LONDON, Sept 16: The Sunday Times referring to what it believes to be Pakistan’s economic gains during the Musharraf regime has wondered why so many of those who have benefited from his rule are now calling for him to quit.

And why, it further wondered, many were rooting for Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto who were allegedly corrupt.

One Western diplomat is quoted to have blamed it on what he called ‘people’s short memory’.

However, while conceding that corruption was still rife the report quoted critics as saying that the economic gain has mostly benefited the army and a small land-owning elite, creating few new jobs while pushing up inflation.

“They (critics) attribute the growth less to economic reforms than to about $10 billion of American aid and huge remittances from Pakistanis overseas since 9/11,” the paper said.

One of the critics, Sakib Sherani, the chief economist at the ABN Amro Bank in Islamabad, told The Sunday Times: “If you benchmark Musharraf against the past, this has been a golden age. The figures are correct, but is this growth sustainable, equitable or desirable?”

Others, The Sunday Times said, blamed Gen Musharraf’s unpopularity on his close ties with the US, whose policies are widely hated, even among the middle class.

It said equally important was Pakistan’s independent media, which has flourished since 1999 – there are now 14 private television news channels, including one in English.