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Sunday,
July 14, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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WINDOW ON PAKISTAN Powell to
ease Indo-Pak tension Pak
parties want Pervez to quit Musharraf
has “reneged on his pledges” |
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Links
between Pak ultras, Al-Qaida unearthed Gun and
talks go together for Hizb
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WINDOW ON PAKISTAN PRESIDENT Pervez Musharraf's attempt aimed at institutionalising the armed forces' role in governance has led to much hue and cry in different circles. The so-called package of reforms is part of a strategy to reduce political parties as good for nothing. The General-turned-Chief Executive-tuned-President of Pakistan has ambitions of ruling his country with an iron hand for as long as he can. That is why his first priority has been that the two leaders who are capable of dislodging him from the seat of power — the PPP's Benazir Bhutto and the Muslim League's Nawaz Sharif — through the process of elections should be incapacitated to pose any serious challenge to his authority . This has led to a sort of unrest in the entire country. Najam Sethi, the celebrated journalist and Editor of The Friday Times, sees in all this a well-calculated design to change the 1973 constitution from a Prime Ministerial one to a Presidential one with the ultimate powers vested in the President, turning him into a dictator-----which means General Musharraf in today’s context. Let us have a look at Sethi's signed editorial on the subject: "General Musharraf claims he isn't seeking to usurp power. That's not true. Even by his own admission, a ‘continuation’ of various policies is paramount; therefore it is logical that he should want powers to make them stick. The problem is that constitutionally it is not his or the Army's prerogative to devise policies for the country. Thus, wholesale constitutional changes will be needed to rid it of its republicanism... "But even if General Musharraf is able to railroad the general elections on his own terms, what then? If the elections are grossly unfair, a new crisis of legitimacy will erupt. Otherwise, the next parliament will comprise all the oppositionist elements which will be loath to provide him with a pliant Prime Minister and a two-thirds majority to amend the constitution. Later, the whole set-up will become untenable when General Musharraf is asked for a quid pro quo by the politicians and the international community that threaten key elements of the Army's domestic or foreign policies. It would also be a mistake for General Musharraf to think he can sack the next parliament if it doesn't play ball with him. The international environment is likely to get more hostile to useless dictators in the years ahead and instability and uncertainty may return to haunt Pakistan under General Musharraf. "General Zia was supported by all the parties except the PPP. He held non-party elections that returned a pliant parliament. But the system crashed under the weight of its own contradictions. Under the circumstances, how will General Musharraf's proposed system fare? He has alienated all the significant parties of the country and the next parliament won't be such a pushover. The best thing for him to do is to seek a compromise with the PPP and
PML (N) and ally with them. After all, the cost of their joint decade-long corruption is less than the cost of the Army's defence overruns of last year alone resulting from failed national security policies." In a recent article carried in The Nation Imran Munir Awan says: "It is clear as daylight in the proposed constitutional package President Musharraf will remain the most powerful man in the new political set-up emerging after the October general election. The General is bound to come under intense criticism for coming up with amendments that add enormously to the powers of the President and seriously undermine the authority of the Prime Minister. The role of the National Security Council in the future political dispensation is also likely to remain the centre of an intense controversy. "The President argues that the job of the NSC would be to facilitate the Prime Minister and not to create hurdles in his way as many people wrongly perceive. He might be right. But can anyone guarantee that the NSC will at no time misuse its authority? "... It is indeed ironic that the General's much-trumpeted system of checks and balances seems not to apply to himself. The question remains: what happens if he himself misuses his authority or takes a wrong decision? Who is going to stop him from doing that? The National Security Council? The answer is an emphatic 'no'. President Musharraf under the proposed amendments might be accountable to the NSC, but being also the head of the NSC he is accountable only to himself. Isn't that impressive manoeuvring". "In a July 2 editorial Dawn had commented: “The constitutional prosposals, we are told, were released merely for public debate — and nothing more. However, even before the nation had had time to digest the full implications of the package, the Political Parties Ordinance, 2002, added to the prevailing apprehensions. "Pakistan's history bears out that the Army's intervention in politics has harmed the country and its political and democratic prospects enormously. Beginning with Ayub's usurpation of power through a coup in October, 1958 — barely four months before the country's first general election was due to be held — the Army has been deeply entrenched in Pakistan's politics. "One lesson is obvious: constitutions that do not have the people's sanction do not last and their authors sooner or later fall into public disgrace. This is likely to be the fate of the wholesale changes now proposed by the Chief of the National Reconstruction Bureau. The reason why the 1973 constitution has survived two military coups is because it was framed by the people's elected representatives." If General Musharraf refuses to learn from history he should be prepared to taste a repeat of what happened in the past. |
