08-14-2008, 08:54 AM
Editorial: Thinking of the post-Musharraf era
Everybody thinks President Pervez Musharraf has no way to go but resign from office. Some think he is going to announce his decision to bow out on Thursday (today). Newspapers are reporting on the advice being offered to him: most of it is in favour of resigning. Then there are variations on the theme. One advice is that he should apologise to the nation for sacking the judges and reinstate them before he leaves, probably as a way of seeking âsafe passageâ. Another is that he should restore the judges and then abide by their verdict on the legitimacy of his office.
The political parties heretofore reluctant to condemn the president are now thinking of joining the impeachers simply because they have to think of the post-Musharraf period and their own political survival. One such is the Pakistan Peopleâs Party (Sherpao) or PPPS which has thrown in the towel after a period of staying aloof from the impeachment move. The PMLQ is verbally manning the presidentâs barricade but is split down the middle as more and more âforward blocsâ emerge in the provinces, all politicians, thinking of their post-Musharraf âadjustmentsâ.
The impeaching parties are praising the army, and if the army detects in it a whiff of hypocrisy, one canât blame the army. After the army signalled it was going to stand aside from the bruising fracas, it became clear to everyone that the president wonât be able to sack the government and the parliament. Even the presidentâs own PMLQ thereafter took a stance against the use of Article 58-2(b). The others began issuing statements in favour of the praiseworthy role of the army. The noise of impeachment went up a few decibels and some people began to add Article 6 to the impeachment, meaning that he could be tried for treason and hanged.
There is no doubt that President Musharraf has to go and it is better if he stands down himself. We have said this many times before. Unfortunately the option of resigning is being used by the impeachers too: âif you resign on your own you can get a safe passage from usâ. Everyone feels that the Musharraf era is over. But no one is actually in the mood to see what it is going to be like to be in the post-Musharraf era. One glimpse of it came on Tuesday when the Taliban announced that they had killed 13 innocent people in Peshawar by blowing up a Pakistan Air Force bus. The message was that the army should retreat from Bajaur if it wants to avoid further targeting of its personnel.
The charge-sheet issued against President Musharraf by Al Qaeda contained many items that the new order after him may be forced to favour under media pressure. For instance, the demands of the Lal Masjid vigilantes may be increasingly conceded by the parties that will take over from President Musharraf. The government and its allies will also be faced with an anti-American backlash in the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqi. As the politicians retreat in the face of âour Taliban brothersâ, and the army becomes increasingly the only entity fighting them, Pakistanâs post-Musharraf era will become more threatening. And, in contrast, the Musharraf era will start looking good.
Countries which felt âbetrayedâ by President Musharraf are being cautious because they can guess that the future is not good. The United States felt short-changed by him when it discovered that he was clandestinely supporting the Taliban; India went into the ânormalisationâ process in 2004 but soon discovered that President Musharraf was not ready to go all the way. So now a kind of proxy war of explosions and blasts is going on with India, and American missiles are increasingly targeting Pakistani territory. However, India has warned that âMusharrafâs exit may give the militants more freedomâ. So the irony in the situation is obvious: as we welcome the post-Musharraf era, the outside world is getting jittery by the day.
Nor is the economy going to get better just because we are rid of Musharraf. In fact problems may arise if, to please the masses, the government tries to change the external political alliances that had pepped up the economy. President Musharraf had aligned the country in such a way after 9/11 that, at the risk of infuriating the people, he had brought in external assistance to kick-start an economy sunk by the grand national gesture of testing the nuclear device in 1998. The fear is that in the coming days, our obsession with ânational honourâ â which we think we lost under President Musharraf â might satisfy itself by destroying an already troubled economy.
The ecstasy produced by the ritual of immolating President Musharraf is going to wear off pretty quickly in the post-Musharraf era. At this juncture, we should pause to ask whether we are not all becoming a collection of angry posses with single-item agendas. It is dangerous that, at the end of our âstruggleâ, there is the lone figure of Pervez Musharraf tied to a stake. Tunnel vision is no vision. *
Second Editorial: Freedom for the media
The information minister, Sherry Rehman, should be complimented for not losing much time before fulfilling her pledge to change the Press, Newspapers, News Agencies, and Books Registration law and restore the freedom it had taken away from the countryâs media last year. The law was clamped as a curb on November 7, 2007, to prevent the expression of dissent and negative reporting on President Musharraf. What the 2007 amendment took away were many of the freedoms granted in 2002 through an ordinance.
