Jump to content

Pakistan Elections - 2013


Asim

Recommended Posts

General woes in Pakistan

What goes around, comes around. Except if you do dirty deeds wearing the uniform of the Pakistan military. This may also be changing if the experience of former Pakistan president and army chief Pervez Musharraf is anything to go by. Musharraf is now officially the first Pakistani president to have ever been arrested and, arguably of more import, the first military chief to have had the same experience. Musharraf’s own fate in all this pales in comparison to the precedent this has set in a country where judicial independence and civilian oversight of the military are theoretical concepts that exist only in textbooks. This was not supposed to have happened when Musharraf ended his four-year exile and flew back to Pakistan to contest the presidential elections, to be held in May. While the president-general was never clear about what he hoped to accomplish given that he barely registered in the opinion polls, the idea seems to have been that he saw an opportunistic space in the present divide between the incumbent president and the existing military leadership. Instead the only space that he has found has been the vengeful mood the judiciary that Musharraf, as dictator, trod all over in 2007. Unsurprisingly, the Islamabad high court judge who revoked his bail was among the victims of his earlier high-handedness. But what is more impressive is the seeming quiescence of the military to at least the arrest and the spine showed by the judiciary in even going this far. It remains to be seen whether Pakistan will allow it go any further, but this is already a historic development. What it confirms is the slow ebb tide of the military’s political clout since the end of the Musharraf presidency. From once controlling the presidency, judiciary and having both major democratic parties as their supplicants, Rawalpindi is now left to trying to promote curious oddities like cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Musharraf may not have realised how much the wheel had turned. If anything, it did not turn as much to become completely replaced. There will be those who will fear the consequences. Washington, for example, long believed that stability meant only the men in khaki — even if this was at the cost of democracy. However, it has been clear for long that the military was itself the primary source of Pakistan’s instability through its support for militancy and deliberate undermining of every civilian institution in the country. The first step towards correcting that is to force the army back into the barracks and arresting Musharraf is a strong symbol of that being a real possibility. It is true the vacuum a military withdrawal from the Pakistani political scene will create is frightening, but what will emerge cannot be worse than what exists today.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/Editorials/General-woes-in-Pakistan/Article1-1047184.aspx Has the Army really become so weak or is it simply not supporting Musharraff ?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

S_G' date=' I sense the tide is shifting in Pakistan.[/quote'] the tide may be turning but I don't think Imran Khan will get much benefit from it - he still doesn't have a base in much of the country, Zardari & Sharif are established players with party machinery in the entire country and more importantly, they've been at this game much, much longer than Imran and know how to influence voters at the very last moment. Of course I may be completely wrong and he may end up winning a lot of seats but as of now I think its unlikely.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not sure about # of seats but in my opinion Imran Khan will get most % of votes overall, for simple reasons; Khan now have a more than decent vote-bank in almost every region of Pak including whole of KPK and Punjab with many areas of Sindh too... N heavily depends on their candidates, no doubt they have strong and seasoned politicians in almost all of Punjab with few 'adjustments' in other areas, PP's best chances left in Sindh only, Jamat-e-Islami have certain vote bank which never increase/decrease that will be around 8-10 seats, ANP only hopes in KPK, MQM just in Karachi... So Khan can surprise us literally by ANY result which will remain absolutely unpredictable till polls... I think silent majority of voters will play the decisive role...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pakistan government refuses to order Pervez Musharraf treason trial ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's caretaker government on Monday refused to put former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on trial for treason, telling the Supreme Court that it was beyond its mandate. The move will provide at least temporary breathing room to Musharraf, who is now under house arrest in connection with one of three other cases dating back to his 1999-2008 period in office, being heard in the lower courts. The interim administration took office last month, guiding the nuclear-armed country of 180 million towards historic general elections on May 11. It will step down after the new, elected government takes office. "Considering, deliberating or commencing any legal proceedings pursuant to Article 6 of the constitution will be a measure not in the mandate of the caretaker government for the following," it said in a statement to the court. The statement was read out as the Supreme Court hears a petition from lawyers demanding that Musharraf face trial for treason for subverting the constitution. In Pakistan only the state can initiate charges of treason, which carry the death penalty. The government said it needed "to confine their work to day-to-day routine matters" and "maintain the status quo" for the incoming elected government. "As per the said practices, the caretaker government should avoid taking any controversial step and should not commit any process that is not reversible by the incoming elected government," it added. ToI

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...