Author: Phil Reeves in Islamabad
Publication: The Independent, UK
Date: November 9, 2002
URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=349960
The President of Pakistan, General
Pervez Musharraf, faced a chorus of condemnation yesterday after he delayed
the opening of the country's long-awaited new parliament.
Critics, including political rivals
and newspaper pundits, interpreted the delay as an attempt by General Musharraf
to manipulate the outcome of last month's elections by giving his allies
more time to form a ruling coalition and ensure that an Islamic cleric,
Fazl-ur Rahman, does not become Prime Minister.
Although Mr Rahman is seen by many
in Pakistan as a pragmatist, the Islamic bloc to which he belongs includes
pro-Taliban elements highly critical of the military government's support
for America.
Mr Rahman is said to include the
Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, among his friends. He worked with
former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's government, and has a long record
of opposing military rule in Pakistan.
General Musharraf and his army colleagues
do not relish mullahs controlling positions of high office - including
key ministries. Nor do the Americans, who see it as yet another potential
obstacle in the hunt for al-Qa'ida and Taliban operatives on Pakistani
soil.
Pakistan's National Assembly was
due to hold its inaugural session today, its first sitting for more than
three years. But the government of General Musharraf - who has ruled as
a dictator since seizing power from the government led by Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999 - announced on Wednesday that
there would be a delay. State-run television said the postponement would
last for a week.
The parliamentary elections, held
last month amid worldwide publicity, were portrayed by Pakistan's military
authorities as an important move towards democratic civilian government.
This was met with widespread scepticism, not least because a few months
earlier General Musharraf helped himself to a fistful of new powers, including
the right to dissolve parliament and fire the prime minister.
A team of European Union observers
described the poll as "seriously flawed", and accused the Pakistani government
of using its resources to support pro- Musharraf parties, notably the PML
(QA) - otherwise known as the "king's party" because of its official backing.
However, the election did not go
as General Musharraf must have hoped, and there was no outright winner.
The PML (QA) won the largest number
of seats, and has been pressing for a delay in parliament's opening for
more time to muster forces. To the consternation of Washington, there were
strong gains for the Islamic bloc - a coalition of six groups called the
MMA.
The postponement of parliament's
opening came after a deal was announced last weekend in which an alliance
of pro-democracy parties - including Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party
(PPP) - would join forces with the MMA to cobble together a majority in
the 342-seat National Assembly, with the cleric Fazl-ur Rahman as their
joint candidate for premier. This exotic union - which sent the Pakistan
stock market plunging when it was announced - was fragile from the start.
Yesterday it was unclear whether it was still in place.
The PPP issued an angry statement
in response to the postponement, saying that it "lent credence to the perception
that the regime is manipulating the post- election dynamics to weaken anti-regime
political parties. It is based on mala fide intent and is motivated by
the desire of the regime to assist the pro-regime king's party to muster
requisite strength to enable it to form a government."
The faction headed by the Nawaz
Sharif, who like Ms Bhutto was barred from running because he is living
abroad, also reacted strongly. "This postponement proves the moral bankruptcy
of the regime and its rejection of the people's verdict," a spokesman said.
Pakistan's leading newspapers were
also unimpressed. "Behind all this seems to loom the hovering shadow of
what is called the establishment. How to find a way for the military to
stay on and yet not give the impression of doing so?" wrote the Dawn daily
newspaper, in an editorial headlined "What's going on?"
The Nation newspaper said the pro-Musharraf
PML (QA) was now "desperately seeking the support of off- stage players
to win the numbers game and for this it needs more time." An internet poll
in The Nation suggested that the educated Pakistani public were also none
too happy. Eight of 10 said they wanted the opening of parliament to go
ahead on schedule.
General Musharraf has won praise
for steering Pakistan through the potentially destabilising American campaign
against the Taliban regime in neighbouring Afghanistan.
But his decision to back the war
against terror and crack down on extremist Islamic militant groups was
also a factor behind stunning gains by the MMA in last month's vote, which
it fought on a fiercely anti-US platform.
