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Musharraf’s remarks on democracy slammed

ISLAMABAD: Opposition parties and media in Pakistan have scathingly rejected President Pervez Musharraf’s attempts during his European tour to project the country as not yet ready for democracy, and described it as one more effort by him to pitch his own indispensability to a no-longer-so-ready-to-believe international community.

At his very first public engagement in Brussels earlier this week, General (retd.) Musharraf told a gathering of journalists, business leaders and think-tanks that the West must understand Pakistan’s difficult political environment and let go of its “obsession” with democracy.

On Wednesday, Pakistan Muslim league (N) leader Nawaz Sharif said at a meeting with senior journalists General Musharraf’s words were an “insult” to the people of the country. He said Pakistanis were more conscious of democracy than many other countries of the world, and Gen. Musharraf was trying to make a mockery of their sacrifices and struggles. The Pakistan People’s Party also dismissed the words as those of a leader insecure about his own future.

“This only goes to show that he is upset at the democratic forces and the strength of these forces in this country. He is fearing for his own future which is nowhere in the coming scenario.

February 18 will be the day when Pakistan will bury the militarised version and the dictatorial version of democracy,” said PPP’s Babar Awan.

Several newspapers wrote angry editorials on the remarks. The News said “human rights in this nation of more than 160 million souls have to be fought for every inch of the way and those who today languish under house arrest are doubtless thankful that those ‘obsessive’ westerners keep their cases and their cause firmly at the centre of the worlds attention.”

The Dawn said General Musharraf’s remarks “serve as a disturbing reminder that even after almost a year of traumatic events in the country, he has made no attempt to recognise an age-old cure for the many evils inherent in the political system.

”The newspaper said it may have been easy to brush them off as yet another myopic observation had the situation in Pakistan not been so serious.

“Unfortunately, we are already at the brink, and the rejection of a true democratic order — yes, indeed like the West’s, with emphasis on fundamental rights and civil liberties for all, and not one that is tailored to meet the President’s vision — can only aggravate matters.”

The Nation said Pakistan was founded on the basis of a popular vote and not a fiat, but “its misfortune has been military adventurism ruling the roost for over half of its existence, systematically ruining what democratic traditions already existed.”

The Pakistani media has also projected General Musharraf’s Europe visit as a flop-show, with his international audience no longer impressed with his “tired words, old script” as The News put it.

The Foreign Ministry denied reports that European parliamentarians blocked plans for him to address a formal session of the assembly’s influential foreign affairs committee, and that he had to be content with an interaction with an informal gathering of parliamentarians.

The spokesman said the President addressed the joint meeting of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and the South Asia Delegation.

About reports that the President did not address the North Atlantic Council, a privilege granted to most visiting leaders, the spokesman said General Musharraf had no time but NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called on him. The media pointed out that the visit was not official, but a “working visit” of meetings that the government had sought. But the Foreign Ministry said most exchanges between Europe and other countries were arranged as “working visits” that do not need formal written invitations.

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