It is common sense that an intoxicated mind can not make good decision. It is also said that power intoxicates and absolute power intoxicates absolutely. Apparently that is what happened when the President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf assumed that he can once again use the constitution to his advantage to depose the Chief Justice (CJ) of Pakistan to ensure his smooth re-election by the present assemblies for next 5 years. But he under estimated the reaction from the CJ as well as media and the legal community. That error in judgment was further fuelled by his puppet ministers equally intoxicated by the power derived from the military government.
When the situation went out of hand so much so that an attack was carried out at the media outlets the President decided to come forward and clarify the situation. After listening to the interview it is apparent that the soldier has truly transformed into a politician.
During the interview when asked about the reference against the CJ. The President complained that the opposition has tried to convert a judicial situation into a political struggle. First of all it is widely believed that General Musharraf took action against the CJ because he was perceived as too independent for the comfort of the government. It is also believed that General decided to get rid of the CJ to ensure his re-election by the present assemblies. If these scenarios are true then the action taken against the CJ has political motives and it is the right of the opposition to raise hue and cry against this action. In democracies opposition role is to operate as a counter balance to the sitting government.
During the interview General Musharraf has categorically denied that the present situation will not be allowed to get out of hand so that a state of emergency is imposed and army is called out. He also said that army has nothing got to do with politics. How can these words be true when he himself is wearing a military uniform signifying the military involvement in the government? To symbolize the true power of the army in the affairs of state he went so far as to meet the CJ in military uniform at the army camp office on March 9th before filing the reference against him. If he truly believes army should not have any role in politics then he should first give up his military uniform and second ensure future generals do not abrogate the constitution in any situation.
He has promised the nation that he will follow the law of the land and the constitution. If these words are to be true then he should resign from his current position as the President of the country as he took over the power from a constitutionally elected government. How can it be possible that a person so eager to defend the constitution abrogate it on October 12, 1999?
He also mentioned that US Vice President and Secretary of Defense only came on fact finding missions to meet him in Pakistan. He did not care to elaborate what were those facts and what clarifications were provided. In diplomatic language fact finding is the cover word for pressuring a government.
He commented during the interview that he believe the next elections will be fair and transparent. It is important to note that he did not make any effort to assure the nation that he will make sure the elections are transparent and fair.
He also mentioned on many times, during the interview, that the country is surrounded by dangers from all sides and it is the question of the nation’s survival. These are the same words we hear from politicians when they know they have lost the grass root support and want to inspire the nationalist sentiment from the nation to gain support.
Running a government is not a task for a light hearted person. It is difficult to run an ethnically diverse country like Pakistan which is also facing dangers from all sides. But to do this task requires a leader of Allama Iqbal and Quaid-e-Azam’s vision and resolve. To be able to achieve that depth in vision a person has to go beyond the self and form an ideology that can become a guiding light for the nation.
A person who is inspired by personal ambition would have to make compromises to maintain their grip on power. General Musharraf when he assumed power promised many things including police reforms, educational reforms and political reforms. But no progress has been made on any of these fronts. Police reforms 2002 were abandoned a year before their planned implementation. Education reforms never materialized while Pakistan became the country with lowest child enrollment in all of Asia. This means that our next generation will also be illiterate. One sign of a committed to a cause is that the government allocate higher resources to it. During Musharraf regime government has spent over 200 billion rupees on defense while the education budget has been rupees 14 billion. Economic reforms resulted in Pakistan slipping from 169th position to 172nd position on the world poverty index. And Political reforms resulted in a constitutional amendment that allowed Musharraf to keep his military uniform while assuming the office of the President of Pakistan.
We can not progress as a nation unless we stop accepting hollow words from our leaders. Leaders should be made accountable for their promises. General Musharraf is not different than other politician willing to bend the rules to get political advantage. Over the years army has emerged as the largest and most organized political party in the country. It is difficult for weaker political parties to beat this political opponent unless they really believe in the democracy and implement it in their parties first.
