Dear Editor,
The election of a new Prime Minister and the impending formation of a new government in Pakistan is welcomed. But it is not certain that democratic change will bring stability to Pakistan or reduce that country’s ties with terrorists who have been wreaking havoc in that part of the world. The new proposed government has promised to undertake changes which would be difficult to implement given the intricacies of coalition politics and the role of the military in Pakistan.
It has taken six weeks after holding a general election to find a P.M acceptable to all partners. The new Prime Minister now has the tough job of constructing a cabinet from the broad coalition of opposition political parties that swept the February 18 polls from the Islamic militants.
Yousuf Raza Gilani, a lawyer and confidante to the assassinated Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was elected on Monday as PM Fahim served as Speaker when Bhutto was PM and also served five years in jail. Gilani ordered the release of the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary who has been under house arrest (on orders from general Musharraf) since November 3.
The release of the former Chief Justice is good for the restoration of an independent judiciary. Chaudhary remains enormously popular in Pakistan according to opinion polls while his nemesis Musharraf is the most disliked politician.
However, Chaudhary is not well liked by Washington because he ordered the release of militants who had ties to terrorist groups. That is why General Musharraf toppled him last March but was forced to restore him in July and then toppled him again in November. The new coalition has stated that it intends to restore Chaudhary as the Chief Justice. Chaudhary has said he would like to see a return of the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution in Paki-stan. Lawyers want deposed judges to be restored to their positions. But such a move will threatenMusharraf’s role in office.
Musharraf who was elected President last October will have a difficult time serving as head of state if the government goes ahead and curbs his powers. It is doubtful whether he or even the government can serve their full term in office.
The opposition parties want him out and their legislators chanted “go Musharraf Go” and “Zinda Hai Bhutto, Zinda Hai,” (Bhutto is alive) when Gilani was elected giving a clear indication there is trouble ahead in Pakistan.
No Pakistani government has served its full term in office ever since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was deposed by the army in 1976. So it remains doubtful whether this new elected government would last five years.
Also, some analysts speculate that Gilani is an interim PM serving until Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto, gets elected to the legislature. He is currently a Senator in the nominated Upper House. Only an elected representa-tive of the Lower house can serve as PM.
The newly elected assembly has promised to have a United Nations investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Gilani also plans to pass a resolution apologizing for the “judicial murder” of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. All of these demands would be acceptable to Musharraf and the army but if the new government seeks to curb the powers of the armed forces and if it is unable to reduce the killings from suicide bombings, the army may intervene sooner rather than later in curbing democracy.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
