EDITORIAL (26th july)
Demands of a letter
Much has been written and said about the letter written to the president, and simultaneously released to the press, by a group of retired generals, sitting and former members of parliament and academics asking him to disengage the military from politics by separating the offices of the president and army chief. The truth is that these men (and there is one woman in the group) have not said anything that hasn't been said and advocated before. Perhaps what makes the contents of the letter all the more intriguing is the timing of its release, and the fact that those who have written it include some of the president's personal friends and confidants. Two are former heads of the ISI, three are former governors (including one who is a former corps commander), and two reached three-star rank in the Pakistan Army. Two others were ministers in President Musharraf's first cabinet, when he was still chief executive, while the rest comprise academics and one editor. Interestingly, four of those who have signed are on the board of advisors of an NGO involved in legislative development which has received funding from USAID and other foreign donors including the World Bank and the British government.
The argument taken in the letter, that it is not good for democracy and bad for the military itself when the army chief also happens to be the president, is a convincing one. Politicisation of the military is bad for the military itself, the letter says, and who better to say this than a group of retired generals. One has to ask what these gentlemen were doing when they were in positions of power. Did they impress upon the president these words then or were they willing partners in the mutilation of the Constitution and creation of a moth-eaten democracy that has resulted since October 1999? Others have already called this group of letter-writers "new-born democrats" and it is an epithet that rings true. However, the message is perhaps more important than the messenger in this context. The president has said several times himself that he realises that keeping the posts of army chief and president together in one person is not an ideal situation but that it is necessary in the "national interest". Unfortunately, the "national interest" in this country has often been used to justify all kinds of measures and actions that many would feel were not in the national interest.
For instance, Gen Zia's Islamisation was done purportedly in the "national interest" and look where it got Pakistan and its society. When the head of the army is also the president, it will be difficult for the person holding both posts simultaneously to take decisions in the country's interest in the sense that a purely civilian president will only have the country's citizenry as his constituency while the army chief's constituency is the armed forces. And it's not often that what is good for the military of a country is also good for the country as a whole -- there are numerous examples of this from around the world, especially Latin and South America and even developed countries like the US. Besides, vesting these important and powerful positions in one person means that there will be little by way of debate on important issues. Also, though maybe not implied in the letter but something that one would like to advocate, the army chief in a truly democratic dispensation needs to be under elected civilian leadership. The other suggestions contained in the letter include making the Election Commission of Pakistan truly independent so that it can organise elections that are free of any manipulation and provide all participating political parties with a level playing field. The other is for all political parties and those holding public office to shun extreme positions. Of course, given the complex matrix of politics in Pakistan, it cannot be discounted that the last point particularly and the letter generally are meant for the president to find some sort of meeting point with the more moderate and mainstream political parties. That and keeping the post of president and army chief separate are both things that President Musharraf should seriously consider in the coming days.
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This is the sign of 1 who loves GOD that his chief care z goodness n devotion n his words r mostly in praise n glorification of GOD.
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Wednesday, July 26, 2006
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