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MOST of those who love Pakistan and wish it would
become an economically successful country—with prosperous citizens
and businesses growing steadily—blame political instability
(whatever is the reason) for low domestic and foreign investor
confidence.
Yet, as in the Philippines,
resident foreigners and investors love the Westernized press, whose
editors and columnists behave as if they would not be treated
shabbily by the administration’s police and national security
forces.
Definitely the press in Pakistan
is the freest in any Muslim-majority country
The generally fair elections in
Pakistan last February resulted in a National Assembly (the lower
house of parliament) dominated by the opposition. A coalition
government was formed by the socialist People’s Party of Pakistan
(PPP) founded by Zulficar Ali Bhutto. He was seen as a world leader
and made me think of him as a combined Marcos and Lee Kuan Yew
(except that he was a socialist of the mold of Britain’s ‘Old’
Labor—not Tony Blair’s and now Gordon Brown’s ‘New’
Labor).
Everyone cheered for Pakistan
when the PPP formed a coalition government with the PML-Nawaz group
and other parties. What united them was their opposition to
President Pervez Musharraf.
Many see the world being safer
from terrorism of the Al-Qaeda varieties with President Musharraf
still in the saddle in Pakistan but moderated by the democratically
elected National Assembly.
But political instability reared
its head again last week.
The second biggest group of MPs
in the National Assembly—the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz group
withdrew from the coalition. But Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N leader and
former prime minister, announced that his party was not going to
fight the PPPP-led coalition.
This dashed the hope of those who
were hoping for miracles to happen. The big hope was that the
coalition government led by the heirs of Ali Bhutto and peopled by
the socialist Bhutto’s old enemies—Nawaz Sharif’s
conservatives in the PML-N—would work together with President
Musharraf and make Pakistan develop as amazingly as India.
Knowledgeable observers more or
less expected Nawaz Sharif to desert the coalition government formed
in March 2008, which seemed to be charting a course of cooperation
with Musharraf. Nawaz could not swallow especially the coalition’s
going along with Musharraf’s decision to fire judges and justices
who were against him.
These justices were not only
questioning the legitimacy of the Musharraf presidency and his acts.
They would also reverse earlier decisions dissolving charges against
such people as the Bhuttos and socialist-minded officials who had
sequestered industries and businesses including those of the Sharif
family.
Sharif was head of government, as
prime minister, when Pervez Musharraf pulled a military coup in
1999. Earlier Sharif had made Musharraf Pakistan’s army chief. But
the buzz grew stronger that there was going to be a coup. So Sharif
fired Musharraf on October 12, 1999 when Sharif was out of the
country. Musharraf took a commercial flight to return to Pakistan
and to keep him from landing ordered the Karachi airport closed.
But Musharraf had meanwhile spoken to his generals. These moved
swiftly and took over the country, kicked out the Sharif government
and hailed Musharraf as the new leader in control of the nation.
When Nawaz second term as prime
minister ended, he had the distinction of having dismissed a
president, a chief justice, an army chief and a navy chief of
Pakistan. He is also remembered for being the prime minister on May
28, 1998, when Pakistan carried out nuclear tests in response to
India’s nuclear tests two weeks earlier. But it was Ali Bhutto who
launched Pakistan’s nuclear capability two decades before.
Nawaz was imprisoned, tried by
Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Court, which gave him a life sentence
for hijacking and terrorism for refusing to allow the airliner
Musharraf was in to land in Karachi and ordering it diverted to
another airport. Musharraf’s military government commuted his
sentence from life in prison to exile in Saudi Arabia.
Musharraf let Sharif’s family
go with him. His family then formed an anti-military-rule alliance
with the PML’s old foes, the Bhutto’s socialist Pakistan Peoples
Party.
Their opposition through the
years finally resulted in Musharraf remaining as president but
quitting his position as chief of the military. And finally in,
February, they won in the National Assembly elections against
parties loyal to Musharraf and the military.
There are other ironies.
Sharif’s father, Muhammad
Sharif, was a businessman who owned a group of industries that rose
in prominence and profitability during the reign the military
dictator, Gen. Muhammad Zia ul Haq, who nursed Nawaz Sharif’s
political career. It was Gen. Zia who had arrested former prime
minister and former president Zulficar Ali Bhutto, founder of the
socialist Pakitsan People’s Party. It was also Zia who upheld the
death sentence on Bhutto, who was hanged on April 4, 1979.
Today, the Bhuttos and PPPP
appear to be closer to President Musharraf—and therefore to the
military—than Sharif and his PML-N who were friends of the
military dictator Gen. Muhammad Zia al-Huq.
The talk is that the PPP-led
coalition will work productively with Musharraf until his term ends.
And then there will be elections. This prospect appears to be
satisfactory to the United States and the other Western powers.
rqb@manilatimes.net
rq_bas@yahoo.com
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