Indispensable or Indefensible?
The President and the country are both at a crossroads, partly because of Pervez Musharraf’s own making in accepting convoluted legal advice complicating the constitutional situation but mostly due to the drastic changes in the geo-political circumstances since 9/11. While the full details of the deadlock on the LFO talks are still to be publicly aired, the crunch really lies in the President being the constitutional Head of State while hanging on to the office of the COAS. There is ample evidence to suggest there is room for compromise on all other issues but a major part of the Opposition bloc has shown no inclination to budge unless the comprehensive package includes the shedding of his Army uniform by the President. The Opposition have shown a penchant for freezing all Parliamentary work by making a violent nuisance of themselves in the Assemblies.
In any democracy the President cannot be the Army Chief concurrently. As long as Pervez Musharraf is COAS, this is not democracy but a continuation of the military regime, to suggest otherwise would be a farce. The democratic institutions may have been put in place but it would be incongruity to suggest that while one man holds power through the barrel of the gun we are a democracy. The gradual democratization process will not be complete until the COAS doffs his uniform. What the Opposition is suggesting is not wrong, theoretically.
Character and Leadership
One of the lasting impressions of the 20th century was former President De Klerk conceding victory of Nelson Mandela’s ANC when barely 50% of the votes had been counted in the South African elections. While the ANC victory was a foregone conclusion, the only doubt being whether they would manage a two-thirds majority, the grace with which De Klerk accepted defeat was a great moment for this world, a peaceful breaking off the strangulating chains of Apartheid that had shackled South Africa’s black majority for 300 years. This moment of defeat brought into focus the character qualities of this outstanding leader, an occasion he thus managed to turn into a victory of sorts. An amazing period culminated yesterday with the formal inauguration of Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s first Black President. In victory, Nelson Mandela was not to be out done by De Klerk, he was magnanimous, expressing deep satisfaction that he was privileged to work with such a great leader as De Klerk and there could never be any finality in the negotiation of terms with friends.