After Democratic Defeat What Next for Musharraf?
I received a call late on President’s day from a Pakistani friend wanting to let me know that the people of his country had clearly rejected the Bush administration’s favorite General in favor of a democratic alternative, simultaneously marking the beginning of the restoration of democracy in Pakistan and leaving U.S.-Pakistani policy in tatters.
As readers of this blog know, I have been focusing a fair bit of time and energy on U.S.-Pakistani policy and in the aftermath of these elections I could not help but wonder what the post-election dynamics would look like.
It did not shock me too much to hear President (former General) Musharraf suggest that he would not be leaving the scene on the basis of these elections — he suggests that he wants to help Pakistan transition.
What is interesting is that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) has agreed to support a Pakistani Peoples Party led coalition government if, it seems, three conditions are met — restoration of the Chief Justice and other Judges fired by Musharraf, the installation of a senior lawyer (and prominent PPP member) as the new Prime Minister and the impeachment of Musharraf.
It is critical that the U.S. administration encourages its friend, Musharraf, to rapidly leave the scene. A game of brinksmanship between the President of Pakistan and the man he deposed, Nawaz Sharif, does no one any good. The new Pakistani government has much work to do — Musharraf must step aside and let them begin the hard work of governing.
Related posts:
[...] Free Press News Services quotes Senator Joseph Biden, who sees the election results as a chance to reshape U.S. policy: “This is an opportunity for us to move from a policy that has been focused on a personality to one based on an entire people.” The Christian Science Monitor urges the U.S. to use this opportunity to assist the country, arguing for more non-military efforts aimed at economic development. The International Herald Tribune calls on Bush to quickly reach out to Pakistan’s newly elected parliamentary leaders, many of whom resent the United States for its uncritical support of Musharraf, while others like Raj Purohit at Partnership for a Secure America, urge Bush to ask Musharraf to “quickly leave the scene.” [...]
Pingback on February 21, 2008 @ 1:46 pm
[...] Last week Raj Purohit wrote that now that the Pakistani electorate has clearly rejected the status quo that it is time for Musharraf to step aside. While I agree that the long term outlook for Pakistan would be much improved if Musharraf were listen to the will of the electorate, I think that we all must admit that the likelihood of him stepping down is fairly remote. Although Musharraf’s party lost the parliamentary elections, thanks to his stacking of the court, he claims that he still legally can remain in power. Until Musharraf loses the confidence of the military, we’re likely to see him in power for the foreseeable future. No, I’m not happy with that reality, but I also recognize that US policy towards Pakistan is unlikely to force Musharraf from power. If we focus our attention primarily on the removal of Musharraf, I fear that we are setting ourselves up for failure. [...]
Pingback on February 26, 2008 @ 10:59 am