My agenda for Powell: dump the dictator, talk democracy

[Guest guest]

My agenda for Powell: dump the dictator, talk democracy

Benazir Bhutto

Democracies don't fight wars or promote international terrorism.

During the Pakistan leg of his South Asian visit, empowering the

Pakistani people should be at the top of US Secretary of State Colin

Powell's agenda.

 

Since September 11, the international community has focused on

eradicating the Taliban regime, destroying Al Qaeda, building a

stable government in Afghanistan and reducing tensions between

nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. While the world community dealt

with the threat from Al Qaeda and its worldwide cells, Pakistan's

coup leader General Musharraf's junta was steadily eroding

Pakistan's democratic institutions. With elections for a new

Parliament scheduled for October 10, the military regime is ensuring

that the electoral outcomes are predetermined. Exploiting

Afghanistan's strategic importance to the United States, it aims to

consolidate dictatorship through massive rigging of Pakistan's

electoral process.

---

-----------

 

Aimed at securing freedom, the US-led war against terror is

undermined when the consequences are dictatorship for the very

people on whose doorstep the forces of extremism have gathered

strength

 

---

-----------

 

As friendly as General Musharraf may have been to America's War on

Terrorism, he has failed to offer hope to the masses of

disenfranchised in Pakistan. The perception that he is a foreign

backed dictator who cares little for the Pakistani peoples' rights

is disturbing. The war against terror is aimed at securing freedom.

It is undermined when the consequences are dictatorship for the very

people on whose doorstep the forces of extremism gathered strength

during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

 

Secretary Powell's visit allows the United States the opportunity to

support the democratic and fundamental rights of Pakistanis. These

rights are the tools which can marginalise the forces of extremism.

 

Specifically, Powell should:

1 Ask Musharraf to withdraw controversial constitutional amendments

stealing power from the legislature and concentrating it in an

individual. Giving the President's dictatorial powers including the

unilateral dismissal of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and

parliament without elections is a prescription for extremism.

 

2 Establish an international election monitoring force ensuring that

the elections on October 10 are transparent and open to all parties

and candidates. The General's officials are personally intimidating

opposition candidates and using a new absentee law decreed with

retrospective effect to disenfranchise popular choices. During the

recent referendum to elect the President, the military regime

allowed eight year-olds to vote while commandeering busloads of

coerced ``citizens'' to different polling stations for voting

numerous times in numerous places.

 

3 Pressurise Musharraf to free political prisoners and allow the

return of political exiles who are victims of a discredited and

politically motivated process. The so called accountability law is a

farce. Those joining Musharraf are freed—even when convicted—and

allowed back home. Those not convicted are kept under arrest even

when freed by courts by inflicting new charges against them.

 

 

---

-----------

 

Pakistan has all the conditions for becoming a breeding ground for

terrorism unless the world supports the building of a society based

on tolerance and democracy. Pakistanis, when they have been given

the opportunity in brief interludes of democratic rule, opposed

policies that promoted extremism in Afghanistan and tension with

India

 

---

-----------

 

Secretary Powell can make it clear that the world's greatest

democracy predicates future financial support to the holding of

transparent and internationally verified elections that respect the

political and human rights of the Pakistani people.

 

Security in South Asia—and as September 11 showed, security for the

world—is in grave jeopardy. Pakistan has the conditions that make it

a breeding ground for terrorism. It will continue to be so for years—

unless the international community supports the building of a

society based on pluralism, tolerance and democracy. Only a

democratic Pakistan can eradicate the forces of extremism, militancy

and terrorism. The Pakistani people, when given the opportunity in

brief interludes of democratic rule, consistently opposed policies

that promoted extremism in Afghanistan and tension with India.

 

Militants are regrouping in Pakistan. Since their defeat in Kabul

last year, a series of devastating suicide attacks has taken place

in Pakistan. The decline of the politics of extremism, militancy and

terrorism is necessary for South Asian domestic peace and stability.

Political parties can play an important role in mobilising public

opinion in this direction.

 

Political parties represent the broader public beyond the Army, the

man on the street. Moreover, the brief interludes of true

representative rule saw poverty diminish and the standard of living

improve. Reining in poverty and giving hope tackles the causes of

anger and frustration that can be exploited in a deadly manner.

 

Washington may see the military best-placed to orchestrate the

crackdown against extremists in Pakistan. Washington could also see

that without public involvement, the administrative clampdown could

turn into an empty victory.

 

As the Presidential referendum held in April demonstrated, public

discontent in Pakistan is high. A representative Parliament provides

the right forum for involving people in the national debate. It

makes them participants in the direction of their own destiny. A

rigged electoral process plays into the hands of the militants.

 

Moreover, under Musharraf's writ, the militants manage to calibrate

events on the troubled Afghan and Kashmir borders. When the bombing

on Tora Bora gets heavy, or when the noose on Al Qaeda tightens in

Pakistan's tribal areas, a militant strike complicates relations

with India.

 

Islamabad faces a grave crisis that needs overcoming with

international support as well as domestic involvement. The Musharraf

regime held unrestrained power for nearly three years. They coddled

the Taliban until President George Bush asked countries to count

as ``friends or foes''. Their leadership coincided with nearly three

military conflicts with India over disputed Kashmir.

 

The world walked away from Afghanistan when the Soviets withdrew in

1989 without promoting the politics of consensus. That neglect

contributed to the rise of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The world could

learn the lessons of history and determine to support the

restoration of democracy through the holding of transparent

elections in Pakistan.