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Powell to ease Indo-Pak tension Washington, July 13 Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Spokesman Richard Boucher said the US position on Musharraf’s commitment had been conveyed to India. He said Powell’s visit to South Asia was tentatively scheduled for July 27 and 28, before he attends the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting in Brunei. Mr Boucher said there has been a “significant decline in the infiltration” along the LoC in Kashmir. “President Musharraf has said that that’s a permanent change. He has made that commitment to us, and we have conveyed it to the Indian government. And we all want to see that happen, that this does remain a permanent change,” he added. He said the USA also wanted to see Musharraf take action against terrorist groups inside Pakistan and to see “a continuation of steps on the Indian side to de-escalate tensions”. Meanwhile, the Indo-US Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorism, which met here July 11, decided to widen cooperation between the countries to minimise weapons of mass destruction
(WMD) attacks, according to official sources. US Coordinator for Counter-terrorism Francis X. Taylor hosted the meeting at the State Department. The Indian delegation was headed by Jayant
Prasad, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. UNI, PTI |
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Pak parties want Pervez to quit Islamabad, July 13 The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), an amalgam of 15 opposition parties spearheaded by the parties of former Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, said elections should be held under a civilian caretaker administration rather than military rule, according to media reports here. The Pakistan People’s Party of Ms Bhutto said this should be a precursor to free and fair elections. “The announcement of the election date is not important. What is important is that they are held in a free, fair and impartial manner under a neutral caretaker administration, set up in consultation with all major political parties and under an autonomous, independent election commission and reformed election laws,” PPP secretary-general Mian Raza Rabbani said yesterday. “The doubtful steps include the security agencies’ attempts to break up major political parties, unsuccessful attempts to pervert the judicial process to keep Ms Bhutto out of the electoral contest, rewriting the Constitution itself to give the Generals overriding powers over an elected government and parliament and disqualifying a large number of candidates in the rural areas on the basis of educational qualifications,” Mr Rabbani alleged. Mr Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N) said the elections would hold little value if conducted by a military regime.
UNI |
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Musharraf has “reneged on his pledges” Islamabad, July 13 In fact the Project Director, Dr Samina Ahmed, goes to the extent of saying that in order to cool of the tension, Pakistan must stop supporting cross-border terrorism, wind up training camps both in its own soil and in PoK, and cease to encourage the madrassas, says an article in The News quoting the report of ICG, a private body aiming at strengthening capacity of the global community to anticipate conflicts and nip them in the bud,. However, the report, with a sense of misgiving, foresees and uncomfortable situation not flattering for the image of Pakistan. Assuming that tension subsidies temporarily in the subcontinent, possibly with US intervention, Washington, it argues, will tend to ease pressure on Musharraf and accept a quasi-military rule after the October polls. But with Generals breathing down his neck in an army-controlled administration, the President, with democracy only formally restored, may be tempted to resume adventurism in Kashmir, and the whole thing will be back to square one. But ICG has some advice for India too. New Delhi, it says, must reconsider its opposition to helicopter-borne monitoring of the LoC and flexible enough to reopen diplomatic and military channels of communication with Islamabad. The 15-page report further notes in this connection that the potential for strategic miscalculations on either side is till all too real, the newspaper adds. Since the Kargil operation, in which Musharraf had a key part, India views his leadership with scepticism and concern. In Pakistan the military, the sole arbiter on national security, bears an intense hatred towards India. The ICG also attempts to assess an internal situation in Pakistan. Because of limiting its role in Kashmir, it is only the hard-boiled jehadis who may retaliate violently against the government. In that case, the latter will crush them for the military can never tolerate any attack on themselves. The majority of the people don’t mind an end to militant element in the battle for the valley, and it may be recalled they remained silent when a large number of extremists had been rounded up in January this year. No protests at all. Musharraf also need not fear any resistance from a highly disciplined army trained to obey instructions from the top rung.
