DATE=12/12/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=YEARENDER: PAKISTAN
NUMBER=5-44975
BYLINE=SCOTT ANGER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Pakistan has faced another turbulent year in
its 52-year history. During 1999, the South Asian
nation stood on the brink of war, witnessed the
conviction of a former prime minister and rejoiced
after its democratically elected government was
overthrown in a military coup. Correspondent Scott
Anger looks back on the year that began with a move
toward peace with rival India.
TEXT: Politics has dominated Pakistan in 1999. The
year began with a historic peace overture by Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif to his counter-part in India.
Atal Behari Vajpayee arrived by bus in Pakistan's
eastern city, Lahore, and signed a declaration that
called for additional talks on peace and nuclear
issues.
Hopes had been high that a major breakthrough had
taken place in Lahore, where Mr. Sharif emphasized a
new beginning in Indo-Pak relations.
/// SHARIF ACT ///
Neither Pakistan nor India has gained anything
from the conflicts and tensions of the past 50-
years. I would like a Pakistan-India
relationship that is free of tensions and based
on mutual trust and confidence. We must bring
peace to South Asia. We owe this to ourselves
and to our future generations.
/// END ACT ///
But while trying to make peace on the international
front, Prime Minister Sharif was quickly making
enemies at home. While riding a wave of popularity
following the Lahore summit, he intensified a
crackdown on his political rivals and critics in the
news media.
Leading newspaper editor Najam Sethi was arrested
during a midnight raid by police and detained for
nearly a month. He was released after the government
received international condemnation for the action --
no formal charges were filed against him.
Several other journalists were also harassed by the
government for reporting on Mr. Sharif's alleged
corruption.
On the political front, the government investigated
former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Mr. Sharif's
political arch-rival. The probes eventually led to
her conviction on charges that - while in office - she
and her husband received kickbacks on government
contracts.
Ms. Bhutto has denied wrongdoing and says her
conviction was a result of Mr. Sharif's campaign to
eliminate opposition political parties.
/// BHUTTO ACT ///
I could not even keep track of all the cases,
because there were so many different litigation
against my husband and myself - from tax notices
to murder charges and corruption. Two-and-a-
half years ago, I was sitting as the prime
minister of Pakistan, on top of the world. And
how suddenly things can change, and suddenly
from being an important person, I have become a
totally non-person.
/// END ACT ///
The conviction of Pakistan's first female prime
minister has been a set-back for her party and forced
her to live in self-exile. Ms. Bhutto faces arrest if
she returns, her husband has remained in jail since
his arrest in 1996.
Tensions between Pakistan and India resurfaced despite
the "bus diplomacy" in February. Months later,
Pakistan-backed fighters engaged Indian troops among
the Himalayan peaks in Kashmir, destroying any
foundation for lasting peace the Lahore summit had
built.
The conflict in Kargil, on the Indian side of the
border, ended after Prime Minister Sharif agreed to
withdraw the fighters to the Pakistani side of the
Line of Control that divides Kashmir.
The Kargil crisis was seen by many in Pakistan as a
political setback for Mr. Sharif and an international
humiliation for Pakistan. Pakistan's Islamic parties
demonstrated against the prime minister, calling the
withdrawal from Indian Kashmir a betrayal. Islamic
leaders in Pakistan called for Mr. Sharif's removal
from office.
The prime minister's order to withdraw also angered
Pakistan's military, which had orchestrated the
incursion.
Meanwhile, inflation, unemployment, and lawlessness
rose to new levels. By early October, sectarian
violence claimed more than 50-lives throughout the
country, and tensions between the Sharif government
and the military continued to rise.
On October 12th, Mr. Sharif removed army chief General
Pervez Musharraf from his post, but the decision
backfired. Hours later, the military overthrew
Pakistan's democratically elected government in a
bloodless coup. General Musharraf appeared on state-
run television.
/// MUSHARRAF ACT ///
I wish to inform you that the armed forces have
moved in. For the moment, I only wish to assure
you that the situation in the country is
perfectly calm, stable, and under control.
/// END ACT ///
The military suspended the constitution and
parliament. Nawaz Sharif and a number of his advisors
were placed under arrest and taken out of the capital,
Islamabad.
Following the coup, people danced in the streets,
passing out sweets to celebrate the removal of the
increasingly unpopular prime minister. Posters of
Nawaz Sharif were burned as many people expressed hope
that a new beginning had dawned for the country.
Five-days after the coup, General Musharraf appeared
again on national television to explain the military
action.
/// MUSHARRAF ACT TWO ///
Today, we have reached a stage where our economy
has crumbled, our credibility is lost and state
institutions lie demolished. We have lost our
honor, our dignity and our respect. I chose to
save the nation. This is not martial law, only
another path towards democracy. The armed
forces have no intention to stay in charge any
longer than is absolutely necessary.
/// END ACT ///
General Musharraf has promised to stay in power only
long enough to revive the country's economy, root out
high-level corruption, and clean up Pakistan's
political structure, which he says has not been
operating as a true democracy. International
condemnation trickled in after the general failed to
set a date for elections, but many countries,
including the United States, say they are willing to
give the general a chance.
The general blames former governments for many of
Pakistan's social and economic ills. But Pervez
Hoodbhoy, a professor of physics and a leading social
critic, has warned that the roots of Pakistan's
problems lay much deeper.
/// HOODBHOY ACT ///
For those of us who watched television on the
12th of October, we learned that Pakistan is
seriously sick. We have hit rock-bottom, said
the general, and how could one disagree with
him. We have to go beyond all this and ask,
what is it that is wrong? It is the weakness of
civil society, the inability to create and
maintain functioning institutions, such as those
of education, health, and local government. And
our gradual, but clear, transformation into a
beggar state.
/// END ACT //
General Musharraf has so far kept his word and carried
out a campaign to recover billions of dollars lost to
loan default in the country. He has arrested a number
of politicians and leading figures who failed to pay
back massive loans. The general has promised more
accountability in the future.
Meanwhile, the military government has been building a
criminal case of conspiracy, attempted murder, and
hijacking against ousted Prime Minister Sharif.
/// OPT /// The charges stem from an incident hours
before the coup on October 12th when the prime minister
allegedly denied landing rights to the plane carrying
General Musharraf and 200 others to Pakistan from Sri
Lanka.
The military says the plane, which had been low on
fuel, was forced to circle the Karachi airport and was
minutes from crashing, before army troops seized
control of the country and allowed it to land. ///END
OPT ///
During an appearance in court after nearly 40-days of
isolated detention, Mr. Sharif spoke to reporters to
proclaim his innocence.
/// SHARIF ACT TWO ///
I am neither a terrorist, nor a hijacker, nor
anything else of that sort. I was the
constitutional prime minister of the country.
From the prime minister's house, I was taken
straight into detention.
/// END ACT ///
Lawyers for the ex-prime minister say the evidence
against him is weak and the actions he took were in
response to the coup.
More than two-months after the prime minister's
removal from office, Pakistanis say they remain
optimistic General Musharraf can bring change. But
uneasiness and criticism is growing. People say they
expected more from the military government.
General Musharraf reminds critics it took years of
corruption and mismanagement by successive governments
bring Pakistan to its present condition. The general
says it will take more than two-months to get it out.
The military has ruled Pakistan for nearly half its
52-year existence. Political observers say past
military intervention has added to the country's
troubles. They warn that the longer the military
rules Pakistan, the worse off the country will be.
(SIGNED)
NEB/SA/RAE
13-Dec-1999 09:42 AM EDT (13-Dec-1999 1442 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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