DATE=5/17/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=PAKISTAN'S INDECISIVE MILITARY
NUMBER=5-46334
BYLINE=ED WARNER
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Faced with strong opposition from religious
groups, Pakistan leader General Pervez Musharraf has
backed down and withdrawn an amendment to the national
blasphemy law. To disappointed Pakistanis, this is
another indication that the military government, which
came to power in a coup last October, is making little
headway in solving the nation's vast problems. V-O-A's
Ed Warner discussed them with a former Pakistani Prime
Minister and an economist from Pakistan.
TEXT: If the military cannot save Pakistan, who else
can? That is the question posed by Manzoor Ijaz, a
Pakistani economist and newspaper columnist, who notes
the military has ruled the country for most of its
history.
The army is once again in power in Pakistan after
ousting the political parties in a takeover last
October. With moderate support among Pakistanis, it
has behaved with moderation. But that hardly suffices,
says Mr. Ijaz, for a nation close to the brink of
political and economic collapse.
He says the government is making a number of tentative
moves in the right direction, such as recovering weapons
from militant groups and strengthening laws to protect
women from violence:
/// FIRST IJAZ ACT ///
But it does not look as if there is a coherent
resolve behind all these moves. So they start
doing something. It looks like they are going to
get it. And then after a couple of days, it
appears they have backed off from that. That has
been the pattern for the last three or four
months.
/// END ACT ///
Mr Ijaz says the indecision may reflect divisions
within the military.
He cites General Pervez Musharraf's attempt to modify the
country's blasphemy law which is subject to so much abuse.
Virtually anyone can accuse someone else of insulting Islam
or the Prophet Mohammed. For that offense, the alleged
blasphemer is considered guilty until proven innocent. When
religious groups threatened to hold protest rallies against
any change in the law, the general abandoned the effort.
If the military will not take necessary action, asks Mr.
Ijaz, who will?
/// SECOND IJAZ ACT ///
In my judgment, they (the army) have been mostly
responsible for supporting the religious
fundamentalists. And if they cannot check them,
if they cannot stand up to them, who can? If
they cannot take those tough decisions, there is
nobody else in Pakistan who can take those tough
decisions.
/// end act ///
On a visit to Washington, former Pakistani Prime
Minister Benazir Bhutto told V-O-A her country needs a
grand reconciliation if it is to overcome its
troubles.
/// FIRST BHUTTO ACT ///
We can have that kind of reconciliation if
General Musharraf is persuaded to call the
leaders of the two parties, whom he does not
want to speak to for the time being, and work
out with us a system that can give Pakistan
political stability. Each one of us has a tunnel
vision. In this, the post-Cold War period, we
all need to sit down and devise a framework that
can give our long-suffering people hope.
/// END ACT ///
For her part, Benazir Bhutto cannot sit down with the
generals because she is currently living in exile in
Britain. If she returns home, she faces arrest on
charges of corruption while she was in office.
She says she bears no ill will toward the military,
but insists they cannot act alone without the
political parties.
/// SECOND BHUTTO ACT ///
There are informal and social contacts at some
levels between our party people, but not on a
formal political, institutional level. I say
that this vision of staying in power and
decapitating the two political parties will not
work. If they are going to go after the
political parties, what will be left?
/// END ACT ///
Benazir Bhutto says the military government is moving
least of all on disputed Kashmir - maybe moving
backwards. This at a time when India is making
conciliatory moves, such as releasing Kashmiri leaders
from prison:
/// THIRD BHUTTO ACT ///
To my mind, this is a sea change, and I think
Pakistan should be trying to respond to a very
dramatically changing situation. But our
domestic problems have sidelined the real issue.
And while India in the post-Clinton visit has
taken substantive steps to defuse the situation
vis-a-vis Jammu-Kashmir, Pakistan has not done
anything but hunker (dig) in.
/// END ACT //
Ms. Bhutto says the military government, by failing to
act on Kashmir and on terrorism, is contributing to
what she called Pakistan fatigue among other
countries. Don't let them walk away from us, she
pleads, because Pakistan needs all the help it can
get. (Signed)
NEB/EW/ENE/gm
17-May-2000 17:57 PM EDT (17-May-2000 2157 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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