[Pakistani troops have
been engaged in near-constant fighting against militants in the country´s
northwest near the Afghan border since 2009. But in areas like the Swat Valley,
where the military drove out the Taliban, the civilian administration has been unable
to take over from the military.]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
But after years of
militant attacks, worsening electricity blackouts and faltering economic
growth, the political party that took office five years ago on a wave of
sympathy following the assassination of iconic leader Benazir Bhutto will likely
find it more difficult this time to win voters to its side.
Underscoring divisions,
politicians failed to reach agreement on a caretaker government in time for the
final session of parliament before new elections are held. The country´s
constitution calls for a vote within 60 days, although no date has yet been
set.
Backdropped by a banner
showing Pakistan´s slain leader Benazir Bhutto, motor vehicles are stopped
during a traffic jam, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Saturday, March 16, 2013. (AP)
Prime Minister Raja
Pervaiz Ashraf, who maintains his position in the meantime, hailed the peaceful
transition as a success for his Pakistan People´s Party,
"We have
strengthened the foundations of democracy to such an extent that no one will be
able to harm democracy in future," Ashraf said during a nearly hourlong
televised address to the nation.
Ashraf portrayed the
problems in the country as something inherited from the previous regime of
ousted leader Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
One of the ruling
party´s main achievements has been its sheer survival — no small feat in a
country that has experienced three successful coups and many more unsuccessful
ones.
President Asif Ali
Zardari has shown a remarkable ability to hold together a warring coalition
government whose members threaten to quit every few months or so. He´s also
managed a balance between the need for U.S. assistance amid a deteriorating
relationship between the two countries and rising anti-American sentiment.
Washington needs
Pakistan´s help fighting al-Qaida and stabilizing neighboring Afghanistan, but
a series of recent scandals have severely damaged ties. CIA contractor Raymond
Davis shot and killed two Pakistani men in Lahore, the U.S. unilaterally killed
Osama bin Laden in the city of Abbottabad and American forces accidentally
killed 24 Pakistani troops along the Afghan border.
"That the
government has survived five years, despite rumors every three months that the
government is going, should also be viewed as a kind of achievement,"
independent political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi said.
Zardari and the ruling
party must share some of the credit. The army, traditionally eager to step in
when they perceive Pakistan to be in crisis, has shown a reticence under Army
chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, to involve itself at least outwardly in
politics.
The main opposition
party, Pakistan Muslim League-N led by Nawaz Sharif, has bypassed numerous
opportunities to make life difficult for the PPP. Sharif has just as much
invested in strengthening the civilian government as the PPP does, and is no
friend of the army.
Sharif´s party and one
led by former Pakistani cricket star Imran Khan will present the greatest
challenge to the PPP in the coming election.
The government´s most
high-profile accomplishments in the past five years have involved changing the
power structure, rather than dealing with basic problems facing ordinary
Pakistanis.
Through a
constitutional amendment passed in 2010 under pressure from the opposition,
Zardari followed through on promises to strip the presidency of many of the
powers it gained under Musharraf.
The amendment prevents
the president from unilaterally dissolving parliament and gives the prime
minister a major role in appointing the country´s armed services chiefs. The
amendment also transfers considerable powers from the central government to the
provinces.
But it´s questionable
whether these moves will deliver many votes. It´s mostly the economy that will
be on voters´ minds.
"The economy has
never been on the radar of the government. This was the most neglected
area," said Ashfaque Hassan Khan, dean of the National University of
Sciences and Technology´s Business School. He criticized the revolving door of
ministers and officials in key economy-related government bodies.
Many in the government
argue that the economy hasn´t fared that poorly considering the catastrophic
flooding of 2010, security problems that scare off foreign investors and the
global economic downturn.
But critics contend the
government has failed to address major issues such as restructuring state-owned
companies like the national airline, PIA.
And then there are the
blackouts.
Pakistanis suffer from
rolling blackouts — euphemistically referred to as load shedding — that can
last as long as 18 hours a day in the summer. In the winter, natural gas supplies
are intermittent at best.
