Pakistan’s Dictator

[ProSense]

Pakistan’s Dictator

Published: June 11, 2007

If Gen. Pervez Musharraf were the democratic leader he indignantly insists he is, he would not be so busy threatening independent news outlets, arresting hundreds of opposition politicians and berating parliamentary leaders and ministers from his own party for insufficient loyalty to his arbitrary and widely unpopular policies.

But nobody takes General Musharraf’s democratic claims seriously anymore, except for the Bush administration, which has put itself in the embarrassing position of propping up the Muslim world’s most powerful military dictator as an essential ally in its half-baked campaign to promote democracy throughout the Muslim world. Washington needs to disentangle America, quickly, from the general’s damaging embrace.

Ever since his high-handed dismissal of the country’s independent-minded chief justice in March, the general has been busily digging himself into an ever deeper political hole.

Last week, he issued a decree giving himself increased powers to shut down independent television channels, but under mounting pressure he withdrew it over the weekend. More than 300 local political leaders in Punjab were arrested in an effort to head off protests against the decree. Still, thousands of lawyers, journalists and political activists gathered to protest the firing, the censorship and the general’s continued rule. Pakistan seems to be rapidly approaching a critical turning point, with a choice between intensified repression and instability or an orderly transition back to democratic rule.

Were Washington now to begin distancing itself from the general, it would greatly encourage civic-minded Pakistanis to step up the pressure for free national elections. That’s a process the chief justice was trying to make possible when he was fired. And that is what Pakistan’s last two democratically elected leaders — Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif — are both campaigning for from abroad. The United States should be supporting these efforts, not continuing to make excuses for General Musharraf.

Pakistan has its share of violent Islamic extremists, military and civilian. But they are clearly in the minority. The best hope for diluting their political, and geopolitical, influence lies not in heating the pressure cooker of repression, but in promoting the earliest possible democratic elections.

US to maintain close links with Musharraf despite criticism

50 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Washington said Monday it would continue its close links with Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf's administration despite a call by a leading US newspaper to distance itself from the embattled general.

The US State Department said it had faith in "war on terror" ally Musharraf's efforts to implement political reforms, and hoped he would keep his pledge to hold free and fair elections this year and shed his military uniform.

"We continue to work with the Musharraf government and others within the Pakistani political system to continue their process of political reforms," department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

He said Musharraf, facing the biggest protests of his eight years in power, had made "some progress" in terms of political and economic reforms as well as media freedom.

"What the Pakistani political system is learning -- as you open up, more of that brings with it heightened expectations for what might be done," McCormack said, as the New York Times called Monday for Washington to begin to sever its ties to Musharraf.

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