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Will Musharraf keep his word?

Soon we’ll see if Musharraf is a man of his word

Christina Lamb

Wednesday, 7th November 2007

The President of Pakistan has promised true democracy

A year ago a Washington think-tank brought together officials from the Pentagon, State Department and CIA to war-game a series of hypothetical crises in which Musharraf was toppled. Most felt the army would still have a role in running the country. But none of them had any idea on key questions such as whether the military could hold the country together or whether a post-Musharraf regime would be pro- or anti-West.

Before his latest move, Musharraf may also have war-gamed the US, as he says in his memoir he did after 9/11. If he did, he probably thought the West need him more than vice versa. In his Saturday night address to the nation, he switched to English from his native Urdu to appeal to his Western allies. ‘Please do not expect or demand your level of democracy which you have learnt over a number of centuries’, he said. ‘We are also trying to learn, please give us time.’

But initially muted responses from London and Washington have turned into threats to cut off aid. In a meeting with diplomats Musharraf pledged to go ahead with parliamentary elections in January. The world will soon see if he is a man of his word. For elections to take place in January, he must dissolve Parliament next week. After all, this is the same man who, on seizing power in October 1999, declared: ‘The armed forces have no intention to stay in charge any longer than is absolutely necessary to pave the way for true democracy to flourish in Pakistan.’

Christina Lamb is foreign affairs correspondent for the Sunday Times.

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sumant rawat

November 14th, 2007 3:53am

I agree with the previous comment but have a slightly different take.Pakistan has a divide that its populace brushes under the rug and those unfamiliar with the subcontinent cannot see.It is the divide between the inherently tribal,xenophobic and medieval Pashtun mindset and the more liberal mindset with roots in the pagan culture of the subcontinent.The most obvious sign is that 60 years after independence the areas that are predominantly Pashtun are the 'Northwest Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Area' not Pakhtunistan.Among the many reasons for the failure of democracy to take root is the cultural divide between the Pashtuns and non Pashtuns.The Taliban is merely a name the Pashtuns have adopted to militantly pursue what they have since the days Ahmad Shah Abdali an escape from the relentless change imposed by the outside world.

Geoff

November 18th, 2007 2:56pm

Musharraf is Pakistans only hope. Bhutto et al will destroy any hope of democracy in their rush for money and islamic control. Most Pakistanis are quietly staying out of this and getting on with their lives - much improved since the military took charge. All of the politicians and media in the UK exercising their adolescent student views of what democracy can be in those kind of countries need to wake up before they hand the nuclear bombs over to the Pashtuns.

Jay Wilson

November 30th, 2007 8:41am

I have to wonder where Christina Lamb gets her 'inside' information and suspect that it is from the Bhutto camp. Of course she neglects to mention that the former Supreme Court handed the Red Mosque right back to the family of its former extremist mullahs. Geoff and Sumant have some useful things to say in the other comments.

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