“Absolute power corrupts absolutely”; so goes the saying. It seems to fit Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf like a glove. Cornered by the judiciary and the Islamist extremists, his natural instinct was to grab even more control in his hands, that is declare a state of emergency in Pakistan. He stopped only because of a late night call from Condoleezza Rice. Totalitarian rulers do not seem to realize the fact that concentrating more powers in their hands is a sign of weakness, of desperation.
Musharraf today is definitely weak. The only reason US continues to mollycoddle him is that it does not want to do something in haste, considering Pakistan’s nuclear weapons capability. There is a great danger of them falling into radical hands.
Musharraf has done much to weaken democracy. Two of the top Pakistan political leaders, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, are in exile. Their followers have been systematically hounded by the authorities. The ruling party is full of stooges handpicked by the president, who lack popular support. This has prevented the presence of a strong democratic polity capable of taking on the hardliners head-on.
The deal with tribal elders last year has proved to be a total disaster. It gave Al Qaeda and Taliban breathing space and they have grown stronger. After Red Mosque their fury and resolve has increased. They are baying for the president’s blood.
The biggest blunder by Musharraf was to take on the country’s judiciary. Iftikhar Chaudhry’s return has stiffened the usually docile Supreme Court and made it more independent. This has corroded Musharraf’s position.
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the economic boom of Pakistan in Musharraf era, was not all that appeared from the outside.