Anti-Musharraf forces have won the elections in Pakistan. Both Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif have been at the receiving end of Musharraf’s political games. One was thrown into prison, the other was exiled. One can hardly blame them if they now desire to clip the wings of the wily ex-general. Nawaz Sharif has publicly declared that the judges (Justice Iftikhar Chaudhury and co.) who had refused to fall in line at Musharraf’s whims must be re-instated immediately. The country’s powerful lawyers’ lobby has been making a similar demand.
The spoilsport is turning out to be the usual favourite whipping boy in Pakistan, the US (and Britain). Both countries are frowning at such demands. Private meetings have taken place to try and persuade anti-Musharraf forces to drop their demands. The Washington Post attributes this US action due a fossilized mind-set in the Bush administration, which is failing to accept new realities. The real answer is more obvious and rooted in reality.
The US does not want to rock the Musharraf boat till it finds an alternative to him. In the present situation of flux in Pakistan, things are far from clear yet. Zardari and Sharif may have won the elections, but the real power base in the country lies in the army. The man to watch now is Pakistan military chief, General Kayani.
He has adopted a low profile till now. Musharraf had attempted to rig the recent elections so that his favored party, PML (Q), would come back to power, but Kayani had become alarmed at the strong unpopularity of Musharraf and desisted from lending the army for rigging purposes.
The US will wait and watch till the situation crystallizes. The moment it finds that Kayani is willing to play ball and accepts the PPP-PML (Nawaz) government and is also amenable to US advice on policy matters, Musharraf will be dropped.
Source: Independent
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