It is very difficult to know the true intentions of Pakistani politicians. Given the intense domestic and international spotlight on President Musharraf for imposing emergency, it is hard to conclude whether the President’s decision is a self-destructing one or it has some hidden political agenda.
Over the last few days the opposition led by Benazir Bhutto has gained a lot of support - international and domestic - to bring back democracy in Pakistan, but the wily president seems to take all the protests and condemnations in his stride to achieve what he desires most.
The admission of President Musharraf to quit his army post at the end of November is a sign that the battle-hardened general is close to his political achievement. Many analysts are suggesting that the emergency is giving Musharraf the chance to completely revamp the Supreme Court by installing his loyalists as the judges who would rule the validity of the September election results.
From the very beginning President Musharraf has set a condition that if he is elected as the president for the next five years, he would be ready to shed his army uniform. But, Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhury along with the other previous Supreme Court judges seemed to have other ideas. Sensing this, the beleaguered President had no other option but to call an emergency although he provides a completely different reason for the withdrawal of constitution (to combat militancy is the President’s reason for calling emergency).
Now it is getting quite clear that with the emergency in place, Musharraf with the help of his changed Supreme Court would be sworn in as a civilian President. As all private news channels are off the air due to the emergency, hardly any news of the ongoing violence in the country’s North-west would come in and the Pakistani authorities will be able to justify the emergency as a means to curb Islamic terrorism, the reason is to prevent news of the country’s instability enter the ears of the domestic and international population.
President Musharraf’s continuous defiance of intense domestic and international call to restore democracy comes from the fact that America’s reaction to the emergency has been largely subdued, limited to vague calls for lifting the emergency. The Pakistani President also knows that given Washington’s massive military interests in the region, Musharraf is the only man who can help the US protect those interests.
Image Link: International Herald Tribune
source Link: MSNBC