Under the PPP, the
government has tried to address the energy crisis by employing so-called rental
power projects under which the government imports power stations and links them
to the national grid. But the projects have been unable to generate much
electricity, and critics say they were just an opportunity for graft.
The PPP insists it is
tackling the energy problems. Zardari went to Iran on Monday for a high-profile
ground-breaking ceremony on a pipeline intended to bring natural gas from Iran
— despite American objections.
One area where the PPP
government has invested a lot of time and effort is the rural sector and
helping the poor. Welfare programs like the Benazir Income Support Program have
handed out small amounts of cash to the country´s most impoverished people and
given small loans to businesses.
The government has also
tried to help rural communities by boosting the price of certain agricultural
commodities, although that has contributed to price hikes in urban areas.
The PPP may pay a price
for ongoing terror attacks despite five years of military operations against
the Pakistani Taliban and likeminded groups in the lawless tribal areas near
the Afghan border.
Just this year, more
than 250 people have been killed in three bombings targeting members of the
minority Shiite Muslim sect. Security in Karachi, the country´s largest city
and economic heart, continues to unravel as political, ethnic and religious
wars escalate.
The PPP rose to power
after the Dec. 27, 2007 assassination of Bhutto during a rally in Rawalpindi
where she railed against terrorism. Her widower, Zardari, vowed to continue
that legacy when he took over, but analysts say the government has failed to
follow through on that promise.
"I don´t think
there has been any success in curbing militancy," said Zahid Hussain,
whose books record the rise of militancy in Pakistan. "The government has
failed to come out with a clear counterterrorism policy."
Pakistani troops have
been engaged in near-constant fighting against militants in the country´s
northwest near the Afghan border since 2009. But in areas like the Swat Valley,
where the military drove out the Taliban, the civilian administration has been unable
to take over from the military.
At the same time,
Pakistan´s relationship with its longtime but wary ally, the United States, has
gone through some extremely rocky periods.
Zardari and the PPP
have always struggled with a domestic perception that they are American stooges
— an unpopular position in a country where anti-American sentiment is
widespread. The view from Washington, though, has been that Pakistan is not
doing enough to combat militancy within its borders.
In response to the U.S.
airstrikes that accidentally killed the 24 soldiers in November 2011, the
Pakistanis cut off the NATO supply lines for seven months until the U.S.
apologized. Relations have slowly improved since then, but politicians remain
wary of being seen as too close to Washington as elections loom.
[The Maoist cadres also
put up posters on the walls, lauding Dhungel as a ‘son of the people’ and
demanding that the Maoist leader be cleared of criminal charges and subsequent
court sentencing. Dhungel, who was
handed life imprisonment by the apex court after being convicted in the murder
of of Ujjan Kumar Shrestha in Okhaldhunga during the Maoist-insurgency, still
walks scot free. ]
REPUBLICA ONLINE
KATHMANDU, March 17: A
group of Maoist cadres stormed the Occupy Baluwater campaign site outside the
prime minister’s residence in Baluwatar on Sunday morning and tore and burnt
down pamphlets, posters and banners used by the campaigners.
The Maoist cadres
chanted slogans in favor of murder-convict leader Bal Krishna Dhungel, while a
small crowd of Occupy Baluwater campaigners continued their protest just
nearby, informed Arpan Shrestha, a journalist, who was at the site during that
time.
Police intervened to
ward off a possible confrontation between the two groups of protesters but
detained, surprisingly, only the Occupy Baluwatar campaigners, some ten in
number, leaving the Maoist cadres to carry on their protest, Shrestha said.
The Maoist cadres also put
up posters on the walls, lauding Dhungel as a ‘son of the people’ and demanding
that the Maoist leader be cleared of criminal charges and subsequent court
sentencing. Dhungel, who was handed life
imprisonment by the apex court after being convicted in the murder of of Ujjan
Kumar Shrestha in Okhaldhunga during the Maoist-insurgency, still walks scot
free.
A public movement
against all kinds of violence and discrimination against women, the Occupy
Baluwatar campaign has, of late, been pressing for the implementation of the
apex court order in Dhungel´s sentencing, especially when the chief justice
himself is heading the executive.
