Pakistan’s government is facing numerous challenges to its authority, not least from public anger over everything from growing lawlessness to the state’s perceived failure to disburse aid following the summer’s floods.
Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari seeks to allay fears over the country’s weak democracy, in the midst of heightened rumours of a plan backed by the army to instigate regime change in the face of rapidly growing political and economic uncertainty.
Sitting among a small group of political loyalists at his official residence in the heart of Islamabad, Zardari’s explanation is simple but telling. “Who will want to take charge of Pakistan in this exceptionally challenging situation?” says Zardari, as quoted by one of the visitors.
That point taken, there are other elements working to keep Pakistan on the road to democracy.
General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, head of Pakistan’s army for almost three years, has earned widespread recognition for overseeing the army’s retreat from involvement in civilian life.
Though still central to many of Pakistan’s stabilization efforts, most recently in carrying out relief duties after devastating floods this summer, the army under General Kayani remains back in its barracks. This is a contrast with the situation under General Pervez Musharraf, who relinquished charge in late 2008.
General Musharraf led the military coup of 1999 which seized power from Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister at the time, and began a nine year rule till his decision to step down rather than face impeachment by an elected government.
But two years later, Zardari’s government faces both opportunities and challenges. This team, led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) – which came to power in the 2008 national elections after the December 2007 assassination of PPP’s leader and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto – may still benefit from Pakistan’s political history.
During the country’s 63 years of independence since Pakistan was created in 1947, only one elected prime minister – the late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, founder of the PPP, was able to complete a full tenure as head of the government, in the years up to 1977. But he too was controversially hanged in 1979, two years after a military coup led by the late General Zia ul Haq, on a questionable charge of ordering the assassination of a political foe.
In the words of the late Ms Bhutto, “democracy and its consolidation may be the best revenge [against the military’s rule]”. Fawzia Wahab, a PPP member of the lower house of parliament, the national assembly, argues that the PPP’s biggest achievements have included “laying the course for political consolidation which will be of benefit to Pakistan for all times to come. The democracy that we are strengthening will strengthen Pakistan in the coming years”.
The government suffers from growing challenges to its authority, arising from public anger on issues ranging from the failure of the government to tackle growing lawlessness to its failure to deliver quick emergency assistance to victims of the floods.
A part of the challenge that Pakistan faces in relation to overseeing the rapid disbursement of international assistance for relief and rehabilitation of flood victims is also linked to international concerns over the government’s ability to efficiently deliver the aid.
“There is evidence of lethargy on the part of donors, but this is because many people outside Pakistan feel that the government is not capable of ensuring a smooth and trustworthy delivery of assistance” says a western ambassador based in Islamabad.
Western diplomats say the global community is keen to see the continuation of democracy in Pakistan, convinced that there is no other way of ensuring long-term stability of the nuclear armed country.
Hasan Askari Rizvi, a respected Pakistani commentator on political affairs, says: “We may criticize all that we see going wrong in today’s Pakistan, but that must never take us away from appreciating the big picture. That big picture essentially teaches us that long term policy continuity will only be ensured by successful consolidation of political and democratic institutions.”
Aside from tackling the challenges posed by the floods, Pakistan’s rulers face the continuing issue of confronting hardline militants belonging to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, who have challenged the Pakistani state’s authority since the country joined the US-led “war on terror”.
While the military has taken the lead in flood-related duties, it continues to fight Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, concentrated in the country’s frontier regions along the Afghan border.
Rizvi, however, says that the campaign against militants eventually depends on keeping intact a growing political consensus across Pakistan towards this cause. “The fight is being undertaken by the military but you have to have people on board. The politicians in a democratic framework are best able to deliver this.”—F.B.