Musharraf: a diary of failures
By Naeem ul Haque
NEVER in the history of this country has there been a period of such unabashed and shameful political narcissism.
Ours has become a government "of one man, by one man and for one man", to distort a quote of Abraham Lincoln. Today, the nation stands bewildered at the attempts of an unpopular government to give itself a Caesarean rebirth.
An air of pervasive myopia has engulfed the entire government approach to issues during the last eight years. A critical look at Musharraf's years in power unfolds a history of monumental failures in the spheres of foreign affairs, economic policy and political development.
Ad hocism and short-term solutions have exacerbated the overall situation to an alarming degree, and major issues confronting the nation remain unresolved. It is in the field of foreign policy where Musharraf's myopic stance stands most exposed.We must start from the Kargil misadventure planned by Musharraf when he was army chief but not yet the president.
This event led to the death of at least 600 Pakistani soldiers and international embarrassment and humiliation for Pakistan. This ill-planned and ill-timed adventure was totally against the foreign policy objectives of the then government of Nawaz Sharif and ended in a complete fiasco.
Later, as "chief executive" of the country, Musharraf made a mess of the tremendous goodwill available to him at Agra when his euphoric bravado during a "live" breakfast meeting with Indian editors resulted in the collapse of the summit. Years later, we are still struggling to find common ground with India in the midst of lacklustre initiatives.
The repercussions of Musharraf's post 9/11 acquiescence in American demands, without any national debate, have now become obvious. Hundreds of Pakistani soldiers have been killed and continue to be killed by fellow Pakistanis in Waziristan. They have even laid down arms and deserted the army to avoid confrontation with fellow citizens. As a virtual civil war rages in Waziristan and Pakistanis continue to die, America and the Americans feel safe thousands of miles away from this boiling cauldron.
The Israeli initiative taken by Musharraf also turned out to be a big flop. It seems that Musharraf's main idea was to cultivate the Jewish lobby in America for building support for his regime. The plight of the Palestinians was hardly on his agenda. Throughout his eight years of rule, Musharraf has never once directly condemned Israel for its atrocities in Palestine.
As a result of this initiative, Musharraf has not only lost face with the Palestinians but also with the Israelis as their hopes for promised recognition failed to materialise.
In spite of being the only Muslim nuclear power, Pakistan's prestige among other Muslim countries remains low. Musharraf tried to hold an Islamic summit in Islamabad earlier on when he suddenly flew off to a number of countries to extend personal invitations to Muslim heads of state. Their response was unenthusiastic and Musharraf had to settle for an insignificant and embarrassing meeting of five foreign ministers in Islamabad. For fear of annoying the Americans, Musharraf did not invite Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Pakistan.
It is difficult to imagine that Musharraf will take an anti-American or pro-Iranian line in case of an American attack on Iran. After eight years of Musharraf, our relations with neighbours Iran, Afghanistan and India remain uncomfortable, and disagreements on important issues persist.
On the economic front, the Musharraf regime has virtually ignored the poor of the country. It is difficult to find any evidence of Musharraf ever visiting a slum or sitting with the poor during his eight years. His regime failed to evolve any concrete economic plan, preferring to run the economy on an ad hoc basis. No wonder that a recent Asian Development Bank report has talked about Pakistan lacking an economic vision.
The much-touted foreign exchange reserves are barely enough to finance five months of import. This is alarming, specially when compared to neighbours India and China. The dream of Pakistan becoming an Asian tiger has been abandoned as Shaukat Aziz & co have realised the futility of their lopsided economic policies. The economy today is confronted with two major crises "” the shortage of power and wheat.
Inflation, specially food inflation, has broken all records, and coupled with unemployment has led to an alarming growth in the number of people living in absolute poverty. Estimates of people living in absolute poverty have risen from 45 million to about 50 million.
At the same, the VIP culture has flourished in Pakistan like never before. Top government functionaries live and behave like viceroys. The main duty of the police in this country is now to protect these VIPs. Routinely the roads are blocked for VIP movement, even ambulances have to wait.
In the social sector, Musharraf's record is miserable. Health services remain pathetic and very few hospitals have been set up by the government during the last eight years, leaving it mainly to the private sector to cater to the growing needs of the teeming millions.
Today, a majority of Pakistanis do not have access to decent and affordable healthcare. In education, the teaching standards of government schools have gone down drastically and thousands of schools, especially in the rural areas, do not have teachers or have been closed down.
As Musharraf seeks a dubious second term, millions of rupees of government money are being spent on the publicity of his "achievements" and those of his cronies in clear violation of election rules.
Musharraf himself has become obsessed with the "billions" his government claims to have spent on various schemes and projects and has been quoting figures incessantly in his talks as if he should be judged on the basis of how much his government has spent rather than achieved.
On the political front Musharraf has defied the Constitution and law many times. He has applied the law selectively, co-opting corrupt and criminal elements in his government, while prosecuting political opponents for similar crimes. He has made the office of the prime minister into a joke, making all important decisions himself. In fact he has become the president, prime minister, army chief and head of the Muslim League Q, all rolled in one. The nation needs a change. Pakistan needs to move ahead.
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