True Colors

5 November 2007



Musharraf Declares State of Emergency in Pakistan

President General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan showed his true colors yesterday in declaring a state of emergency. Police have arrested or placed under house arrest many members of the opposition. Outside the courthouse in Lahore, 1,200 lawyers who had come out to protest the declaration found themselves in jail. Parliamentary elections may be postponed a year. He may be America's ally in the war against al-Qaeda, but he is no democrat.

In response to the move, the US has announced that it will suspend foreign aid to Pakistan, except for military assistance. This is tantamount to doing nothing at all. The military aid goes into the pockets of the General President and his pals. Cutting off the other aid merely hurts the poor of Pakistan.

His contention that the state of emergency is needed to prevent further Islamic militant attacks isn't holding up. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto told American TV over the week-end, “Many people in Pakistan believe that it has nothing to do with stopping terrorism, and it has everything to do with stopping a court verdict that was coming against him.” If the Supreme Court rules against him, the election he recently won could be thrown out – a depressing prospect for a man trying to claim some kind of legitimacy.

Mrs. Bhutto's statement, though, seems to be accurate. MSNBC reports, “Less than 24 hours after the order [the declaration of emergency] was issued, militants in the Afghan border freed 211 captured Pakistani soldiers in exchange for the army's decision to free 28 insurgents, including some allegedly connected to suicide attacks, officials said.” Clearly, they are not a threat to the regime if they are freed so easily.

So where to next? Having climbed up on a throne of bayonets, General President Musharraf is finding it an uncomfortable perch. The clampdown doesn't remove the challenges facing Pakistan; it merely makes it harder to engage the opposition in finding a resolution that doesn't undermine the stability of the nation. It is a short-term solution to the General President's career problems, but it does long-term damage to Pakistan.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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