Let the politics begin

Having failed to implement the law of the land, General Musharraf has belatedly enabled the same outcome that would have resulted from implementing the apex court8217;s ruling. Quite clearly, international factors are more important in the eyes of Pakistan8217;s ruling generals than Pakistan8217;s own institutions.

General Musharraf took power in a 1999 military coup after toppling Sharif. After first jailing and then exiling the ousted prime minister, the general vowed that he and another popular former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, would never be allowed to return to Pakistan8217;s politics.

Bhutto returned to Pakistan on October 18 to a tumultuous welcome and now Sharif has also returned. Apologists of military rule ridiculed this columnist 8212; and many others 8212; for repeatedly advocating the return of both major party leaders. Now it is our turn to ridicule those who think that a coup-making general8217;s 8216;vision8217; trumps the fundamental rules of politics.

Politicians with a support base can never be kept out of a country8217;s politics forever. If only Pakistan8217;s generals and the oligarchy that supports them understood that, Pakistan would actually get on with normal politics with all its flaws and weaknesses and get somewhere. Right now, we are simply going around in circles.

Sharif8217;s return should end the unjustified attacks on Bhutto for negotiating her return to the country. Every politician must know how to negotiate and Sharif has leveraged himself with the help of his mentors just as Bhutto effectively deployed western public opinion in her favour to create political space.

It is already apparent that at least one segment of the Pakistanis establishment now wants Sharif to work towards reunification of the two factions of the Pakistan Muslim League PML. Sharif might be less acceptable to Musharraf personally but there is greater acceptance among Pakistan8217;s conservative military-intelligence establishment for him than for Bhutto and the Pakistan Peoples Party PPP.

Bhutto8217;s welcome rally was targeted for a suicide terrorist attack and the government has yet to investigate that crime. Fortunately, Sharif faces no extremist threats and the civil-military bureaucracy appears keen to look after him.

If Sharif can avoid the temptation of trying to upstage Bhutto and stay true to his new image as the establishment8217;s rebel, the Charter of Democracy signed by the two major party leaders last year can be implemented.

If, on the other hand, the establishment is able to work its magic and revive the spirit of IJI or calls for PML unity, the traditional pro- and anti-establishment divisions in Pakistani society would stand revived.

As important as the domestic dimension of Sharif8217;s return to Pakistan are, external factors are quite obviously at play in Pakistani politics. Since its inception, Pakistan has been mired in global great power politics at the expense of building up domestic institutions and internal cohesion.

Pakistanis must learn to conduct their politics within their country. Then, Pakistan could emerge as a normal country with predictable patterns of political change. And the rulings of Pakistani courts as well as the wishes of Pakistani voters would carry more weight than the intervention of foreign diplomats and potentates.

The writer is director of Boston University8217;s Center for International Relations haqqanibu.edu