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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (45430)	1/3/2004 12:28:09 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Don’t be so uncivil, Mr President General Pervez Musharraf has played politics from the day he seized power four years ago. Yesterday he became President of Pakistan with the approval of a majority of the members of a civilian parliament. Indeed, he went so far as to solicit a political vote of confidence from the civilians. Why then is he still contemptuous of politics and civilians? Speaking at a function in Islamabad organised by the All Pakistan Newspaper Editors recently, General Musharraf said that he refused all deals in which he would have had to contest the presidential election because it would have pitted him against a person or persons whom he considered beneath his dignity to even mention. While Mr Musharraf is to be generally applauded for being candid, surely this is going too far. Indeed, by any measure, this self-righteous remark is in poor taste, apart from also being quite shallow. We cannot help but notice that in the past two years, while Mr Musharraf’s view on world affairs has undergone a healthy change, resulting in the shaping up of sensible policies, his outlook on domestic politics still betrays his years in the uniform. We would like to humbly submit to President Musharraf that he did not present himself for a vote because it might have resulted in a bigger embarrassment than the one he had to endure following the ill-advised decision to go for a referendum. The leaders President Musharraf is not ready to even name, let alone contest an election against, denote strong political forces and sentiments in this country. Indeed, were they free to return to Pakistan, President Musharraf would see his current stable of political actors bolt away faster than one can say Jack Robinson. Neither can these leaders and their parties be wished away, as we have been at pains to remind him time and again. Just as they have to put up with the reality of his unwelcome presence, so, too, must President Musharraf reconcile himself to their unwelcome reality; the sooner the two sides come to this understanding the better for all of us. Some time ago General Musharraf had declared that he did not want to address an uncivil parliament that was likely to boo him down. He later retracted the statement after the politicians lashed out at him. One would have thought that he would have learnt something from that incident. But he hasn’t, despite having been in the thick of politics for more than four years. He has tried to get the best of both worlds, acting as the head of state with the help of the coercive attributes of his position as army chief to keep everyone in line. But this cannot go on for very long. Since he has chosen politics over his role as a soldier, he needs to understand and apply the delicate, polite and diplomatic way of the civilian rather than the blunt yes-sir and no-sir of the soldier. *