Counterattack

President Pervez Musharraf on Friday night launched what can be described as a frontal counterattack on the elected leadership of the country and its failures with regard to the current political uncertainty and economic crisis. He said that all reports about his impending departure to the US or Turkey were rumors. "I have not committed any theft, why should I run?" He asked his audience. He also said that he had spent 45 years in the army and that it would not leave him because he had been "with him". He also said that his former army colleagues should not degrade themselves and have some self-respect, dignity and honor. His main thrust was aimed at political leaders whom he said should forget the past, look towards the future and adopt a policy of reconciliation. He said that the politics of agitation needed to stop because the country was suffering as a result of this and that the real issues were being ignored while peripheral matters were being pursued.

The fact of the matter is that it is unfair and unethical on the part of the president to blame the new government for all the problems confronting the country and to portray himself and the previous government of Shaukat Aziz as saviors, as if they were running the country in an ideal manner and that they would do so again if given a chance. The fact also is that many of the problems that the country faces today are the consequence of the mis-governance that characterized the rule of the previous PML-Q dispensation. It would be fair to say that the president got the courage to point fingers in this manner precisely because of the uncertainty created by the apparent lack of decision-making powers of the PPP, and particularly of its leader Asif Ali Zardari.

Mr Musharraf admitted that he had remained a silent spectator for four months because he believed that the political leadership would fail. His argument that for eight long years he kept Pakistan strong and that the 'derailment' of his rule by the Feb 18 elections hurled the country towards its present crises is a thoroughly flawed – should one say dishonest – reading of events. No one, including the president, should expect that a new government, just 100 days old, would be able to wipe the slate of eight years of his misrule and leftover disasters clean and bring economic and social stability overnight. The president hopes that with the support of the Pakistan army he will be able to revive his doomed fortunes and hang on to power game, although he was rejected by the people on Feb 18. Here, the reason why a military dictator remains on the scene is the general inability of the elected leadership to get its act together and remove him.

Democracy needs time and it will find its foothold sooner than later but because it is taking time, that should be no justification whatsoever to support a return to military rule or even to the misrule of Mr Musharraf (who only recently admitted in public that his hand-picked prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, was afraid of returning to Pakistan lest he be held accountable for his deeds). Mr Aziz may not return but since Musharraf is here and has vowed to stay here, he should be the one to answer for all the years that he was in power. The politicians may be slow in their act, but they have the backing of the people and they will eventually consolidate their grip over power. Once they do, it would then be a test for the president whether to face the music or to leave the scene. Just because the first 100 days of the civilian elected rule have not achieved much by way of targets does not mean that the discredited Musharraf-Aziz regime stands vindicated in any way or that it deserves another chance. It would indeed be a grave folly if the Pakistan army or any one else for that matter were to support this absurd notion.

Posted on: 5-July-2008

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