In Pakistan the only thing worse than a civilian government is a military government, and vice versa.
The strange tango between President Pervez Musharraf and former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif makes you wish for a third kind of government there.
Bhutto was ousted from power in 1990 and again in 1996, to the cheers of Pakistanis. She has been in exile ever since. Sharif was kicked out of power in 1999 by Musharraf, commander of the army, who then set himself up as president. Musharraf, who once vowed that Bhutto would go to prison if she returned to Pakistan, has recently been negotiating some kind of power-sharing deal with her. Sharif, who precipitated the 1999 coup when he tried to block a plane carrying Musharraf from landing in Karachi, wants to stake his claim to running things.
By one measure, all that plotting might be considered progress. At least the plotters are all still alive. In 1977 the Pakistani military overthrew the elected prime minister and later put him on trial and hanged him.
But Musharraf, Bhutto and Sharif are political survivors, and it is likely that at least one of the three will be in charge following elections that are expected to be held by mid-October.
Sharif landed in Pakistan on Monday after a seven-year exile, buoyed by a recent decision by Pakistan’s Supreme Court affirming his right to return to the country. But within hours, he was charged with corruption and deported — in possible contravention of the court decision.
Just a few hours later, Bhutto announced that she would return to Pakistan from her exile. Sharif’s lawyers filed a petition Tuesday with the Supreme Court claiming that his deportation constituted contempt of court. It demanded that the Supreme Court compel the government to fly Sharif back to Pakistan again and let him tell his side of the story.
Oh, to have the landing-rights fees at the local airport.
The return of Sharif and Bhutto would, by rounding out the electoral field, at least help firm up the bona fides of the coming elections. But it is worth remembering that in Pakistan, which has only twice in its 60-year history enjoyed a peaceful and democratic political succession, good and bad aren’t always so easy to parse.
Bhutto and Sharif have faced charges of pervasive corruption in their administrations.
Though Musharraf has seen his popularity fall precipitously in recent months, he has generally been considered one of the better leaders Pakistan has had. (Except for that little business of the coup.) He has made an effort against corruption and presides over a country that is enjoying strong economic growth.
The return of Bhutto would hardly promise the dawn of a new era in Pakistan. She is seeking to strip the Pakistani president of the power to dismiss parliament and the government — which is how she was ousted twice — and she wants corruption charges against her dismissed. Her allegedly ill-gotten gains, which Pakistan has been trying to recoup, reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
What a mess. As long as Musharraf clings to control of the military and the government, Pakistanis are likely to grow more frustrated. But they don’t seem to have fresh leaders who could set a new direction. So Musharraf and Bhutto try to negotiate a power-sharing deal, Sharif lurks, and no Thomas Jefferson is in sight.
