Adil Najam
UPDATE: The picture on the left, published in Daily Times, comes with the caption:
“Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, PML-Q President Shujaat Hussain and MNAs react to an announcement by the Election Commissioner (unseen), at Parliament on Saturday. President Pervez Musharraf won a landslide victory in the election but the official results will be declared after the Supreme Court verdict on his eligibility.“
Maybe our readers can suggest what some of the people here are thinking as they clap. Suggestively, some, you will note, are making too much of an effort to clap, and others too little! The picture is also a good compliment to an earlier one we had posted here.
ORIGINAL POST: It is neither a surprise nor really news that Gen. Musharraf just got himself elected. It was always clear that he would get himself elected by hook or crook; eventually it took a bit of both. The way it had to be done is sad – pathetic really – and no one has come out of this mess looking good. Gen. Musharraf got the votes he needed, but neither he nor anyone else is a winner.
Gen. Musharraf lost whatever little credibility he might have had as someone interested in Pakistan’s development or people’s aspirations. He also lost the ability to make the claim that he was any different or any less p
ower-hungry than his political predecessors. He is now, clearly, one of them and has lost the one thing that had given him a support base. Benazir Bhutto lost the principles her party and father might once have stood for. PML(Q) had little to loose and yet lost big, they may even loose the government. Nawaz Sharif had already lost out some weeks ago. Maulana Fazlur Rehman had already lost all credibility but now they can’t even pretend to have any left. The Supreme Court lost at least some of the public goodwill they had gained as an institution with last minute shenanigans. America lost too because instead of backing one bad bet (Musharraf) they are now backing two (Musharraf + Benazir Bhutto).
But the biggest loser here may be the people of Pakistan who – once again – lost big time. But, then, I guess we are used to it.
Frankly, there is little need or point in commenting on the sham elections today. This was not a news event, this was a scripted stage drama. The real question remains what will happen next. There, it seems, that all of the losers – including Gen. Musharraf – may be confronted with some unexpected turn of events. There, one continues to hope, the people of Pakistan may yet emerge as winners eventually. Whenever ‘eventually’ comes!
Naveed Saieen, inhi konay gosho’n mein bathaktay rehtay hein.
Good luck with business in Pakistan! Ignore the rumour mongering and the rabble rousing, and you’ll do just fine. People have been talking about qiamat hitting Pakistan for 60 years, and yet no one ever lost money on a real estate investment in the country. Damn the negativity and full speed ahead!!
Visit a blog with a slightly more “positive” audience and you’ll at all the great innovation happening in Pakistan: techlahore.wordpress.com is one, ittazee.com is another.
Dear Social Mistri, pray tell me where you have been all these years :) I loved your initial response. Common man on the street as to whether he is doing better under Musharaf or not, it is too complex a question for us to answer.
My company is bullish on Pakistan and we have seen new multinational businesses setting up shop in Pakistan over the last 5 years. Yes, the business has been impacted recently in anticipation of elections but if there is less confrontation and political differences can be resolved through back-channel dialogue, the country can come out stronger through any challenge whether internal or external
Pakistan is a clear loser as a result of this farce. Its not fair to expect 10 SC judges to save Pakistan from such ignomy only, the people of Pakistan’s judgement is yet to come, my post here asks pertinent questions of each us, please have a read: http://www.otherpakistan.org/archive.html
Feimnallah
Wasim
Syed Ali Raza,
Didn’t ZAB govt normally complete a full 5 year term in 1977?
Kruman, Allah na karay! Koi khair ki batien karo.
Being an armchair internet intellectual must be wonderful, but let’s not get overexcited about the whole thing and start hoping for the death of hundreds of thousands of people in Pakistan… which is what a French revolution style event in the context of modern Pakistan would mean.
Allah maafi day! Aap kay baray khatarnak desires hain.
Shah of Iran, blah blah, whatever. This is not Iran and Musharraf is not Aria-Mehr, and nor is there a Mossadeq on hand. Koi achi analogy lagaien. This one is a complete non starter.
I said this a little while ago, but let me say it again. KUCH NAHIEN HO GA; election will be done, Musharraf will continue and oversee the transition – a peaceful return to civilian rule for the first time in our history. If depressed, visit http://www.kse.net.pk