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Stepping up the pressure

The Kampala Commonwealth summit’s decision to suspend Pakistan from the 53-member association sends a timely signal to the country’s military dictator, General Pervez Musharraf — who continues to defy calls to restore democracy. The message is that the patience of the international community is wearing thin. The carefully worded statement of the Commonwealth ministerial action group (CMAG) makes it clear that the suspension from the councils of the Common wealth is “pending restoration of democracy and rule of law in the country.” This means the door is kept open for Pakistan’s early return to the group provided it takes specific steps to restore democracy, specifically lifting the Emergency and restoring the Constitution and the independence of the judiciary. The Harare Declaration of 1991 committed the Commonwealth’s member-countries to “the protection and promotion of the fundamental political values of the Commonwealth,” namely “democracy, democratic processes” and “the rule of law and the independent judiciary.” The ministerial action group had little elbow room to adopt a more lenient stance towards General Musharraf’s beyond-the-pale actions against democracy, constitutionalism, and the rule of law. The CMAG statement notes that “the situation in Pakistan continue[s] to represent a serious violation of the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values.” However, referring to General Musharraf’s various promises to take steps to restore democracy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband have indicated that Pakistan would be back to “its rightful position in the Commonwealth once the remaining steps are taken.” They are clearly following the U.S. strategic line on Pakistan.

Unfortunately, there are few signs that the military ruler is readying for a restoration of either genuine democracy or the rule of law in Pakistan. With the promise of “fair and free elections” in January 2008 remaining an empty boast, it is to be seen what happens when General Musharraf delivers on his promise to shed his uniform but carry on as President. Meanwhile, he has got his hand-picked judiciary and his ‘caretaker’ political arrangement to validate his brazenly anti-constitutional actions. The release of hundreds of political detainees, which the military regime touts as an earnest of its democratic intent, needs to be followed by the release of the illegally ousted judges headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary. But above all, the Emergency, which Pakistani democrats correctly regard as a euphemism for martial law, must be lifted and the Constitution restored. Until these irreducible democratic actions are taken, the international community must not temporise with the claims and promises of a discredited military ruler.

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