Pakistan is in a vacuum

01.10.2008

The August 18 step down from the Presidency of Pakistan by the military strongman, Pervez Musharraf, who had ruled the nation since he came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, has been described by Church leaders as leaving both an administrative vacuum and opening the way for better and more participative government.

Australian missionary priest Columban Fr Robert McCulloch told the Sunday Examiner that the country is trading a corrupt, but competent leader for a corrupt, but incompetent one. In pointing to the track record of the current Prime Minister, he commented that Nawaz Sharif is not a good administrator and almost ran the country into bankruptcy in his previous turn in office.

“I think he came in again because he happened to be around when Benazir Bhutto was murdered,” Fr McCulloch said. “There was really no one else there.”

The future is uncertain

He also said he is doubtful that Sharif can deliver on his promises this time round either. Explaining that he announced that the rightful judiciary would be returned to place, with deposed chief justice, Iftekhar Chaudhry, being reinstated, he does not believe Sharif will be able to do this.

In addition, Sharif’s motivation for reinstating Chaudhry could spring more from personal revenge than concern for justice, law and order.

If the deposed Chief Justice returned to the bench in the High Court, he would almost certainly re-open his challenge of the unconstitutionality of the position of the retiring president, Musharraf, who, as an army general, ousted Sharif from office in 1999.

Sharif also accused Musharraf of humiliating him when he returned to Pakistan, by treating him as a criminal and handcuffing him publicly.

Fr McCulloch said that there is adequate evidence available to show that Bhutto had made a deal with Musharraf that the deposed judiciary would never be returned. He explained that Sharif wants it to come back by decree, but the members of Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) insist that it be discussed and voted on in the parliament. “They will be able to outvote Sharif there,” Fr McCulloch predicted.

Some advances were made

Religious leaders say that although all democratic rule was suspended by Musharraf, he did restore the joint electoral system in 2002, enabling both Muslims and members of religious minorities to contest and vote for general seats in the parliament. “We greatly appreciate Musharraf for this good deed,” said Fr Pascal Robert, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Karachi.

However, the Chairperson of the National Justice and Peace Commission, Peter Jacobs, added that the more open electoral system only came about after a long battle by civil society and rights activists against staunch opposition from Musharraf, who wanted to maintain the system whereby members of minority groups could only vote for particular candidates representing their own community.

Pakistani media have listed a litany of charges against the military dictator, from the 1999 coup that overthrew democratically elected Nawaz Sharif and two suspensions of the constitution, to the firing of the judiciary in March and again in November last year.

He is also accused of failing to consult the parliament, allocating funds to provinces without approval, of approving military operations in Balochistan and the targeted killing of the local nawab, Akbar Bugti, in addition to the operation against the Red Mosque.

Musharraff  the strong man

While internationally Musharraf has been seen as the strong man standing between chaos and anarchy in the war against terrorism, the former president of the Pakistani Bar Association, Munir Malik, said at a press conference in Hong Kong on May 13, “He pretends before the world to be anti-fundamentalist, but, in fact, has given strong support to the Taliban in the Western Frontier Province to install them in power, so he can posture before the United States of America as a necessary defender of stability.”

Fr McCulloch agrees. “It is very hard to believe that law and order can break down so completely in any area without a deliberate hand weakening the ability of the military to respond,” he surmised.

Sharif the extremist

Jacob made the point on August 19 that Sharif is well-known as a fundamentalist extremist, who is in favour of introducing Islamic Law. However, he explained, “Now the Pakistan Muslim League is more responsible, because it is not in power alone, but has to share it with liberal parties.”

However, on August 27, Sharif announced he was severing his relationship with the PPP coalition.

In any event, Bishop Max John Rodrigues from Hyderabad said that either way the country has a long way to go. UCA News quoted him as saying that he hopes Musharraf’s resignation will lead to a more people-oriented government. “But whether it is a military dictatorship or a democratic government, our country does not have a tradition of good politics.”

Religious extremism is widely seen as the enemy of good governance. Fr Pascal Robert said that only secular and humanistic attitudes can develop Pakistan.

- Taken from Sunday Examiner, August 31, 2008.

Read more from The Far East October, 2008