Adil Najam
THIS POLL IS NOW CLOSED.
With Gen. Pervez Musharraf visiting the United States to address the UN General Assembly and launch his autobiography, In the Line of Fire, (see ATP post here) those of us living in USA are bound hear and see more of him on the media that we normally do.
Seems like an appropriate time for an ATP Poll. Previous ATP Polls have sought our readers views on women’s rights and Pakistan’s image (here), on what Gen. Musharraf should do about his future (here), and on which of Pakistan’s past leaders did the most ‘good’ for the country (here). This time we want you, our readers, to do a performance review of Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s years in power. How would you grade Gen. Musharraf’s performance in four key areas: (a) domestic politics, (b) economy and development, (c) governance and reform, and (d) foreign affairs?
In each of these four areas, you can give General Sahib a grade; ranging from the highest at A+ to the lowest at F. Following standard practice in academic grading, an A signifies ‘excellent’ performance, a B signifies ‘Good’, a C signifies ‘average’, a D signifies ‘Poor’, and an F is failing grade. Simply fill in the grades in the form below or click here to take the survey:
The intended focus of the poll is on Gen. Musharraf’s actual performance. We would love to base your assessment on what he has actually achieved, or not, in the context of the goals he and others had set for him in each of these areas. The four areas are broad, but hopefully they are conceptually cohesive. The first three encapsulate all the elements of the 7-point agenda that Gen. Musharraf has set for himself (see here):
1. Rebuild National confidence and morale.
2. Strengthen Federation, remove Inter-Provincial disharmony and restore National cohesion… through devolution of power, from the Centre to the Provinces and from the Provincial to the local governments as actually enshrined in the Constitution.
3. Devolution of power to the grass root level.
4. Revive Economy and restore Investor confidence… through stability and consistency in economic policies and economic security.
5. Ensure law and order and dispense speedy justice… improving the qualities of law enforcement agencies.
6. Depoliticize State institutions.
7. Ensure swift and across the board accountability… The process of accountability is being directed at those guilty of plundering and looting the National wealth, tax evaders […and…] loan defaulters. The process of accountability will be transparent for the public to see.
It seems to me that the first point arrives from a sum of all four of our categories. Point 4 is clearly about our ‘Economy and Development’ category. Points 2 and 3 are generally included in what we are calling ‘Domestic Politics’. And Points 5, 6 and 7 are relate closely to our category of ‘Governance and Reform.’ I felt that having a separate point of foreign affairs was important given the events of the last many years and Pakistan’s role in them. You are, of course, free to comprehend the four categories as you deem best.
A request to our readers. I have put in some effort into selecting four separate categories for assessment (moreover, I have gone through many technical hoops to get the poll to accept multiple questions). I hope you will all take the time to evaluate his performance in each category on its own merit and do so as objectively as possible.
At one level, it does not matter much; after all, this is just a silly little poll whose only real utility is our own intellectual stimulation. On the other hand, I worry about a tendency amongst some to gravitate towards extremes, to view things as entirely black or entirely white (the ‘with us or against us’ mentality), to label things as either entirely good or as entirely evil, and to viciously attack any and all who disagree. I fear that the temptation will be too great amongst Musharraf’s supporters to put all A+’s and for his detractors to put in all F’s. If you honestly believe that to be the true assessment in each category, please do so. But I hope you will not do so simply for the sake of wanting to ‘force’ one particular result or the other.
If you do want to influence the results, please, by all means ask your friends to also vote. Voting is anonymous; as it should be. This is, of course, not be a very scientific poll, but it will at least give us a sense of what this community � the ATP cohort � thinks. Do vote, but please vote only once (even if you are smart enough to beat the system somehow). This poll is now closed.
I am disappointed in him in many areas, specially in governance and reform of the society. Country has seemingly gone into the grip of fanaticism over the last decade and he should have done a lot more to bring back the pendulum. However, it is not easy to get rid of the crop implanted by zia, overnight. Also when you see people like ch. shujaat, pervaiz elhai, sh. rahseed at the center what good can you expect from such a setup? Old crooks, new stories.
However inflated numbers might be they still are much better when compared with the 90s. Having visited Pakistan recently after a very long time I could see the general ves in the economy. And it must be to his credit. And as Aziz Akhmad mentioned he also has done fairly well in foreign policy.
A rare criticism on Adil’s post: Having seen polls in the U.S. for a long time in the media may be my eyes have changed in their focus, but the picture of him you posted up top does not indicate a level playing field. Again this is something the rest may not have noticed and as a result may not have mattered.
My grades:
Domestic politics: D-
– provincial system in Sindh and other places is in shambles. Musharraf has allied with the devil himself (read MQM) to maintain control.
Economy and development: B
– some decent work by Shaukat Aziz and crew considering the state Sharif sahab had left us in. However, that B is generous since poverty is still rampant.
Governance and reform: C
– some progress at federal level. However, that has come at the cost of disenfranchising the majority by making a mockery of the established parties. Hudood still there.
Foreign Affairs: A-
– some decent work here it must be said. Musharraf has had to walk a very tight rope during the last 5 years or so. Has tried especially hard to make peace with India desptite the latter’s efforts to the contrary.
Army leader was to have imposed new methods to govern the country. I mean to say equal representation among four units of federation just like to be elected supreme assembly. Which would lead to domestic politics. Economy and development both are poor due to international interruption, which is a proof of the poor economical policies. Governance and reforms are also poor due to political uncertainty. Mistakes can make poor in all walks of the life. Having been poor! Positive efforts to be taken to remain safe. Reforms are very essential to take part for making safe our administration and it has no need to be adherent of the mistakes. If administration committed any more mistakes itself, it will loose its control. We are being examined by our own affairs within country and out of it, other countries have kept keen eye upon us. So, it is time to be made right decisions.
Adil
(a) Domestic politics: In this I would include clean and credible elections, a sovereign, independent and functioning parliament where members don’t change loyalties for fear or greed, and center-province relations. On this account I would rate the present regime no better than the worst in the past — a D at best.
(b) Economy and development: We have done fairly well in the last 5 years for whatever reasons. Foreign investment, however, is still shy for reasons relating to governance and poorer sections of the society are no better than they were in the past. I would rate this a B.
(c) Governance and reform would include law and order, justice system and human rights, corruption and accountability, functioning of local governments, education, and health. Unfortunately, we haven’t done too well in this area. (Sep. 19 Daily Times headlines read “Transparency says Musharraf regime more corrupt than BB, Nawaz govts”.) So, it would be an undisputed F on this account.
(d) Foreign affairs: I think Musharraf government has done fairly well in this area and therefore deserves a B
First, let me second the point made by PatExpat. If you want, certianly, say how you voted (although we have tried to ensure that those who wish to will remain anonymous from everyone). However, it may be more useful to discuss the merits of General Sahib’s performance, and why you voted as you did. Anyhow, this is just a thought to get a dsicussion going.
As of now, a total of 40 votes have been cast:
DOMESTIC POLITICS
A+(2); A(1)
B(2); B-(1)
C+(4); C(5); C-(3)
D+(1); D(3); D-(2)
F(16)
ECONOMY & DEVELOPMENT
A+(6); A(4); A-(2)
B+(10); B(6)
C+(4); C-(1)
F(7)
GOVERNANCE & REFORM
A+(1); A(1); A-(2)
B+(4); B(3); B-(2)
C+(2); C(5); C-(2)
D+(2); D(3)
F(13)
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
A+(5); A(6); A-(4)
B+(4); B(4); B-(2)
C+(3); C(1)
F(11)