No Government Can Survive without Army’s Backing
By Salahuddin Haider
Karachi, Pakistan
Saying that the present government has failed miserably, and a complete overhaul of the political system is now needed , former President General (r) Pervez Musharraf made it abundantly plain last Thursday that an army-backed administration with judicial validation alone can pull the country out of the morass it has been trapped in. It is also necessary to ensure good governance.
He also made four other major points during the course of an exclusive interview at his residence in Karachi on Thursday. These were: a) A change was visible with the start of Islamabad sit-ins in August, but now “seems to have been delayed”, b) PPP leader Benazir Bhutto during a meeting with him in Abu Dhabi mid-2007 had promised not to come to Pakistan, but broke the pledge, tempted perhaps by impending elections and paid very heavily for ignoring his advice, 3) the meeting was arranged at the behest of his PML(Q) partners and not by Americans, and 4) Religion instead of being a unifying factor, had actually polarized the country. Divisive tendencies were now threatening our very existence.
Musharraf also felt that the case against ex-chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhri was fool-proof but the Supreme Judicial Council, the body dealing with complaints against judges, instead of giving its judgment, "did not even read the files, passed it on to a smaller bench, and a case, full of evidence, collapsed”.
Americans, he said, did not talk directly on internal matters of a country, but if their interests get involved, they do talk through CIA, ISI etc., but not directly with heads of State or government. At least they never advised him to join hands with Benazir, he removed the misconception found in certain quarters.
“No, it was basically our own people in Quaid-i-Azam league who alarmed by the signing in London of the Charter of Democracy between Nawaz Sharif and Benazir, thought to isolate Nawaz. They devised a strategy to pull PPP out from the commitment, and advised him to speak to her. He flew to the UAE capital, met her, and even agreed on NRO, which later proved a mistake.
Turning back to changes in the political system, he thought that this was inevitable. “What will happen I do not know,” he began when asked about the situation in Pakistan now, but remarked that “change should come, and will come” for there was no escape from that.
Asked whether he stood for the presidential system, he said any of the parliamentary, presidential or proportional representation system could be followed but first the government had to be re-engineered, civil service re-structured, and constitutional amendments made to bring about the required changes.
The former army chief, presiding over the country’s destiny for nearly 9 years, wearing two hats for a long time, felt very strongly that unless a new system is introduced, “nothing noticeable will happen.” The same old faces will return and exploitation will remain firmly rooted.
H e was also asked whether land reforms, introduced only twice in 67 years of our checkered history---- first by Ayub Khan, and later by Bhutto---- may well break the back of feudal and tribal chieftains, could liberate the people from their chains. He replied that land reforms could be a potent factor, but the system was messed up so badly that no single step could help it improve.
Musharraf, quitting the army post in 2007 in the midst of a massive agitation against him, and then the Presidency a year later, replied that wholesale changes were the only answer to the problems currently plaguing the country. “Well Imran and Tahirul Qadri showed lot of guts” although Imran needed to learn a lot. He lacked vision and foresight. Nevertheless their campaign injected a silver lining as a general awareness among the masses to fight for their rights and a youth charged to play its role was now visible which could prove very catalytic in bringing about the required change.
He saw nothing wrong for richer sections being with Imran: Jehangir Tareen, despite being rich, had proved a very good and honest minister with him. “Nothing is wrong in being rich. It is integrity that matters,” he said.
Musharraf spoke contemptuously about the Sharifs, saying that Nawaz despite being in office for the fifth time was incapable of dealing with major issues. Every time he was in power he made a bigger mess than before. “They are incapable of governing the country. Sharif addressed an empty hall at the UN General Assembly, and today is unable to sell Pakistan abroad, because “no one in the world is listening to them.” This is despite Pakistan’s tremendous geo-political importance, where China alone has been left as “our friend “. The situation on the borders with India, Afghanistan and, lately with Iran, has deteriorated.
He also accused the tribal chieftains in Balochistan of being dishonest and corrupt. They distribute salaries to Frontier Constabulary, half of which they pocket themselves. How can you maintain peace in Balochistan then?
He said religious extremism, differing in nature from place to place, be it Karachi, Balochistan, Punjab, or any other part of the country, had torn the country apart. Everywhere the situation needs to be handled according to the ground realities. He concluded by saying that the situation was extremely bad and warranted drastic changes. (The writer is a former Sindh Minister and senior journalist)
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