Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Pakistan Elects Sharif Prime Minister

Pakistanis voted in huge numbers Saturday to elect a new parliament and prime minister. The Pakistan Muslim League-N appears to be on course for a not-quite majority. Its leader, Nawaz Sharif (the N in the party name stands for "Nawaz"), will move into the PM's house shortly, and talks have begun to assemble a government. It is not a bad result for Pakistan, but the new PM's in-tray is full.

Mr. Sharif was prime minister twice back in the 1990s, and he was removed in a military coup after, among other things, sacking two heads of the military in quick succession. His government was both corrupt and ineffective; he came across as a power-hungry rich brat (his family's steel business makes him the richest man in the country). And yet, the voters decided that he has matured, and many believe his business background is what Pakistan needs to improve its economy.

The best news from the polling places was the strong showing of the Movement for Justice Party, whose leader is the former cricket star Iran Khan. It is in a close race for (distant) second with the Pakistan People's Party. Mr, Khan has vowed to provide an effective opposition, and a strong anti-corruption party is just what the doctor ordered. One would rather have seen Mr. Khan win the election outright, but leading the opposition is progress.

Mr. Sharif will have a lot to deal with as PM. The country suffers from chronic power cuts; no electricity for 12 hours at a stretch is not uncommon. He needs to negotiate a bail-out with the IMF as a payments crisis lies ahead. He must figure out what to do about the Pakistan Taliban (negotiate is his default setting). He must try to convince America to be more responsive to Pakistani concerns in its use of drone attacks in the war on whatever it is America is fighting along the Afghan-Pakistan border. In short, he'll be a busy fellow if he really decides to do the job.

There are two things, however, that are noteworthy here regardless of the outcome of the ballot. First, Pakistan's voters turned up. This week-end, about 80% of them voted. In the last election in 2008, only 44% did. This is a sign that the people believe that their votes counted this time and that the Pakistani people support democracy as a way to provide legitimacy to a government.

And that brings up the second important point. This is the first time since independence that one civilian, elected government has passed power to another civilian elected governmnet. That suggests that the military in Pakistan is too damned powerful. It also suggests that maybe, just maybe, the army is starting to understand that running the country is not its job. It would be good for Pakistan if this proves to be true. Time will tell.

© Copyright 2013 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



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