2003: war of nerves
Beginning with a gas pipeline blow-up in Balochistan, the year 2003 remained politically unsettled almost till the end. But just before it drew to a close, the MMA and the government clinched a deal that had eluded them for nearly 14 months.
Throughout the year, the nation had seen a war of nerves between the opposition and the government on the Legal Framework Order. Promulgated as an ordinance in 2002, the LFO made sweeping changes in the Constitution altering its parliamentary character, with the military government insisting that it had become part of the basic law.
The amendments were made on the basis of a Supreme Court judgment on May 12, 2000. The judgment - not very different from previous such decisions by the higher judiciary - validated the military takeover of Oct 12, 1999, and gave Gen Pervez Musharraf three years in which to hold an election.
More important, it authorized the army chief to make such changes in the Constitution as were necessary for purposes of governance. However, treating the Supreme Court judgment as carte blanche, Gen Musharraf proceeded to change the basic law beyond recognition and in such a way that the military came to acquire a decisive role as wielder of power.
The LFO provided for a National Security Council, which was in effect to function as a super-cabinet, and armed the president with Article 58-2(b) giving him the power to sack an elected government and dissolve the National Assembly.
In addition, the general insisted he would continue to be the army chief, after being "elected" president through a flawed referendum in April 2002.
The opposition stuck to its position - that it would not accept a head of state who was also army chief.
It also opposed the creation of the National Security Council and the revival of Article 58-2(b) besides taking exception to the power given to the president to appoint the army chief in his discretion.
The opposition insisted that the LFO could not become part of the Constitution unless it was passed by parliament by a two-thirds majority. The course of the negotiations was tortuous: it varied from misplaced optimism to frustration, with the opposition threatening a public agitation.
Finally, in the last week of December, an agreement was struck between the government and the religious parties grouped in the MMA. There was relief that a prolonged impasse had ended, but hopes that the deal would lead to the establishment of a durable democracy were conditioned on whether the military had finally decided to withdraw from politics.
Under the agreement, the NSC will be created through an act of parliament, the power to sack the government has been subjected to judicial reference, and the president will lay down his uniform by the end of this year.
The bill based on the agreement, known as the 17th Constitutional Amendment Bill, was passed by the National Assembly on Dec 29 and by the Senate a day later, making the modified LFO part of the 1973 Constitution.
During the negotiations, the government and the MMA seemed to have worked tacitly to isolate the ARD, which includes the two mainstream parties, the PPP and the PML-N.
The ARD stoutly opposed the amendments, but it was apparent that the much discussed military-mullah combination had now been formalized. Whether this would help Gen Musharraf as he moves in the New Year to further curb extremism and mend fences with India remains to be seen.
Both issues have the potential of stirring up strong reactions. President Musharraf was the target of two assassination attempts within 12 days in December.
He was particularly lucky to survive the second attempt which came on Christmas Day. But 17 innocent civilians were killed in the suicide attack, which raised serious questions about the efficiency of the state's security set-up.
Two of the worst cases of terrorism occurred in Quetta when a suicide bomber killed 44 people in a Shia mosque in July. A few days earlier, 11 police trainees lost their lives in a gruesome massacre. A religious figure who fell victim to terrorism was himself known for extremism - Maulana Azam Tariq, chief of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba.
However, two veteran politicians left this world in peace and with honour, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan and Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani, causing a sad depletion in the ranks of the opposition.
With India, a thaw in relations began rather early. In April, Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali responded positively to a speech in Srinagar by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in which the latter agreed to talk to Pakistan without any conditions.
Even though a comprehensive dialogue that tackles the Kashmir issue has not yet begun, the two sides took a number of confidence-building measures that lowered tensions.
These CBMs included the return of high commissioners to the two capitals and the restoration of the Lahore-Delhi bus service, besides a decision to re-open air and train services.
And on Nov 25, the guns fell silent along the Line of Control and in Siachin after both countries agreed to a ceasefire. Besides, parliamentarians, businessmen and artists exchanged visits, and Mr Vajpayee confirmed his decision to attend the Islamabad Saarc summit.
While a meeting with President Musharraf on the sidelines of the summit conference is not yet on the cards, Mr Vajpayee's decision to visit Islamabad is a good omen so far as moves towards reconciliation are concerned. The new developments on the India-Pakistan front may prove to have been the brightest spot of the year in the regional framework.
A major event in the realm of external relations was the president's visit to the US in June. The upshot was a five-year, three-billion-dollar economic and military package for Pakistan. There was no word on what Islamabad was most keen to acquire - new F-16s. But later Washington announced that Pakistan could purchase F-16s from Belgium if Congress authorized the sale. There were no firm indications till the end of December that Congress would indeed oblige.
Among the tragedies was the death of 45 people when explosive material caught fire in a village in the Northern Areas, and the Feb 20 Fokker crash that killed PAF chief Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir, his wife and 16 others near Kohat.
In Sindh, record rains in July killed 81 people, besides causing misery to millions, while there was an environmental disaster in Karachi when the Tasman Spirit, a Greek-registered ship, spilled 50,000 tonnes of oil off the Clifton beach after it ran aground.
But on the whole perhaps the level of organized terrorism was not as bad as in the previous year, although individual acts of violence and societal oppression of the less privileged sections of the population, including women, continued unabated.
This cricket-crazy nation saw one of its legends, Wasim Akram, retire after five World Cups and 19 years in the game. A welcome exit from the scene was that of Gen Tauqir Zia, whose four-year tenure as cricket board chief had seen nothing but disasters. He was replaced by Shahrayar Khan, who must now prove that he can be as good a cricket manager as he was a diplomat.