I have said it before and I will say it again that Musharraf's Martial Law is embarrassing for all Pakistanis across the world but watching the events unfold has been more sickening and disgusting than we anticipated.
It was a sequence of events which has placed in doubt Pakistan's sovereignty and our very existence as an honourable nation in the world. First President Bush made the following statement:
"I spoke to President Musharraf right before I came over here to visit President Sarkozy. And my message was that we believe strongly in elections and you ought to have elections as scheduled, and you need to take off your uniform.You can't be the President and the head of the military at the same time.Our objective is same in Burma as it is in Pakistan, and that is to promote democracy. There is a difference, however, Pakistan has been on the path to democracy. Burma hadn't been on the path to democracy. And it requires different tactics to achieve the common objective"
Then it was Negroponte's turn to insult Pakistanis, he stated "we cannot afford to return to our past estrangement Musharraf has been an "indispensable" ally in the war on terror".
It was a sequence of events which has placed in doubt Pakistan's sovereignty and our very existence as an honourable nation in the world. First President Bush made the following statement:
"I spoke to President Musharraf right before I came over here to visit President Sarkozy. And my message was that we believe strongly in elections and you ought to have elections as scheduled, and you need to take off your uniform.You can't be the President and the head of the military at the same time.Our objective is same in Burma as it is in Pakistan, and that is to promote democracy. There is a difference, however, Pakistan has been on the path to democracy. Burma hadn't been on the path to democracy. And it requires different tactics to achieve the common objective"
Then it was Negroponte's turn to insult Pakistanis, he stated "we cannot afford to return to our past estrangement Musharraf has been an "indispensable" ally in the war on terror".
Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, Tom Lantos said on Wednesday "He (Musharraf) placed a call to me just yesterday and I find it noteworthy that in this time of crisis, that he's seeking a dialogue both with the administration and the Congress."
Then came the final episode for the day, when Musharraf spoke to the media and confirmed that the elections will be held by February 15, 2008 and he would take off his uniform once he has been re-elected as President for the next five years. Then a statement was released by the White House expressing satisfaction on the announcement.
Pakistanis now have a right to ask the following questions:
- Who is President Bush to decide that Musharraf can not be President and Army Chief at the same time, isn't that direct foreign interference into Pakistan's affairs?
Pakistanis now have a right to ask the following questions:
- Who is President Bush to decide that Musharraf can not be President and Army Chief at the same time, isn't that direct foreign interference into Pakistan's affairs?
- Why is Musharraf more important than Pakistan itself, which makes Negroponte believe that Musharraf is indispensible?
-Why was Musharraf, who is not scared of anything (as per him), trying to reach out not only to American government but also the Congress?
-Why did he went on TV within hours of President Bush's statement to confirm his election plans?
Pakistan had to put up with this treatment because of Musharraf who sees America as the sole source of his strength and had no guts to react properly to Bush's assault on our sovereignty instead he acted like a mischievous little kid who has been naughty and is now trying to cover up for his mistakes. President Bush would never have spoken to him like that had he been an elected leader of a nation of 160 million people which happens to be a nuclear power as well.
Musharraf obviously has no issues with Elections he has had them before in 2002 and he will have them again this time with Ms. Bhutto on his side. The most probable overall results would be as follows:
Pakistan had to put up with this treatment because of Musharraf who sees America as the sole source of his strength and had no guts to react properly to Bush's assault on our sovereignty instead he acted like a mischievous little kid who has been naughty and is now trying to cover up for his mistakes. President Bush would never have spoken to him like that had he been an elected leader of a nation of 160 million people which happens to be a nuclear power as well.
Musharraf obviously has no issues with Elections he has had them before in 2002 and he will have them again this time with Ms. Bhutto on his side. The most probable overall results would be as follows:
- He would easily split Sindh between PPP and MQM.
-Punjab would be split between Q league and PPP in 60:30 ratio (Nawaz league would have some seats of course).
-NWFP would go to MMA because Musharraf still needs to show the world that Islamist are influential in the province.
-Balochistan may once again be shared between Q League and MMA.
-Tehreek-e-Insaaf would probably win one seat once again to keep the show interesting.
-There would be coalition government in Islamabad so that Ms. Bhutto and the Chaudhries can fight it out and Musharraf can play the referee ensuring that Ms. Bhutto wouldn’t get a chance to bring him down.
-Mr. Shaukat Aziz would probably be looking up 'not-so-cheap' first class flights to New York on the internet right now (unless he manages to charm Ms. Bhutto, he failed miserably when he tried it on Condoleezza Rice remember !! ).
The news channels will soon be back on air and they would enjoy exceptional revenues flowing their way, since political parties for the first time in our history would be focusing on TV for election campaigns.
Major politicians are either making themselves available for house arrest or are hiding in 'known' locations to justify their inactivity against the Martial Law, because they all know that big aggressive statements in the news wouldn’t change anything for Musharraf but just might help them in the upcoming 'rigging exercise' called 'elections'.
All of this is now amazingly simple for Musharraf once the Supreme Court, so far the only hinderance, is out of the way, the new judges would very soon declare him fit for being the President, Army Chief, Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Cricket Captain, Rock Star, Kama Sutra Guru or what ever he wants to be and the NRO would also be cleared for implementation.
This is leading us to another sad phase of our history because our actual current issues are completely being ignored on purpose, which are:
The news channels will soon be back on air and they would enjoy exceptional revenues flowing their way, since political parties for the first time in our history would be focusing on TV for election campaigns.
Major politicians are either making themselves available for house arrest or are hiding in 'known' locations to justify their inactivity against the Martial Law, because they all know that big aggressive statements in the news wouldn’t change anything for Musharraf but just might help them in the upcoming 'rigging exercise' called 'elections'.
All of this is now amazingly simple for Musharraf once the Supreme Court, so far the only hinderance, is out of the way, the new judges would very soon declare him fit for being the President, Army Chief, Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Cricket Captain, Rock Star, Kama Sutra Guru or what ever he wants to be and the NRO would also be cleared for implementation.
This is leading us to another sad phase of our history because our actual current issues are completely being ignored on purpose, which are:
1.Restoration of Supremacy of Law.
2.Establishment of an Independent Judiciary (all judges must be released immediately).
3.Putting an end to military involvement in Politics.
4.Restoration of Pakistan's Independence and Sovereignty and put a stop to foreign interference in our internal affairs.
5.Implementation of a consistent democratic system.
As Pakistanis we must ensure that we have identified the issues and we continue to focus on them because it is easy to lose track and get overwhelmed by the excessive information that would start flowing our way with the announcement of elections and the politicians trying to mislead us into debating non-issues.
As Pakistanis we must ensure that we have identified the issues and we continue to focus on them because it is easy to lose track and get overwhelmed by the excessive information that would start flowing our way with the announcement of elections and the politicians trying to mislead us into debating non-issues.
God Bless Pakistan !!
