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US
support emboldens Musharraf
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf is scheduled to meet
President George W Bush at Camp David on June 24 to discuss developments in
South Asia, including shutting down the war theater in Kashmir, while in return
Musharraf can expect full US backing for any political maneuvers he makes to
retain his full powers.
These could include the division of opposition groups by offering some of them
a power-sharing deal, or even the extreme measure of suspending parliament.
The president's house in Islamabad and army headquarters in Rawalpindi have
become the center of intense political activities, with senior politicians,
including former president Farooq Khan Laghari and former premier Ghulam
Mustafa Jatoi, invited to discuss the political options for securing
Musharraf's positions as chief of army staff and president, as well as
safeguarding the legal framework from which he derives his authority to
effectively have the last say over parliament and the prime minister.
And on Monday morning, the president met with the chief ministers and governors
of all four provinces, first separately and then collectively, to find out
whether they would be able to have their provincial budgets approved by their
state assemblies. In the afternoon he was scheduled to meet senior officials
and politicians.
Two solutions are under consideration. One is a power-sharing agreement with
the opposition Pakistan People's Party of former premier Benazir Bhutto in
which it would be offered the government in Sindh province, although
indications are that this will be rejected. Also, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
(MMA), an alliance of six religious parties, would be given a few federal
ministries and Islamic laws would be implemented in the country. If these
options do not work, the government has decided to suspend the upper and lower
houses of the National Assembly. Cabinet would be retained, which would present
the budget - the sticking point at present - and then the assemblies would be
restored.
At the same time, the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence,
Lieutenant-General Ehsanul Haq, who recently returned from talks in the United
States, is expected to give way to Lieutenant-General Javed Alam Khan, corps
commander Mangla.
Musharraf is also refusing to allow parliament - much to the chagrin of the
opposition - to review constitutional amendments he promulgated as a package -
the Legal Framework Order - at the time of parliamentary elections last
October. This has led to disturbances in the Punjab assembly, where the
opposition has called on Musharraf to shed his uniform.
"These protests will now expand to the Sindh assembly," said the acting
president of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz group, Syed Javed Hashmi. "Now
the dictator will see there will be no end," he added.
Musharraf is believed to have indicated to Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan
Jamali that he will drop his uniform in October 2004, but this is unacceptable
to some factions of the MMA, who insiders say have given Musharraf a 20-day
deadline to announce that either he will leave the chief-of-army staff position
within six months or face public protests. This proposal will be presented in
the MMA's supreme council for approval.
Critics have argued that the United States would not tolerate its "ally"
behaving in such an undemocratic way as to suspend parliament, especially given
its recent attacks - both figurative and literal - on "rogue" states.
But with regards to Pakistan, and the future of the US roadmap for stability in
nuclear-armed South Asia, Washington clearly is reluctant to change horses in
midstream, so it can be expected to turn a blind eye to any domestic
shenanigans.
In this regard, an Indian website, Rediff, commented recently, "Though he isn't
mentioned by name, America has set 2004 as the target for ending Pakistan
President Pervez Musharraf's right to dismiss the cabinet and the national
assembly. This self-given right of the president and army chief of Pakistan has
led to a political standoff in the country, with the opposition parties
refusing to accept it as legitimate. In its 'mission plan' for 2004, the
American Embassy in Islamabad says a key area of focus is consolidation of
the 'emerging democracy' in the nuclear-armed nation, where military coups
and fragile democratic institutions are a cause for international concern.
This is not the first American attempt to restore democracy in Pakistan,
which remained a frontline ally of the US through the Cold War and is now
an ally in the 'war against terrorism'."
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact
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