Opinion - News Analysis   

Pakistan: a chance as never before

— Photo: AP

A new dawn: PPP leader Asif Zardari and PML(N) leader Nawaz Sharif appear to be conscious of their historic responsibility.

The Pakistani people have seen too many false dawns. Their yearnings for real empowerment and democratic sovereignty have been periodically mowed down by a succession of military-backed regimes. It is therefore all the more important to recognise a real dawn. There is indeed a new opportunity in Pakistan. The recent nation-wide election results highlight this sense. The overwhelming pattern of voter preferences showed a determined endorsement of parties and players identif ied with the campaign for democracy on the one hand and, on the other, a clear disapproval of the supporters of the retired general and President Pervez Musharraf. Equally significant was the sidelining of the Islamic extremists whose coalition fared badly in the elections, exposing the absurdity of the western-inspired proposition that if not for the steadying hand of General Musharraf at the helm, Pakistan would lurch towards Islamic fundamentalism. If anything, the election verdict signified that ordinary Pakistanis were rooting for a parliamentary democracy piloted by moderates rather than extremists.

The assassination of one of Pakistan’s most charismatic leaders, Benazir Bhutto, marked the harrowing climax of a particularly oppressive phase in Pakistan’s politics that had begun with the coup of November 11, 2007. The declaration of an Emergency marked General Musharraf’s second coup and the series of actions that followed it directly assaulted the democratic aspirations of ordinary Pakistanis, who were becoming increasingly politicised by the chain of events that appeared to rob them of their sovereignty. The suspension of the Constitution, the dismissal of the intrepid Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and his colleagues, and the arrests of hundreds of protesting lawyers and human rights activists triggered fresh waves of resistance.

There was now a new urgency and vigour in the movement for democracy. The democratic forces were in fact preparing for a long haul in their determined struggle not to let the general get away this time. As President Musharraf became increasingly defensive, his responses virtually choreographed by his western backers, the stage was set for a violent showdown between the various stakeholders in the political process. Therefore with the election results being what they were, turning yesterday’s victims into today’s victors, the sense of relief and hope that echoed across Pakistan was like a burst of sunshine after a long spell of rains.

It is evident from the emotionally charged responses of the Pakistani people, who came out dancing in the streets as the results came in, that the exhilaration reflected not just anticipation of a revival of democracy but also hope for a change in the national security paradigm that General Musharraf has thrust on them. His strategic decision in 2001 to align with the United States in its anti-terror campaign against Islamic countries has cast a blanket of fear on Pakistani society. More than ever before in the past, General Musharraf has sought political legitimation on the rationale of national security. His argument that Pakistan, as a moderate Islamic republic, is a target of terrorists might have a constructive effect in certain arenas such as relations with India, but at home it has helped him to consolidate an authoritarian stranglehold at the expense of Pakistani civil society.

Anti-American sentiment has swelled in Pakistan since 2001 and has been a steady undercurrent of the wave of opposition building up against President Musharraf. The continual efforts of the United States to shore up his position in the face of growing political opposition have created a situation in which the democracy campaign is seen as a vital element of the quest to regain sovereignty in critical matters such as national security strategy and foreign policy.

Scholars of Pakistan’s history and politics such as Ayesha Jalal have pointed out why Pakistan has been unable to sustain democracy or to preserve the autonomy of its civil society. From the 1950s, Pakistan was drawn into a trap in the form of the American strategic alliance, enabling a succession of military dictatorships in conjunction with the civil bureaucracy to thwart the emergence of political processes and parties. Perhaps following in the footsteps of his predecessors, General Musharraf might have hoped that this paradigm would hold and the strategies of containment that had served successive regimes would work this time too. But the increasing intensity of the resentment among Pakistanis at being dragged into a war that is clearly not theirs and the feeling of being robbed of the basic entitlement to choose their own leaders and their own policies explain the resilience of the nationwide democracy movement.

The movement did not emerge overnight and was at least a year in the making. President Musharraf suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary in March 2007 but was forced to reinstate him in June, following a loud outburst of protest from lawyers. In November, similar angry protests greeted the dismissal of Justice Chaudhary and his colleagues. The spectacle of hundreds of lawyers marching on the streets and defying police batons caught the world’s imagination and became the kernel of the campaign for democracy that has now taken on a life of its own.

It was this strong public pressure that compelled the major players, the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (N), to set aside their differences and work together on a platform that would advance key goals of the democratic agenda such as establishing a credible parliamentary democracy and restoring the independence of the judiciary. Thus far, the major parties and their leaders, Asif Zardari of the PPP, the largest party in the National Assembly, and Nawaz Sharif of the PML (N) appear to be conscious of their historic responsibility. They have taken care to signal that even if there are differences on the modalities, there is little disagreement on the key aspects of the democratic agenda, including the ending of dictatorial rule.

Another important factor aiding this nascent process has been the attitude of the new Army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani. He has made it clear he wants the military to withdraw from the political arena. It is evident that General Kayani has sensed the intensity of the public disapproval of President Musharraf’s actions and has understood that it is imperative for the military to step back in deference to the swelling tide of democratic opinion.

It is also evident that the democracy movement, especially the legal community which is still up in arms over the dismissal of the Supreme Court judges, sees this moment as crucial. It will not accept any dilution of what it sees as the main achievement of the February 18 elections — a mandate to revive Pakistan’s Constitution and empower its parliamentary democracy. Both these are seen as pillars of a new institutional framework that can restore real power to the people. The political parties and the leaders shepherding this transition should not allow these powerful aspirations to be shortchanged by self-serving calculations or personal bargains. The path ahead is difficult, given the fragility of the constitutional structure. There appears to be a broad consensus in the political arena that the Constitution of 1973, much abused as it has been by several amendments and insertions by its series of dictators starting with Zia-ul-Huq, remains the most promising framework with its emphasis on parliamentary governance.

It does appear that as a consequence of the movement for democracy, there is a broad consciousness that the process of government formation must lead to a restoration of other key institutions such as the judiciary. There is little doubt that there is now a chance as never before for Pakistan as a nation and a society to pull back from the brink by restoring sovereignty to its people. As happened in Nepal where a democratic swell forced out an unpopular monarchy, so too in Pakistan a democratic tide has the promise of ending decades of military rule and its consequences of perennial servitude to a host of vested interests, internal and external. A new dawn is at hand in Pakistan and this time it could be for real.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Hold Karnataka elections in May
Unkept promises on aid
Budget 2008-09: The burden of expectations
Pakistan: a chance as never before
India-U.K. trade: a success story with rough edges
Could banning email make you more productive?
Corrections and clarifications
Election 2009
Player auction
Intolerance

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu