More US newspapers question Musharraf’s legitimacy
By Khalid Hasan, for the Daily Times, Pakistan
WASHINGTON: Two more American newspapers have urged the US government to modify its policy towards Pakistan’s current government and make course corrections to attune itself to the democratic upsurge now in full swing in the country.
The San Francisco Chronicle, an important and respected West Coast newspaper, writes in an editorial that Washington should ask itself how indispensable General Pervez Mushrraf is.
For years, it writes, he has sold himself on the threat that without him Pakistan would descend into an Iran-style Islamic theocracy, exporting trouble and waving nuclear weaponry. “But it may be time to call his bluff. Never a friend of civil law, he has overstepped himself by firing the country’s chief justice and briefly yanking press freedom for the broadcast media. He’s also planning for a fall vote by a lame-duck parliament on another five-year term as president while keeping his uniform as head of the military. In plain terms, his public image has taken a huge beating,” the editorial points out.
The Bush administration, the newspaper admits, will not publicly disparage an ally who has collected some $10 billion in US aid. Gen Musharraf maintains he has done all he can to hunt down Al Qaeda terrorists, who are dug in along the Pak-Afghan border. Pakistan has never been a steady democracy, and Musharraf is a “known quantity,” Washington strategists argue. “His appeal, however, is growing stale. And the proof is largely of his creation. By firing the nation’s top judge, he inflamed protests that brought thousands of lawyers, business groups and political organisations into the streets. The press crackdown had the same effect: pro-democracy groups were galvanised, not the Islamic fundamentalists he has cited as trouble… His rule may bend, or break, soon. He’s negotiating with former leader Benazir Bhutto to allow her return from exile and to possibly share power as prime minister. That could be an improvement, though it would leave Pakistan’s all-powerful military in the picture, with Musharraf as its top general. An opportunity is at hand to dilute his autocratic control. Washington should shoulder him hard in the direction of democracy and civil law. Such a change won’t happen overnight, but Musharraf’s weakened position is a chance that can’t be missed,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Another newspaper, The Oklahoman, writes in an editorial that the United States faces tough choices in Pakistan, where “key terror ally” President Pervez Musharraf is up against the most serious challenge to his rule since seizing power in 1999. He would like a “friendly parliament” to re-nominate him as president and allow him to keep his army post. It’s uncertain what will happen if he does not get his wish. “Pakistan is being roiled by internal and external forces. Musharraf’s post-9/11 ties to the United States, a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan and the likelihood that Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is hiding in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan have helped foment domestic unrest … It’s an uncomfortable situation for the United States — Musharraf is an ally against Al Qaeda, but authoritarian governments have a limited shelf life and often end badly.” The newspaper makes the point that the “United States can’t champion democracy and block its results.””
Meanwhile, in yet another interview, this time to the Los Angeles Times, Benazir Bhutto has said she is going to return to Pakistan. “This year, I will be back. I don’t know what will happen when I return - prison perhaps, but I will face whatever comes,” she added.
Bhutto is widely viewed as the most viable alternative, while some see her as “hero and national savior, others remember her corruption-tainted tenure with anger and disgust.” She told the newspaper, “I have many enemies - I’m a security target,” Bhutto acknowledged. “But this is a most critical time for the country.” When asked about her husband’s alleged corruption, she defended him, contending that the charges against both of them were baseless and politically motivated.
According to the report in her negotiations with General Musharraf, “from her side, the key condition was the dropping of corruption charges pending against her, a condition that Musharraf would have been in a position to easily grant. She, in turn, would lend legitimacy to his presidency, while taking the premiership for herself.” However, the May 12 killings in Karachi have made it difficult for her to have a deal with Musharraf as it “would cause an angry backlash within the party’s ranks.” Stephen Cohen, head of South Asia at Brookings, told the newspaper, “She made terrible mistakes in office, but most leaders do. But she’s always been seen as the country’s only coherent political force, other than the army.”
Bhutto said she believed that if the elections were free and fair, held without systematic intimidation and violence, her party would prevail.
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