Rule of constitution
March 25, 2007 at 4:50 pm · Filed under Political Commentary
It is common sense that an intoxicated mind can not make good decision. It is also said that power intoxicates and absolute power intoxicates absolutely. Apparently that is what happened when the President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf assumed that he can once again use the constitution to his advantage to depose the Chief Justice (CJ) of Pakistan to ensure his smooth re-election by the present assemblies for next 5 years. But he under estimated the reaction from the CJ as well as media and the legal community. That error in judgment was further fuelled by his puppet ministers equally intoxicated by the power derived from the military government.
When the situation went out of hand so much so that an attack was carried out at the media outlets the President decided to come forward and clarify the situation. After listening to the interview it is apparent that the soldier has truly transformed into a politician.
During the interview when asked about the reference against the CJ. The President complained that the opposition has tried to convert a judicial situation into a political struggle. First of all it is widely believed that General Musharraf took action against the CJ because he was perceived as too independent for the comfort of the government. It is also believed that General decided to get rid of the CJ to ensure his re-election by the present assemblies. If these scenarios are true then the action taken against the CJ has political motives and it is the right of the opposition to raise hue and cry against this action. In democracies opposition role is to operate as a counter balance to the sitting government.
During the interview General Musharraf has categorically denied that the present situation will not be allowed to get out of hand so that a state of emergency is imposed and army is called out. He also said that army has nothing got to do with politics. How can these words be true when he himself is wearing a military uniform signifying the military involvement in the government? To symbolize the true power of the army in the affairs of state he went so far as to meet the CJ in military uniform at the army camp office on March 9th before filing the reference against him. If he truly believes army should not have any role in politics then he should first give up his military uniform and second ensure future generals do not abrogate the constitution in any situation.
He has promised the nation that he will follow the law of the land and the constitution. If these words are to be true then he should resign from his current position as the President of the country as he took over the power from a constitutionally elected government. How can it be possible that a person so eager to defend the constitution abrogate it on October 12, 1999?
He also mentioned that US Vice President and Secretary of Defense only came on fact finding missions to meet him in Pakistan. He did not care to elaborate what were those facts and what clarifications were provided. In diplomatic language fact finding is the cover word for pressuring a government.
He commented during the interview that he believe the next elections will be fair and transparent. It is important to note that he did not make any effort to assure the nation that he will make sure the elections are transparent and fair.
He also mentioned on many times, during the interview, that the country is surrounded by dangers from all sides and it is the question of the nation’s survival. These are the same words we hear from politicians when they know they have lost the grass root support and want to inspire the nationalist sentiment from the nation to gain support.
Running a government is not a task for a light hearted person. It is difficult to run an ethnically diverse country like Pakistan which is also facing dangers from all sides. But to do this task requires a leader of Allama Iqbal and Quaid-e-Azam’s vision and resolve. To be able to achieve that depth in vision a person has to go beyond the self and form an ideology that can become a guiding light for the nation.
A person who is inspired by personal ambition would have to make compromises to maintain their grip on power. General Musharraf when he assumed power promised many things including police reforms, educational reforms and political reforms. But no progress has been made on any of these fronts. Police reforms 2002 were abandoned a year before their planned implementation. Education reforms never materialized while Pakistan became the country with lowest child enrollment in all of Asia. This means that our next generation will also be illiterate. One sign of a committed to a cause is that the government allocate higher resources to it. During Musharraf regime government has spent over 200 billion rupees on defense while the education budget has been rupees 14 billion. Economic reforms resulted in Pakistan slipping from 169th position to 172nd position on the world poverty index. And Political reforms resulted in a constitutional amendment that allowed Musharraf to keep his military uniform while assuming the office of the President of Pakistan.
We can not progress as a nation unless we stop accepting hollow words from our leaders. Leaders should be made accountable for their promises. General Musharraf is not different than other politician willing to bend the rules to get political advantage. Over the years army has emerged as the largest and most organized political party in the country. It is difficult for weaker political parties to beat this political opponent unless they really believe in the democracy and implement it in their parties first.
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