The Murree Accord is a remarkable development. Despite the assassinations and suicide bombings, and despite the daily protests of lawyers and civil society activists, the accord seeks to sustain the transition to a democratic tomorrow that was sparked by the tumultuous return of Benazir Bhutto and the holding of relatively free and fair general elections. It tries to defy cynics like us who argued that a meeting of minds between the PPP and PMLN, given their past history, future prospects and competing interests, was difficult to imagine, let alone coalition governments and ministry sharing in Islamabad and Punjab where neither party needs the other to reinvent itself. And it spurns the sincere but misplaced advice of those who have been exhorting the two parties to jointly confront and oust President Pervez Musharraf and forcibly restore the pre-3rd November judiciary to its pristine glory.
In some ways, the greater maturity has been shown by Mr Nawaz Sharif while the greater courage has been shown by Mr Asif Zardari. Mr Sharif did not succumb to the confrontationist demand to boycott the elections and was vindicated when his party trumped the PMLQ and seized Punjab. Now he has forsaken similar exhortations to propel parliament into a head-on clash with the presidency and the post-3rd November judiciary by accepting the need for a parliamentary resolution as a statement of sincere intent aimed at devising a medium term strategy to obtain an independent judiciary. Meanwhile, Mr Zardari has demonstrated courage by persevering with the political strategy of transiting to democracy articulated by Ms Bhutto, despite the life-price that she paid for it eventually. In short, a good start after months of uncertainty and instability.
We wish, though, that we could be as sanguine about President Musharraf’s intentions. True, he shed his uniform as he’d promised. But it wasn’t without shedding buckets of tears. True, too, that he held relatively free and fair elections. But it wasn’t without bipartisan Americans and the EU breathing down his neck and the political parties brandishing credible threats of a boycott and strikes. One might have imagined that after his PMLQ was trounced at the polls largely because of the sentiment against him personally, he might have announced a relatively decent exit – as we had advised him in an earlier editorial – and let democracy find its own level of gravity. But he is given to posturing and lecturing and strutting about as though he is still commando-in-chief. This reckless and arrogant attitude has to change. He must learn to zip up and take a back seat, otherwise he is bound to step on the people’s mandate and bruise the egos of the new parliamentarians, thereby precipitating another confrontation. At any rate, the PMLN and PPP will obtain a two thirds majority in the senate elections next year and parliament will become strong enough to uncontroversially strip him of his extraordinary powers or send him packing if he remains obstreperous. The time will be right too because a Democratic administration in Washington may not be as enamoured of him as the Bush regime is today.
For the moment, however, everyone must focus on the myriad problems of nation and state. The economy is crying out for better management of food and power shortages in the short and medium terms. The trade deficit is soaring and putting pressure on the rupee, which is fueling inflation. The hefty subsidies to wheat and oil are enlarging the fiscal deficit. Forex reserves are depleting, interest rates are rising and development budgets are facing cuts. Poverty and unemployment are increasing again. It is hardship time.
Then there is the war against Taliban-Al Qaeda terrorism. It has to be tackled as our war and not as America’s war. It is the Pakistani flag and not the American that is trashed when the Taliban banner is hoisted in Swat and Waziristan. Simplistic notions that all such terrorism will come to an end after Mr Musharraf is gone are foolish and dangerous. The Taliban-Al Qaeda network is in search of a base area to inspire a world uprising. It had hoped Afghanistan would be one but the Americans put paid to that. We should not have allowed this network to find shelter in Pakistan and extend its tentacles. But we did and are paying the price for our opportunism. Now the Americans are poised to shift focus from Iraq to Afghanistan and Pakistan is squarely in the eye of the approaching storm. A coordinated joint effort of the international community, the Pakistan military and the Pakistan mainstream political parties is needed to uproot terrorism and win hearts and minds in the disaffected areas and populations. This is a most opportune moment for such a move. The terrorists have alienated Pakistanis by their indiscriminate bombings, one consequence of which is the rout of the religious parties in the elections for protecting and nourishing them.
We owe it to Benazir Bhutto for sacrificing her life for the sake of a transition to democracy via the electoral process. She made it possible for Mr Sharif and Mr Zardari to occupy centre stage today. Now these two leaders have to keep the faith and steer the ship of state into calmer waters. And we, the people, have to give them the political space to do just that.