end hopefully a responsible peoples` government will emerge, transparent and accountable.
The people of Pakistan not only deserve this as much but must demand it from those who now have come to rule them.

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