"I would like above all to declare my resolve to continue, with the support of my family, to serve the people of this great nation, to the best of my ability through the changing times ahead.

"Only the passage of time can filter out the ephemeral from the enduring. And what endure are the characteristics that mark our identity as a nation and the timeless values that guide us. These values find expression in our national institutions ....... which in turn must continue to evolve if they are to provide effective beacons of trust and unity to succeeding generations.....".

So as not to misguide readers of this column, it must be immediately clarified that, sadly, these words were not uttered by President General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan but by Elizabeth II, Queen of England, in her 'historic address' to both Houses of Parliament at Westminster on April 30, on the occasion of her Jubilee Year celebrating 50 years of her reign. The Queen obviously has her mother's genes and may well live to the age of 100 by which time her son and heir, Prince Charles, at 77 years of age, might be a great-grandfather.

Here in Pakistan, right now, is there one man who really thinks that Musharraf will return to his plough, after sorting out his country, as did General Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus, citizen-soldier of Rome, in the sixth century AD?

Our press is overflowing with the disgust and ire of our pundits expressed about the contentious referendum. But more importantly we should imbibe the wisdom of those who look at us from afar, those who are interested in the fate of this country.

We start with The Thunderer, 'The Times' of London, from an editorial printed on May Day:

"The outcome was never in doubt; what matters was the scale of support ...... The procedure may have been demeaning, the referendum undemocratic and the turnout embarrassingly low, but the outcome is no bad thing.... Musharraf's claims deserve a more sympathetic hearing. Under the alternating civilian governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, two feudal oligarchs of unparalleled corruption and incompetence, the country was falling apart. Tribal unrest was boiling over in the North, law and order had broken down in the cities, the economy was tottering, the traditionally browbeaten Islamists were given their head.

"Since coming to power, General Musharraf has slowly pulled Pakistan back from the abyss. A purge on corruption frightened some of the most notorious swindlers into paying taxes. The reform of local government led to a modest restoration of fairer voting at local level. A concerted boost for the status of women ensured that at least some have been able to stand for office ..................

"Since September 11 General Musharraf has had to make harder choices than almost any leader in the region .......... the West has applauded his courage and rewarded his decisions.... General Musharraf has plenty still to do; his reforms have shallow roots, religious extremism still has a fierce grip, communal and tribal tensions are far from stilled and the Taliban are finding haven in border areas. Having grown up in Turkey, he says he takes another general, Kemal Ataturk, as his model. The ideal of such thoroughgoing reforms for Pakistan is admirable. But the general must not lose sight of the goal - a return to democracy. If he does, no referendum will save him from ignominy."

A return to democracy? 'What is democracy anyway?' screams a headline in the New York Times of May 3 over a column by Nicholas Kristof. He opens up: "If there was a form of government that produced autocrats who sponsored terrorism, stole millions of dollars while impoverishing their citizens, shredded public education and health, permitted child bondage, tortured dissidents and tolerated pogroms against minorities then we would all condemn it. Except that in South Asia such a system is called democracy."

He terms the referendum 'rigged', he questions America's complicity in it and what to the Americans thus constitutes democracy. Elections alone do not constitute democracy - they are merely one element. And unless they are accompanied by other elements such as a free press, an independent judiciary and respect for minorities elections can be used, as they have been in Pakistan, by "drug lords as a convenient way to install their pals in important offices," which offices make it convenient for them to rob, plunder and even murder.

Our decade of democracy, he qualifies as 'quasi-democracy' during which Pakistan was pretty close to a terrorist state. Musharraf seized power, then came 9/11 and he began his task of turning the country away from terror and extremism - an enormous task. According to the president of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, prior to 9/11 Americans considered Pakistan to be a failing state, ten years away from collapse.

And taking into account the country's recent experiments with democracy, Kristof concludes that he cannot help but think that Pakistan would be better off under Musharraf providing he uses his power to build credible democratic institutions which should start with the October elections. If the US must wink at the general's charade then it must press him to give the country the pillars of a free society, including an independent judiciary, a free press, and a functioning parliament.

The Washington Times of Referendum Day, under the headline 'Musharraf must stay', comments that, referendum or no referendum, it is essential for any future guarantee of anti- corruption, anti-terrorist and even pro-democracy reforms in Pakistan, and of course for cooperation in the war against terror, that Musharraf remain in power. It is critical to not only the peace and prosperity of Pakistan, but to that of the US and much of the rest of the world that the world's second largest Muslim country find a new stable and accountable form of democracy.

So far, Musharraf has done well on this front and he must be allowed to continue, for the US needs Pakistan, with its strategic importance in the region, as a friend "for decades to come." And both Pakistan and the US need Musharraf's "cool-headed and responsible decision-making abilities." The best way for the US to ensure that these abilities endure is to provide sustained aid to Islamabad.

The general has just made a mess of things. Let him blame his advisers for telling him to wear turbans and fancy dress to tour the country and address public meetings at the people's expense, but he must realize in himself that the ultimate responsibility is his. Musharraf is liked by the people for what he has promised to do - which is to lead them forward. We can only now hope that his promises will be kept. Those capable of thought have no option but to clutch at straws. It would be a tragedy for this nation were the general to turn out to be a man of straw.