The Pakistani Way

The more I read and study about Pakistan the more I find myself alienated from its people, culture and political dealings. I opened up the Pakistani newspaper today (not literally, who reads an article on a paper anymore?) and I just couldn't imagine a riot like the one that happened in Pakistan today ever happening in the US.

The people in Multan, Pakistan (the home town of the new prime minister) burned down the state electric department and a bank because the power company announced another power cut. The mob also set fire to furniture, buses and motorcycles, but what I thought was the most outrageous part of the riot was that they dragged 10 electric company employees out into the street and savagely beat them with wooden planks. As if the low level employees are to blame for the power crisis. 40 people were injured in all and thousands of dollars of damages were accrued, but more importantly is that this is a sign of democracy's apocalypse and the four horsemen are high food prices, power shortages, credit shortages and no quick solutions to any of the other three.

Not to run this point into the ground, but I've said all along that a war with Mursharraf isn't what the majority of Pakistanis care about. They don't care that parliament was run by religious radicals, they don't care that the judiciary was sacked and they don't care what the constitution says. Let's be honest, the uneducated masses of Pakistan care about where their next pay check is coming from and how much of it is going towards food. The regional police chief, Mirza Muhammad Ali said that the power outages were putting 500,000 loom workers and their families at risk of starvation since they worked 20 hours a day and with the power outages they would be out of work for a period of time.

If problems like these power outages keep going unaddressed, then the new civilian government is going to find itself with few supporters. When the PPP came into office they promised that they would fix the power outages. Thus far, however, the only real action they have taken is replacing the head of the state electric department, which in my opinion, is more politics than a resolve to fix a problem. The new power plants they are considering building won't be done for 6-10 years and the current hydroelectric plants are losing power every day with the falling water levels. Their answer is that Mursharraf caused all these problems - a claim I'm willing to bet is true. However, people tend to have short term memories and when their families are starving the question isn't, "who caused this?" - it's, "what are you gonna do about it?" I'm sure putting Mursharraf's head on a pike will feed the people though, right?

Musharraf: The Real Dr. Green Thumb

I have to admit, just reading what Musharraf said makes me want to throw on an army uniform and say, "sir, yes sir!" I've never seen one of his speeches and it probably wouldn't help since I don't speak his language(s), but I'm told he's even more charismatic in the delivery of his speeches. So when Musharraf says something like this with regards to a peaceful transition of power - you want to believe him:

"You think someone who has spent his entire adult life defending Pakistan and the past eight years trying to put democracy back on track wants to see the government fail and the country return to political anarchy? No. I'm committed to making this work. I had planted the sapling of democracy and I will not let it be affected at any cost."

I'd love to believe that Musharraf has been trying to promote democracy by sacking the judiciary an dismissing parliament. I'd love to believe that imprisoning political opponents was a necessary growing pain and that he really was watering the seed of democracy all along. Unfortunately, my damn common sense keeps getting in the way. Musharraf would say that I "can't see through the uniform," but when I hear stories about how Condi Rice has repeatedly had to restrain him from delaying elections I find myself being justifiably skeptical of the President.

It's obvious that Musharraf has an ulterior motive for claiming to promote democracy. Maybe he wants to hold on to some of the power he's about to lose. I think it's more likely though that it's a front for the non-transparent power he's exercising in the background. My professors have often times called me a cynic for never believing that a military ruler might just want to step down peacefully for once. I hope they're being sarcastic when they say that, but I suppose every political scientist wants to believe that humans aren't always power hungry.

At any rate, Musharraf got one thing right in his speech yesterday. He painted a grim picture when he asked, "Can you imagine what the effect would be on the business community, both foreign and domestic, or in the capitals of nations allied with us in the war on terror if the first thing they saw after this election was a political war between the presidency and the government? I think it would be catastrophic." Indeed, it would be. As I've been saying all along - the last thing parliament should be thinking about is a war with Musharraf because it will ultimately play into his, or at least the army's, hands. Crucifying Musharraf will only serve to mend broken egos, but it will not solve the plight of the poor and middle class people in Pakistan. Here enters the next military dictator - on his white stallion throwing out bread and money to the beggars on the street with a sword hidden at his side and the prime minister's imminent death at hand.