Who Said Musharraf Was a Democrat?

Prediction: Unless he's forced out by his military cohorts pre-emptively, Pervez Musharraf will retire as Army chief, take the oath of office for another five-year term, this time technically as a civilian president, and hold parliamentary elections as planned Jan. 8th.

The hullabaloo over Musharraf's declaration of emergency in Pakistan has been both amusing and absurd. When did Musharraf say he was a democrat? When he seized power in a coup? When he forced political feudals Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif into exile? When he manipulated parliamentary elections and installed a hand-picked prime minister?

The United States and the rest of the West is behind Musharraf for one reason: to try to contain the germination of jihadis. The democracy agenda was always a subtext.

One thing is sure. Were Musharraf to fall in the current crisis, it would not signal the advent of democracy. The Army would remain Pakistan's primary political force, and insist on continued dominant influence given the country's precarious security problem in the West.

I personally would be more impressed with Bhutto and Sharif's expressions of dismay if they demonstrated that they are not all about selfish aspirations, and passed their respective mantles on to untainted party colleagues. For instance, Bhutto could anoint Aitzaz Ahsan, the leader of the pro-democracy lawyer's movement.

Short of such selflessness, Pakistan remains a snake pit. And the West might curb its sanctimony over Musharraf's alleged perfidy regarding who he was.

Photo: Chadmill
Rights: Creative Commons