Adil Najam
Since yesterday the “I” word – impeachment – has begun to be thrown around a lot.
Some quarters seem to think that it just happen this time. Others suggest that it is more talk than action and the numbers needed to pull this are still not there.
Coming out of the “critical” Nawaz Sharif-Asif Zardari meetings one keeps wondering how much of this is an effort to keep the coalition going and how much is a real push to change the essential political equations of Pakistan. There are reports that Gen. Musharraf is taking this move seriously enough to cancel his trip to China (to attend the Olympics opening ceremony). On the other hand some of Gen. Musharraf’s supporters are claiming that no such cancellation has happened. We do know, however, that he is taking this challenge seriously and lining up his supporters.
All in all, there is too much noise to say what is happening. But something is clearly happening. Does the PPP-PML(N) have the numbers they need to go ahead? Does the President have the numbers he needs to stop it? And what of all the external actors and where they may lean, why and for what?
Interestingly, we had run a ATP Poll back in June asking you what you thought would have happened to Gen. Musharraf by October 2008? The majority (38%) had thought that he would be impeached by then. A significant number (31%) thought that by October 2008 we woudl be still muddling through as we are now.
We do not intend to open the Poll again, but it does seem that either of those two answers could turn out to be true again. Indeed, even our earlier Poll on the subject, from October 2007, may still be relevant in its results!
So, since we can’t make full sense of exactly what all of this adds up to, we thought we woudl ask our best source: You. What do you think? What is happening? What might happen? And why?
I think Musharraf leaving/being-impeached would be bad for Pakistan. Bad as he is, Zardari and Sharif are worse. I agree with mamoo and jk and others about this.
And we talk about lawyers. Un ka to qibla hee durust naheen. rally pay rally nikaal tay rahatay hain magar jub azaan ho tee hay to namaz kee koee fiqar naheen (there leaders don’t even bother to pray when the call for prayer is called). Aur maulvi diesel jin ko kaha jata hay (invovled in smuggling diesel). or yeeh Qazi sahab jin kay doostoon kay gharoon say qatil giriftar hotay hain (Suicide bombers have been arrested from there friends houses). Go to NWFP and ask what akram khan durrani was like. They call him a thief and a murderer. And Imran khan who is known as a playboy maulvi.
@ Adil Najam
“We do know, however, that he is taking this challenge seriously and lining up his supporters.”
and
“Does the President have the numbers he needs to stop it? ”
That the statements are suggestive can be gauged by anyone who would like to look at them a bit critically.
You are doing a great job as a Musharraf apologist. And you think you are doing it with subtlety. Was just wodering if pseudo intellectuals like you would have mercy on the poor Pakistani nation and leave it alone….
“Democracies provide for a succession procedure, but this hasn
Pakistan as a state means nothing to me. Its only purpose is to provide stability and order that would allow Pakistanis to achieve their fullest economic, social, and cultural potential. Clearly the state of Pakistan has ceased to be a positive force in people’s lives for some time (I say this knowing that a stateless chaos would be far worse). In the end, the best outcome would be for a gradual transition in which Pakistan disappeared and a new state or series of state’s emerged that could better serve the needs of 170 million people. If that means dividing Pakistan between India, Iran, Afghanistan, and a Punjabi nation, then I’m all for such a solution. Things happen slowly. Remember that the Mughals began a serious decline 400 years before they finally disappeared. I am not optimistic about our democratically elected leadership and, despite his essentially positive contribution to Pakistan, a military dictator such as Musharraf always involves the problem of succession. Democracies provide for a succession procedure, but this hasn’t worked in Pakistan and so we ought to brace ourselves for the eventual passing of this state with what one hopes is minimal bloodshed and that this death happens quickly.