The Hindu : Front Page : Move may project Musharraf in positive light

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Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008
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Move may project Musharraf in positive light

Nirupama Subramanian

He is said to have vacillated between going and staying

Defends policies of his eight-year rule
Has a good word for the media

ISLAMABAD: In the end, President Pervez Musharraf made a career choice that may help history project him in somewhat more positive light than the mixed legacy of his eight-year rule over Pakistan.

His countrymen may now remember him as the only military ruler who decided to resign before he was given a more unceremonious farewell, though it came only when he was threatened with impeachment.

The decision went right down to the wire. All of Sunday, General Musharraf is said to have vacillated between going and staying. Even the government appeared unsure minutes ahead of his scheduled 1 p.m. address to the nation if he was about to step down or announce some alternative course of action.

The uncertainty led to a tussle between the government and the presidency over whether the state-run Pakistan Television would show his speech live or pre-recorded. Only after the presidency invited in a private television channel to beam his address live that PTV decide to show it too, and the address began after a slight delay.

The presidency too assisted in the speculation with his spokesman Major-General Rashid Qureshi saying literally until the last minute that General Musharraf was not stepping down and would stay on to defend himself against the charges.

In the event, General Musharraf chose to go, which most analysts are describing as the grim-“most sensible” thing he had done as an impeachment could have proved extremely divisive for the country and only brought it more instability, as he himself acknowledged.

But true to style, the former army commando did not go without responding to the possible charges in the “charge sheet” against him that the ruling coalition said it had finalised on Sunday to support an impeachment motion against him

Most of his one-hour speech was a defence of the policies of his eight-year rule. “We addressed every issue, and on every issue, we made progress,” a grim-faced General Musharraf said.

Responding to the coalition’s criticism that his policies had led to the current crisis in the country, General Musharraf said the economy was in good health until December 2007, with a 7 per cent growth rate, a stable currency against the dollar and good foreign exchange reserves.

“Now our foreign exchange reserves have plunged, the exchange rate of the rupee to a dollar, which was around Rs. 60 for eight years is Rs. 77 today, there is a flight of capital, investors have pulled out,” he said.

Conceding that the high food prices were linked to global shortages, he said Pakistan had been able to withstand it only because its economy had been healthy.

“Whoever says our policies were wrong for the last eight years, please don’t do any more damage to the country by spreading these falsehoods,” he appealed.

He talked about the infrastructure development work that was undertaken between 2000 and 2007, industrial development and the strides made in developing education.

He recalled the steps taken to improve health care, women’s rights, minority rights. General Musharraf also talked about his introduction of a system of local governance as having given Pakistan the “essence of democracy”.

“Previously, what Pakistan had was a bottle labelled democracy with nothing inside. We filled it with the essence of democracy,” he said, by the introduction of the system that “covered the gap between policy and implementation”.

“I am proud of all these achievements,” he said, adding that every decision he took was in consultation with “all the stakeholders” — the Army, politicians, bureaucrats, civil society and the ulema, the Islamic clergy.

Significantly, he did not mention either Pakistan People’s Party leader Asif Ali Zardari or Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Nawaz Sharif — the main actors behind his exit — by name anywhere in the speech.

He said he had declared his support for the new government after the February 18 elections, and was willing to help them to resolve the challenges facing the country. “But unfortunately, they thought I was the problem, not part of the solution,” General Musharraf said.

Surprisingly, he had a good word for the media though it was ranged against him and spearheaded its own campaign for his departure, claiming it as part of his legacy.

“I am also very happy that I am leaving behind a vibrant media and hope that they will continue to perform their role in the future also,” he said.

He claimed he had many supporters who would have liked him to continue in office. “I would like to tell them to accept my decision for the sake of the country and the nation.”

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