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Musharraf Exits, What Next?

Kanayalal Raina * 

Finally the suspense is over. Beleaguered Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has stepped down from his office instead of facing impeachment motion in the National Assembly. His bravado all along has proved empty. He had talked of staying put and giving a fight in Parliament. Instead, he has made a rather tame exit. Pervez Musharraf’s resignation as President saved Pakistan a great deal of trouble. It was obvious that no one, absolutely no one, really wanted to drag Musharraf through impeachment proceedings. 

President Musharraf had almost run out of his ‘tenure’ as the CEO of Pakistan. This facilitated the first part of the makeover, namely, the transition to a democratically elected government.  The politicians in Pakistan had been emboldened and inspired by the popular mood in the wake of Bhutto’s assassination, and they did manage to keep out of power the ‘king’s party’. That does not necessarily mean that another takeover by another army chief may unduly discomfit the people in Pakistan who may well fear that the elected governments may not be able to maintain the minimal order essential for daily life to go on. The jargon he has used is all too familiar. 

According to him, he has resigned “in the interest of the country” and for its “dignity”, to rescue it from “further instability and confrontation”, to save Parliament “from horsetrading”, to prevent bitterness in “the relationship between the Presidency and the Government” on the one hand and the “acrimony between Parliament and judiciary” on the other. Of course, he has stated that he never wanted to drag army into this affair. He has relinquished his post even though he is convinced that “no impeachment or chargesheet can stand against me.” The fact is that Gen Musharraf was left with little choice but to go. He had all democratic forces rallied against him. Moreover, the uniformed force of which he had been the member and the leader for long was no more enamoured of him. 

Gen Musharraf had virtually crushed the democratic system with an iron hand. He did spare the media by and large but let loose a reign of oppression against his political rivals.  What proved to be his undoing was his ruthless assault on the judiciary with the aim of taming it. Slowly he found himself cornered from all sides. The United States also was more and more uneasy in having chosen a military ruler as its main ally in the war against Osama bin Laden and his notorious Al Qaeda network.  It too exerted influence on him to read the writing on the wall and involve people in the governance of his country.

What does this episode imply for the neighbouring country? Musharraf’s exit may not augur well for India in the near future because he was adept at keeping the pot from boiling over. He learnt quickly in the wake of the attack on Indian Parliament and drew away in time from what could have been a first class disaster for the sub-continent.

President Musharraf was no friend of India but he was no worse than other democratically elected leaders of Pakistan.

[Kanayalal Raina is a Brampton based engineer by training, project consultant by profession and free lance writer by passion.]