PAKISTAN:After a hopeful start, Pervez Musharraf was too wedded to US interests and too willing to disregard democratic values, writes Farhan Bokhari
PAKISTAN'S PERVEZ Musharraf failed to learn the lessons from the political history of his uniformed predecessors.
Two previous Pakistani military rulers lost power in humiliating circumstances while a third was killed. Musharraf is fortunate to have survived three assassination attempts, and may have to enjoy his retirement from the safety of exile.
His last year in office was a far cry from the instant popularity he gained in 1999 when as army chief of staff he led a coup against Nawaz Sharif, then prime minister.
He presented an image of hope after a decade of corruption-tainted civilian rule, appearing in his first post-coup broadcast in commando fatigues while promising widespread reforms. Many Pakistanis came out on the streets to distribute mithai, a south Asian celebratory sweet.
Musharraf's vow to reform Pakistan's politics and economy appealed to the west, as did his secular image. His first public appearance in "civvies" in October 1999, with family poodles tucked under each arm, seemed like a breath of fresh air.
Although lines of communication between Washington and other western capitals and Pakistan's military headquarters were never severed, the world condemned the 1999 coup and slapped sanctions on Musharraf's government.
The US offered little support when Pakistan sought a bail-out from the International Monetary Fund in the months after the coup to overcome a worsening balance of payments situation. The West loved the general, but hated his uniform.
Islamabad's isolation rapidly changed to Musharraf's advantage when he turned his back on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers after the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US and became a key Washington ally in the "war on terror".
Pakistan went through almost six years of high economic growth after the New York attacks, benefiting from $10 billion of US assistance and interest from foreign investors. Relations with India improved markedly after an initial rough patch and Musharraf won points for devolving power to local authorities.
"I took charge of Pakistan nine years ago when this country was about to be declared a terrorist state and we were on a steep economic decline," Musharraf said during his farewell speech yesterday. "I served this country with great devotion." Musharraf claimed credit for overseeing parliamentary elections in February, which brought opposition parties into power. "If my intent towards the opposition parties was malicious, do you think I would have allowed them to win?"
The general's profile as Washington's indispensable point man became one of his biggest domestic political liabilities as it made him look like he was condoning the US invasion of Iraq.
But as international acceptance of Musharraf grew, so too did his disregard for some of the democratic values he had promised to promote in the aftermath of his coup.
Cleaning up the electoral system to bar corrupt politicians took second place to ensuring the loyalty of the political class. Musharraf built partnerships with politicians previously tainted with corruption, a choice which embarrassed many of his supporters.
"If you look back at his legacy, you will find that the worst part was that Musharraf successfully duped the western powers, including the US, to believe that he was a force for stability, positive change and above all enlightenment," says Fakhr Imam, former speaker of the lower house of parliament.
Others acknowledge that reformist measures such as increasing the number of seats in parliament for women and withdrawing election laws that placed non-Muslims at a disadvantage helped to strengthen liberal values at a time when Islamists were gaining influence.
"While you can't ignore what President Musharraf did to at least promote the idea of liberalism, his biggest problem was that he was not a politician," says Fawzia Wahab, a Pakistan People's Party legislator.
Musharraf's unpopularity for appearing wedded to US interests was compounded last year when he sacked Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary, the chief justice of the supreme court, apparently for fear that Chaudhary would block his presidential re-election plans.
That move provoked protests by lawyers, civil society activists and journalists. The subsequent push for a restoration of democracy culminated in Musharraf's imposition of a state of emergency followed by the return of former prime ministers Sharif and Benazir Bhutto to contest the country's first elections in 11 years in February.
The biggest blow to Musharraf's fortunes came with the assassination of Bhutto in December. Pro-Musharraf politicians lost badly in the parliamentary elections to the parties led by Sharif and Asif Zardari, Bhutto's widower.
The opposition politicians whom he had treated with such contempt during his nine-year rule at last gained some influence. Even the military's best-prepared plans had few answers for that political turnabout.
- (Financial Times service)