Dealing the consequences

After Pakistan8217;s President Pervez Musharraf met Benazir Bhutto in Abu Dhabi last week 8212; according to the Daily Times, through the assistance of the Emirate8217;s royals July 29 8212; the pace of political developments has picked up. The MQM had instantly welcomed the meeting. Benazir warned that Pakistan was faced with Islamic revolt DT, July 30. Her bank accounts were restored DT, July 31. The leader of the opposition, Fazlur Rehman of the MMA, said Musharraf should be re-elected president in uniform 8220;to avoid a repeat of the East Pakistan tragedy8221; DT, August 1. The federal cabinet endorsed the president8217;s contacts with the PPP and extended support for his re-election, probably between September 15 and October 15, by the present assemblies Dawn, August 2. Bhutto said it would be good if the PML8217;s Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan too DT, August 3. And Nawaz and his brother Shabaz Sharif filed petitions in the Supreme Court, arguing that it was their fundamental right to remain in Pakistan The News, August 3.

In The Friday Times8217; editorial, Najam Sethi commented on emerging details of the deal: 8220;It makes a lot of sense. In fact it makes much better sense from the point of view of Pakistan8217;s national interest in moving towards greater democracy and moderation than the deal that General Musharraf did with the MMA in 2002. The old deal gave him five years as army chief and president. The new deal allows him to retain the presidency but compels him to doff his uniform quickly. The old deal sandwiched him between two conservative allies 8212; the Muslim League and the MMA 8212; and stopped him from practicing his enlightened moderation agenda. The new deal relegates the PML and JUI to junior partners, splits the JUI from the hardline Jamaat I Islami, and elevates the secular and moderate PPP as a senior player, thereby enabling the state to enlarge the national consensus against religious extremism and terror. The old deal put primacy on military power and supremacy. The new deal will send the military back to barracks when General Musharraf doffs his uniform and also stop it from pulling strings from behind the scenes to destabilise civilian government because President Musharraf will retain greater control over it than any other purely civilian president in history.8221;

Vote in the west

Benazir Bhutto too moved the Supreme Court this week, seeking extension of the Political Parties Act 1962 to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas Dawn, July 31. The petition argued that it was the fundamental right of the people of the Tribal Areas to actively participate in the elections and have a choice of political alternatives. The report explained: 8220;With a population of 3.6 million, FATA stretched 27,220 km bordering Afghanistan to the west inhabited mainly by Pukhtun tribes and governed under the frontier crimes regulation introduced during the British Raj. FATA has representation in the National Assembly by 12 members and in the Senate by eight.8221; Dawn supported the validity of the petition in an editorial the next day: 8220;Denied the opportunity of joining national parties, the tribesmen have little political freedom. Until recently, only maliks were given the right to elect FATA members to parliament, but an amendment in the relevant law now provides for direct voting for electing MNAs and MPAs. Nevertheless, in the absence of the political parties, the voters8217; choice is limited and they have to choose between one malik or another8230; Traditionally, the maliks have dominated FATA8217;s political and social life. However, the rise of the Taliban and the inroads made by the foreign militants there have tended to erode the maliks8217; position.8221;

This is the area, pointed out Dawn in an outraged editorial on Friday, referred to as 8220;those mountains8221; by American presidential hopeful Barack Obama, when he supported military action against Al-Qaeda on Pakistani soil. 8220;Such statements are being made out of sheer ignorance,8221; Minister of State for Information Tariq Azeem said in an official response.

Shalamar!

Meanwhile, after 35 years, water is once again flowing through the fountains in Shah Jahan8217;s Shalamar Garderns on the outskirts of Lahore, Dawn reported on Wednesday.