Against the backdrop of fear and horror
spread by suicide bombers, a groundswell of hope
has emerged in Pakistan after a decisively
anti-Musharraf election result. Even as secular
opposition parties gained a clear majority in the
February 18 parliamentary election, the Pakistani
president dismissed any thought of resigning and
said he'll work with the new elected civilian
setup. To back him up, the State Department
reaffirmed America's main policy objective in
Pakistan for which it deems President Pervez
Musharraf to be indispensable.
"We are
going to continue our work with President
Musharraf and whatever that new government may be
on goals of our national interests," State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a
briefing Tuesday in Washington. America's main
interest, McCormack said, was to ensure that
Pakistan continues to play
its
role in the fight against extremism.
As
the death knell tolls for nearly nine years of
unruly and unconstitutional rule, both the retired
general and Washington remain obtusely adamant
that nothing of essence has changed.
Real elections Monday's
elections decisively redrew Pakistan's political
landscape. Pakistani voters have dismantled the
"Islamic barbarians at the gate" myth built by
many an illustrious American expert on Pakistan.
In an unequivocal expression of anger
against the Musharraf regime, the Pakistani
electorate drubbed the mullahs as well as
pro-Musharraf candidates. None of the major
parties in the new parliament supports religious
extremism or Talibanization. Some, like the
Pakistan People's Party and the Pashtun Awami
National Party (ANP), are fiercely secular. The
Pakistan Muslim League of former premier Nawaz
Sharif, which won the most populous Punjab
province, is also a nemesis of militant religious
parties. Even in the restive North-West Frontier
Province (NWFP), presumed to be the breeding
ground of the Taliban, the Pashtun voters
emphatically rejected the mullahs' agenda. With
the exception of the Mutaahida Qaumi Movement,
which retained its electoral control in Karachi,
no other political party chosen by the electorate
has a record of using militant tactics.
The election verdict also helps to put the
terrorism debate in perspective. Militant
extremism is a real and potentially catastrophic
problem. It has already taken a heavy toll on
Pakistan. Beefing up the Musharraf regime to
defeat terrorists has been a cornerstone of
America's post-September 11 foreign policy. The
dramatic rise in the ferocity and frequency of
acts of terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan is
one of the many illustrations of the failure of
this policy. The mullahs and Musharraf are not
representative of Pakistani public's opinion or
world view; they are part of the extremism problem
not the solution.
Agents of
change Another myth disposed of by the
voters is that the alliance of religious parties
was the real opposition to Musharraf. Over the
years, he carefully cultivated this image in the
West that pro-Taliban parties in parliament were a
big hurdle in the way of his reform agenda and
that, if not for him, the extremists would take
over Pakistan.
The real agents of change,
however, are not the bearded mullahs but men in
black suits and judicial robes. The lawyers'
movement, which first began with the sacking of
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in March last
year, gained further momentum in November after
the proclamation of emergency by Musharraf to
dismiss the rest of the independent judges. The
movement galvanized political activists all over
the country and across the party divide. Some of
the ousted chief justice's rallies were bigger
than the crowds that the political parties drew in
the election campaign.
The December 27
murder of Benazir Bhutto and the return of the
former premier, Nawaz Sharif, decisively turned
the voters against Musharraf. The military
regime's record on controlling terrorism and
improving law and order has been dismal. The death
of the country's most popular politician in the
vicinity of army headquarters and the seemingly
uncontrollable spree of suicide bombings further
fueled public resentment.
Also significant
is the role these elections have already played in
countering extremism. For five years the mullahs
ruled the NWFP under Musharraf. Now they have no
political power. The voting pattern shows that
people identified the mullahs with Musharraf and
both have been resoundingly rejected.
Arduous agenda Washington should
have reviewed its ill-directed, one-dimensional
Pakistan policy long ago. Instead of persisting
with the failed Musharraf option, Washington
should put all its weight behind the new
parliament, which represents the voice of the
Pakistani people.
The transition in power,
especially given Musharraf's untenable position as
president, will be far from smooth. Negotiations
among politicians around the shape and policies of
the next government will also be full of pitfalls.
Coalition-building always requires difficult
compromises. Yet a consensus has emerged in the
wake of the voters' verdict on some key issues. On
top of the list is forcing Musharraf out of the
presidency and undoing some of the damage he's
recently done. The question of restoring the
higher court judges sacked by Musharraf last
November on the pretext of emergency will also
warrant a quick response from the new parliament.
No civilian government in Pakistan can
afford to go soft on terrorism. Unknown suicide
bombers and snipers have killed leaders and
workers from most of the major parties in the
run-up to elections. And no political party can be
more effective in dealing with the Pashtun
militants in tribal areas than the
Pashtun-nationalist ANP. The military operation
against militants will be more focused and
legitimate if it's sanctioned by an elected
government. So far, the exclusively
military-oriented approach to curtail terrorism
has not been successful. Complementing it with a
political component may yield better results.
A long list of challenges lies ahead for
the new civilian government. Many constitutional
issues remain unresolved in Pakistan. The role of
the army in politics is one of them. It will also
have to establish the extent of provincial
autonomy for the federating units, a source of
much discord and violence in the smaller
provinces. Straightening out the web of
distortions Musharraf arbitrarily inserted in the
constitution will also be a difficult but
inescapable task for the elected government.
Meanwhile, Musharraf must not be allowed
to use his illegitimate presidency to derail the
democratic process. Trying to resuscitate the
retired general after his political demise would
not win Washington many friends in Pakistan.
Democracy is not about elections alone; it is
about respecting the verdict of the electorate and
giving them regular opportunity to change their
government. Pakistani politicians may not have a
distinguished record. Most of them do not inspire
much faith or confidence. But, unlike Musharraf,
they are part of the solution to tame the monster
of extremism. It would be in Washington's own
interest to persist with the political process. It
will have to let go of Musharraf.
Najum Mushtaq is a project
director at the Pak Institute for Peace Studies
and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus
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