The main party backing President Pervez Musharraf has admitted defeat in Pakistan's elections .
The two main opposition parties, the PPP of late PM Benazir Bhutto and the PML-N, led by another former PM, Nawaz Sharif, have a clear majority.
Pakistan in the current international situation shouldn’t be ruled by the military or the Islamists as both are a threat to continuing democracy. Pakistan has paid a lot of prices to return to democracy. There have been violent incidents leading to the death of Benazir Bhutto. There should be national reconciliation through the implementation of democratic rules. The winning parties should work together to further stability in the country and not to give an excuse to the military to have full grip of power again or to the Islamists to mount protests and attacks, making the country one of the most dangerous in the region.
From the past events, Pakistan seems a resilient country; in that, despite political upheavals, the situation didn’t generate into a civil war.
Concerning the call for the stepping down of Pt Musharraf, it seems that this will create further tensions as in Pakistan the army isn’t ready for a full withdrawal from politics. Musharraf is now a civilian president but his background is military. There should be a harmonious working field among the basics powers in the country. He as a president can be a bridge between the military and the parties going to form a government.
The Pakistanis should congratulate themselves on having peaceful elections on the voting day after violent incidents prior to it. It seems that Pakistan s an emerging democracy is still far from having a “constitutional presidency” in analogy to constitutional monarchy. Looking for an alternative to Musharraf can just cause a rift between the major parties, as each will try to have one from its ranks.
What can bring full political stability in Pakistan is power sharing between the major parties and president Musharraf. Mounting a campaign to put him out of power can just create more political tension which Pakistan should do without after years of political turmoil.
The Pakistanis have been patient enough to “bear” with him since he came to power in 1999. The current parties should bear with him until he finishes his term for a smooth transition from military rule to democratic one.
1 comment:
It is very true that Musharraf's days are almost over. The haphazard actions by him right now is just to make a last try to keep himself stick to the presidency, otherwise he has lost his force. The moment he took off his Uniform, the next moment he became a toothless lion. At present, any attempt from his side to stick to power would bring anarchy to the country which is already hard hit by the high rise in prices of basic commodities + the scarcity of electricity and natural gas.
I must say that any government which would form after these elections would have to face an extremely tough period. Moreover, the hatred to the allies of Musharraf like PML Q and MQM has aggravated from the passage of time. I am seeing a bad phase of MQM and Mohajirs of Karachi in coming days. God bless Pakistan and specially the city of Karachi.
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