Broadcasting and publishing are two crucial ingredients of a dynamic society. Any fetters placed on them damage the prospects of a people moving forward. However, at the same time, broadcasters and publishers should respond positively to the governmentâs intent to restore the freedoms earlier taken away. To write cynically, showing distrust and contempt, is not the right response. There is no doubt that Ms Rehmanâs initiative is a positive step and we should all welcome it. Additionally we should ask all journalists â electronic and print both â to show professionalism and watch their language when they feel themselves going over-board. *
Everybody thinks President Pervez Musharraf has no way to go but resign from office. Some think he is going to announce his decision to bow out on Thursday (today). Newspapers are reporting on the advice being offered to him: most of it is in favour of resigning. Then there are variations on the theme. One advice is that he should apologise to the nation for sacking the judges and reinstate them before he leaves, probably as a way of seeking âsafe passageâ. Another is that he should restore the judges and then abide by their verdict on the legitimacy of his office.
The political parties heretofore reluctant to condemn the president are now thinking of joining the impeachers simply because they have to think of the post-Musharraf period and their own political survival. One such is the Pakistan Peopleâs Party (Sherpao) or PPPS which has thrown in the towel after a period of staying aloof from the impeachment move. The PMLQ is verbally manning the presidentâs barricade but is split down the middle as more and more âforward blocsâ emerge in the provinces, all politicians, thinking of their post-Musharraf âadjustmentsâ.
The impeaching parties are praising the army, and if the army detects in it a whiff of hypocrisy, one canât blame the army. After the army signalled it was going to stand aside from the bruising fracas, it became clear to everyone that the president wonât be able to sack the government and the parliament. Even the presidentâs own PMLQ thereafter took a stance against the use of Article 58-2(b). The others began issuing statements in favour of the praiseworthy role of the army. The noise of impeachment went up a few decibels and some people began to add Article 6 to the impeachment, meaning that he could be tried for treason and hanged.
There is no doubt that President Musharraf has to go and it is better if he stands down himself. We have said this many times before. Unfortunately the option of resigning is being used by the impeachers too: âif you resign on your own you can get a safe passage from usâ. Everyone feels that the Musharraf era is over. But no one is actually in the mood to see what it is going to be like to be in the post-Musharraf era. One glimpse of it came on Tuesday when the Taliban announced that they had killed 13 innocent people in Peshawar by blowing up a Pakistan Air Force bus. The message was that the army should retreat from Bajaur if it wants to avoid further targeting of its personnel.
The charge-sheet issued against President Musharraf by Al Qaeda contained many items that the new order after him may be forced to favour under media pressure. For instance, the demands of the Lal Masjid vigilantes may be increasingly conceded by the parties that will take over from President Musharraf. The government and its allies will also be faced with an anti-American backlash in the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqi. As the politicians retreat in the face of âour Taliban brothersâ, and the army becomes increasingly the only entity fighting them, Pakistanâs post-Musharraf era will become more threatening. And, in contrast, the Musharraf era will start looking good.
Countries which felt âbetrayedâ by President Musharraf are being cautious because they can guess that the future is not good. The United States felt short-changed by him when it discovered that he was clandestinely supporting the Taliban; India went into the ânormalisationâ process in 2004 but soon discovered that President Musharraf was not ready to go all the way. So now a kind of proxy war of explosions and blasts is going on with India, and American missiles are increasingly targeting Pakistani territory. However, India has warned that âMusharrafâs exit may give the militants more freedomâ. So the irony in the situation is obvious: as we welcome the post-Musharraf era, the outside world is getting jittery by the day.
Nor is the economy going to get better just because we are rid of Musharraf. In fact problems may arise if, to please the masses, the government tries to change the external political alliances that had pepped up the economy. President Musharraf had aligned the country in such a way after 9/11 that, at the risk of infuriating the people, he had brought in external assistance to kick-start an economy sunk by the grand national gesture of testing the nuclear device in 1998. The fear is that in the coming days, our obsession with ânational honourâ â which we think we lost under President Musharraf â might satisfy itself by destroying an already troubled economy.
The ecstasy produced by the ritual of immolating President Musharraf is going to wear off pretty quickly in the post-Musharraf era. At this juncture, we should pause to ask whether we are not all becoming a collection of angry posses with single-item agendas. It is dangerous that, at the end of our âstruggleâ, there is the lone figure of Pervez Musharraf tied to a stake. Tunnel vision is no vision. *
Second Editorial: Freedom for the media
The information minister, Sherry Rehman, should be complimented for not losing much time before fulfilling her pledge to change the Press, Newspapers, News Agencies, and Books Registration law and restore the freedom it had taken away from the countryâs media last year. The law was clamped as a curb on November 7, 2007, to prevent the expression of dissent and negative reporting on President Musharraf. What the 2007 amendment took away were many of the freedoms granted in 2002 through an ordinance.
Broadcasting and publishing are two crucial ingredients of a dynamic society. Any fetters placed on them damage the prospects of a people moving forward. However, at the same time, broadcasters and publishers should respond positively to the governmentâs intent to restore the freedoms earlier taken away. To write cynically, showing distrust and contempt, is not the right response. There is no doubt that Ms Rehmanâs initiative is a positive step and we should all welcome it. Additionally we should ask all journalists â electronic and print both â to show professionalism and watch their language when they feel themselves going over-board. *