Pakistan is in a state of sheer chaos. President/General/Dictator Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency last week, suspending the constitution, eliminating independent media and sending police officers into the Pakistani Supreme Court building before sacking the independent-minded chief justice. Since Saturday, Pakistan has seen massive demonstrations against Musharraf. Thousands have been beaten and arrested by Pakistani police and soldiers.
Pervez Musharraf became the leader of Pakistan in a 1999 coup, overthrowing a very unpopular and corrupt civilian leader. Since then, he has pledged to make Pakistan democratic but has dragged his feet every step of the way. He has broken promises to give up his military post and still serves both as the military and political leader. In the past year or so, things have taken a turn for the worse. Musharraf is unwilling to give up any iota of his power, and the Pakistani population is starting to rebel against him.
Musharraf had already suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in March, but massive protests from his country’s lawyers forced him to reinstate Chaudhry to his post in July. Last month, Musharraf was just re-elected to another five-year term as president, but the Pakistani Supreme Court has been reviewing the legitimacy of his victory ever since, questioning whether the parliament who re-elected him was eligible to do so.
Though he’s pledged to step down as army chief if he were re-elected, he has been waiting for the Supreme Court to confirm him as the legitimate victor before doing so. Afterward, he would most likely enter a power-sharing deal with popular former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who just returned to Pakistan last month.
There’s no way around it: Pervez Musharraf is a cruel military dictator who is using force against his own people to keep his tenuous grip on power. That being said, despite the actions of the past week, I still support him.
Musharraf is too important to the United States and the world for us to turn our back on him. After Sept. 11, Musharraf, a one-time Taliban supporter, did an about-face to become the United States’ most important ally in the war against terrorism. He has helped to track down and arrest Al Qaeda operatives in his country. Even in light of Musharraf’s most recent undemocratic actions, President Bush has reaffirmed his support for the Pakistani leader while urging the general to hold elections and step down from his military post.
Though Pakistan under Musharraf has done a mediocre-at-best job at pursuing terrorists, it’s certainly better than not trying at all. The unrest caused by these Islamic militants is the official reason for Musharraf’s state of emergency. His support for the United States has led to a number of assassination attempts. There is nothing that these terrorists would like more than to see Musharraf gone, freeing up a chance for them to run wild in the nuclear-armed Pakistan.
The pandemonium in Pakistan is terrible, and I hope Musharraf is able to return to ruling a civil, democratic country. But if I have to choose between a Pakistan without a strong leader and a Musharraf dictatorial regime, then for the good of the United States and the world, it has to be Musharraf the dictator.
No comments:
Post a Comment