ANI |
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Links between Pak ultras, Al-Qaida unearthed Islamabad, July 13 On July 9, law enforcement agencies captured eight activists belonging to the Al-Qaida, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in the port city of Karachi, The Friday Times said. They were arrested after an Egyptian national, Hasham al-Walid, brother of Iman al-Walid, an Al-Qaida activist arrested by the Saudi authorities and handed over to Pakistan, tipped off the police. Sources say there is overwhelming evidence now of not only Al-Qaida’s linkages with Pakistani groups, but also the fact that there may be no distinction between sectarian and jehadi groups. The Field Security Wing has also arrested three militants and unearthed a conspiracy to assassinate President Gen Pervez Musharraf during his Karachi visit on April 26. Among the accused is a Rangers inspector, Waseem Akhtar, who was supposed to inform the Harkat activists of General Musharraf’s movements. The attack could not be carried out due to a last-minute technical glitch. Later, the terrorists used the same explosives-laden vehicle to attack the USA consulate. Officials are worried about the groups’ extent of penetration into law enforcement agencies. One of the co-accused in the Pearl murder case is a former police officer. “The disclosure by these militants of the plan to kill General Musharraf with the connivance of a Rangers’ official indicates that some other militant groups might also be working on similar missions,” a senior police officer said. The police has collected unimpeachable evidence of some financial transaction in the case of Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl. The financial support of the Al-Qaida to all those targeting foreigners, particularly Americans, has almost been established. But so far the police do not have conclusive evidence on whether any Al-Qaida operative has been directly involved in any of the terrorist strikes. Some observers say the militant groups in Pakistan are Al-Qaida. “If by the Al-Qaida one means Arab nationals then, yes, the police may need to find out if any Arab has been involved in any of the recent attacks. But if the Al-Qaida denotes loose linkages and an ideology, then the people being arrested are Al-Qaida,” says an observer. Intelligence agencies are on the lookout for Mohammad Mustafa, whom they suspect of being linked to the network. “He may be a freelancer, who provides logistics and weapons to militants, but even the captured militants know little about his whereabouts,” a senior official of the Crime Investigation Department said. Mustafa’s name emerged during the interrogation of several militants, including the three leaders of the previously unheard Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Alami, who have admitted to carrying out the attack outside the US consulate. “It is possible that Mustafa provides financial support,” the official said. In both the Sheraton and consulate attacks, the two cars used were not stolen. They were purchased. Sindh police chief Syed Kamal Shah is on record as having said that it is not difficult to hide in Karachi, hinting at the possibility of Al-Qaida men having sneaked into the city. However, sources say there are little chances of Al-Qaida men hiding in madrasaas. “The seminaries are not secure. Most of them have been under constant surveillance for the past several months,” they say. Much of the investigative work is being done by the American Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has more records on the known Al-Qaida leaders than the Pakistani security agencies. The massive support to the Al-Qaida comes from almost all religious groups, jihadi outfits and sectarian groups. These groups have thousands of members.
UNI |
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Gun and talks go together for Hizb Islamabad, July 13 Ruling out participation in any ceasefire, Salahuddin said such an exercise was not pre-requisite for holding talks and that the “past experience of ceasefire bore no fruit and met with serious disaster.” “We can consider this option after India meets our demand (of accepting Kashmir as a disputed territory) backed by guarantees from world powers”, he told a Karachi-based magazine “Herald”. In an apparent “rebuff” to Hurriyat’s attempt to come and hold discussions with the militant leadership, he said “...initiating negotiations in such circumstances will raise questions about the Hurriyat’s integrity. Such negotiations will also send wrong signals to those struggling for freedom.”
PTI |
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