President Musharraf to Resign. Negotiating Democratic Rights for Self

On June 2, 2008 I wrote an article titled, “United States, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Lies and Democracy”. That article can be read here. In that article I predicted the following and I quote, “My prediction is that Musharraf will seek refuge in the US or UK within two months if not sooner. He has not been elected by the people and he has no right to govern in a democracy. If American support was not there he would have had the same fate as of other dictators sooner”.

Today it is 15th. August 2008. This is exactly two months and two weeks since my prediction. I estimate that my prediction is off by two to three weeks. Sorry, I got it slightly wrong. I am off by two weeks. Here is what is happening in Pakistan today.

Reuters reports from London are now pouring in. The reports state that:

1. President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan will resign soon rather than face impeachment by Pakistan’s parliament. Musharraf was a close ally of the US who helped in the Regime Change in Afghanistan.
2. Senior Pakistani government officials are saying the a deal has been struck between the elected Government and Dictator Musharraf.
3. Dictator Musharraf had three requests. First, he requested that he be allowed to stay in Pakistan. Then he requested to be allowed to retire to his farm in Islamabad. Finally, he requested that there be no moves to prosecute him once he is out of office. This is very sad. This is very ironical. President Pervez Musharraf now expects the same rights as other ordinary citizens. The very rights he did not give to others like ex-Prime Minister Mr. Nawaz Sharif (elected) and former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

I predicted his downfall on 2nd. June 2008.

I am now predicting that his requests will be granted initially. Once he has retired he will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This is the state of Democracy in Pakistan. His fate will now be decided by a Former Prime Minister (Sharif) who was swept back into power by popular elections and by the former Chief Justice (Chowdhary). The former chief Justice is now flying to be in Islamabad to see the downfall of Musharraf.

President Musharraf did not deliver justice to the former Prime Minister and the former Chief Justice when he was in power. He will not get justice from them either. If President Musharraf wants to live a full life it will be best for him to leave Pakistan. He has too many enemies and they all want revenge “An eye for an eye”. They are now in power. Will they have the sense of “social justice and fairness” which Mr. Musharraf did not have when he was in power? My gut feeling is that “individually” each and every member has a social conscience but “collectively” people make more unjust and more risky decisions.

Picture 2 Mr. Nawaz Sharif waving good-bye to President Musharraf?

The background to this story: President Musharraf was a supporter of the Taliban in Pakistan. Under American pressure he stopped supporting the Taliban and joined the US in the War against Terrorism. He subsequently lost the elections in Pakistan. His enemies won. They now want revenge.

The current government of Pakistan is led by the party of assassinated Former Prime Minister Ms. Benazir Bhutto. She too was forced into exile by Mr. Musharraf. Now, that party is led by Ms. Bhutto’s son. I do not expect him or his party members to shed any tears over the predicaments of Mr. Musharraf.

Mr. Musharraf is a former army chief. He seized power in a 1999 coup from an elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Mr. Sharif’s party too made substantial gains in the free and fair elections. Mr. Musharraf has been politically isolated since his allies lost the so called free and fair elections. Mr. Musharraf wanted to cancel these elections but the Americans forced him to honour his pledge to the people of Pakistan. These elections were held in February 2008. Though Mr. Musharraf’s party was routed in the elections Mr. Musharraf has managed to cling onto power with US support. The US would obviously deny this as this will amount to meddling in the internal affairs of another country.

Dictator Musharraf’s declining political fortunes have heightened concerns in the United States and among its allies about the stability of Pakistan. Pakistan and India became nuclear powers recently against US wishes. I have predicting that Iran will become a nuclear power against US wishes in the next six years. The article I am referencing to can be read here The US have been furthering their own interests in that region by granting India the rights to buy nuclear material even though India has not signed the “Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty”. It has given Pakistan billions of dollars in aid because Pakistan (through Dictator Musharraf) supported the American led, anti-Islam, war on terror.

Conclusion: President Bush and Prime Minister Blair cooked up the Weapons of mass destruction theory. They wrongly estimated that the people of Pakistan would support their ideas. The people of Pakistan have voted. Now it is time for America to sit back and respect the wishes of the people of Pakistan.