I feel really sorry for the people of Pakistan. What is unfolding there is a complete political sham where every leader has let them down. The events of Saturday’s polls only reinforce that perception. Let’s look at the main dramatis personae.
General Musharraf:
He desperately wants to be Pakistan’s beloved leader, next only to the Quaid (Jinnah). So he’s willing to give up his uniform and consider being an elected civilian president, although at a time of his choosing.
He simply does not have the guts to give up his uniform first and seek an election next. After all, as a man who led a coup, he knows best that real power in Pakistan vests with the Army, of which he is the Chief.
I had the opportunity to watch him in a more than an hour-long interview on Geo TV, a couple of days before election day. He did not show any signs of having changed for the better to transit into being a democrat. And you just couldn’t believe him.
He spoke of how even Nawaz Sharif should benefit from his so-called Ordinance of National Reconciliation. Yet, when it comes out, it does not apply to Nawaz Sharif.
When pressed if he will certainly give up his uniform, he would only say, he will see once he becomes President and anyway, he can keep the post till November 15.
When pressed that the action of the police against the media was very highhanded on the day of filing nominations, he said yes the police are very “stupid” but then what do you expect if people violate orders and block the road up to the election commission?
When asked what was the need to have policemen in plain clothes, with their pockets filled with stones, hurling them at the protesters on that day? He immediately said, yes that is wrong but nevertheless why should a Superintendent of Police’s arm be broken by this unruly mob? He wanted to have his cake and eat it too.
As I have said earlier in another article, he may well become a civilian president, but he certainly won’t be a beloved democrat of the people of Pakistan. It’s a pity the US Government thinks a combination of Musharraf and Benazir would be good.
Benazir Bhutto:
All she wants is that cases against her be dropped. She’s got that with the promulgation of the present Ordinance. Is she truly interested in the transition to democracy in Pakistan as she claims? Certainly doesn’t look like it. Consider what happened on election day:
Her party decides to abstain. Her party members all walk out of the National Assembly, led by the man who is running for President against Gen Musharraf, Makhdoom Fahim. How very convenient. Her party members do not resign, as other opposition parties do. They wait till the eve of polls when the Ordinance is promulgated and then they ‘abstain’. On the face of it, it seems like a protest against Gen Musharraf, but here is the sleight of hand.
If the Supreme Court rules against Gen Musharraf then it’s the second person past the post that will be declared President, as per the constitution. Who will that second person be?
Of the five who are standing, the only other person who is likely to get some amount of votes is the PPP’s Makhdoom Fahim. After all, the PPP has the largest number of seats.
With the abstention of the PPP, neither Fahim nor his cover candidate, Faryal Talpur can come second.
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Who’s left? The lawyers candidate, Wajihuddin, who is only standing to challenge Musharraf in court, and Musharraf’s cover candidate, Chairman of the Senate, Muhammad Mian Soomro. So, quite obviously, this abstention of the PPP is only going to help Soomro come second.
If the PPP had resigned, it would have been a clear indication of being with the opposition, and it would have seriously questioned the legitimacy of the Musharraf’s election. Now, it’s only an eye-wash.
For Musharraf to consider the ordinance that would forgive her sins of omission and commission in Pakistan, she desperately went around the world giving interviews, saying anything that would help the US put pressure on Gen Musharraf.
She said things loathe to Musharraf but dear to the US. For instance, allowing access to discredited nuclear scientist AQ Khan and allowing US forces to hit Al Qaeda within Pakistan’s borders. How can the people of Pakistan trust her?
Nawaz Sharif:
The less said about him the better. It is Nawaz Sharif who had challenged the Pakistan Supreme court when he was Prime Minister. It is Nawaz Sharif who brought those cases against Benazir that Musharraf is now leveraging to get the PPP, not to resign.
And after protesting any suggestion of a deal with Saudi Arabia, he admits that indeed there was one, although only for five years, and not 10, but one he did not object to or raise questions about in any public forum for 7 long years.
His claims that he never knew about Kargil have not only been vehemently denied by Musharraf, but there is also Gohar Ayub’s book that gives a detailed account of the meeting where Nawaz was briefed. And now he’s willing to institute an inquiry into the Kargil conflict, once he returns to Pakistan.
Given this picture, there is little option in front of the people of Pakistan. The Supreme Court is the only hope, although there are many pulls and pressures there as well. And we will not know which way the wind is blowing, until at least the 17th, when hearings resume.
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