Pakistan’s Aborted Rebirth

Two weeks after seizing power in a coup, Pakistan’s new leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has not even mentioned a timetable for returning the country to civilian rule. Yes, army leaders’ promises are not always kept. When Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq seized power in 1977, he said he’d relinquish the reins in 90 days, then stayed on for more than a decade, until he was killed in an airplane crash thought to have been engineered by his by his political enemies.

Now Gen. Musharraf, Pakistan’s new military strongman, owes the Pakistanis something more than vague promises to lead the country back to democratic rule. He missed another opportunity Monday, with the announcement of a national security council to help him run the country.

Pakistan’s friends and foes rightly have expressed dismay at the general’s actions. When India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons at a tense moment last year, the United States imposed trade restrictions on the two countries. Washington now says it is prepared to lift sanctions on India but not on Pakistan. Similarly, the Commonwealth, 54 nations formerly ruled by Britain (as India and Pakistan once were), has suspended Pakistan’s membership.

The deposed prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, was widely viewed as corrupt. So was Benazir Bhutto, his predecessor. But at least they were elected in free elections. Members of the military regimes that have ruled Pakistan for nearly half its 52 years as an independent nation have rarely been free from corruption. Pakistan has been governed as a feudal fiefdom, its riches up for grabs by whoever managed to grab power, whether at the polls or rifle point.

After taking control, Gen. Musharraf gave the nation an impassioned litany of Pakistan’s woes. The country is desperately poor, its people largely illiterate. The general neglected to say that the army consumes far too much of the nation’s limited treasury. It has fought three wars with India in 52 years and last summer supported guerrillas in an incursion into Kashmir, a state claimed by both Pakistan and India. Musharraf is believed to have orchestrated the Kashmir operation. No wonder India stands on guard. The general subsequently withdrew some Pakistani troops, but not from the Kashsmir area.

Sharif is in protective custody, under investigation for corruption, and will not be missed. Musharraf, his successor, should promptly set a date for elections. The task is clear and possible: The army must go back to its barracks, the power of the courts should be restored and the political opposition should give this troubled country a multitude of voices.

Building a true, deep-rooted democracy in Pakistan will be a tough job, one for which the army is ill-suited.