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April 28, 2002
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Sunday
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Safar 14, 1423
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A ‘national govt’
Unchecked police excesses
A ‘national govt’
IN a wide-ranging interview with a Dawn panel, President Pervez Musharraf has hinted at the possibility of forming a national government some time in the future, though he made it clear that there was no possibility of a reconciliation with Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. The remark is open to interpretation and misgivings. It is not clear what precisely the president means by a “national government” in the present context. A national government is usually formed in emergencies like wars and grave internal upheavals that pose a threat to a country’s security. The idea in such a situation is to have a government enjoying the support of the entire nation with a view to evolving policies that meet the challenge at hand. Once the threat is over, the country reverts to its normal system of government. The move presupposes a normal system of government, which unfortunately Pakistan does not have.
Even though our existence as a nation is more than half a century old, the country has failed to evolve a system of government that could be considered stable and democratic. Instead, during half of its history, the country has been ruled by governments which were the results of military coups and were later legitimized by the judiciary. Between military rules, there were two periods of elected governments — 1971-77 (PPP) and 1985-1999 (PML and PPP). All these governments were dismissed either by direct military intervention or with the full approval of the military. At present, the country is under unalloyed military rule that has been given three years by the supreme court with the specific purpose of holding a general election. In such a context, there is no room for a national government.
The issue gets mixed up with the referendum scheduled for Tuesday. The president has made it clear that the referendum has nothing to do with the general election, which will be held on schedule in October. Obviously, the election will give way to a parliament in which the majority party, or a party commanding a plurality, will form a government on its own — or perhaps coalesce with other parties. This government should, one hopes, be able to complete its term, followed by elections after five years, and so the process — one prays — will continue. Where is room in this for a “national government”?
If there was a time when the president could have thought in terms of a national government it was last year immediately after Sept 11 or in December last when India began massing troops on Pakistan’s border in a threatening posture. The first crisis is behind us, while there is a perceptible fall in the intensity of the second. The president himself was riding a wave of popularity during these crises and did not feel like sharing part of the wave with others. But to talk of a national government now, or some time later, looks incongruous.
One would also like to caution the president against developing an obsession with Mr Sharif and Ms Bhutto. It was one th
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