By Rauf Klasra
LONDON: Three top Americans officials - Richard Boucher, John Negroponte and Admiral William Fallon - who recently visited Pakistan, are said to have suggested to General Pervez Musharraf to doff his uniform to stay in power, says a report in The Economist.
The report reveals that the trio's visit does seem to have led to a change in General Musharraf's strategy for clinging to power as now he was planning to hold elections in September/October and get himself reelected from the new parliament.
The report claims that Musharraf's main sponsor suggested he must shed his uniform to stay in power. "The general's response is not known," it says.
It has been claimed that these days, conspiracies theories are very common in Pakistan. The report says anti-Western, anti-American ideologues are having a field day in Pakistan. America is accused of nudging Musharraf into making an alliance with Benazir Bhutto, a pro-Western former prime minister of Pakistan, currently in exile. And the British government is accused of conspiring with the queen to insult the Muslim world by knighting Salman Rushdie.
It says the American conspiracy theory was aired in the press following the arrival in Islamabad of three top American officials on each other's heels last week: Richard Boucher, the Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia; John Negroponte, the Deputy Secretary of State; and Admiral William Fallon, Commander of Central Command (CENTCOM). Boucher met Musharraf and told the press no more than the usual flannel about 'more democracy' being good for the country. To the chagrin of Pakistanis who have been protesting for weeks, he did not say that Musharraf should resign as the Army chief, as the Constitution demands he do at the end of the year. Boucher's compatriots were no more forthcoming.
Before the Americans left, however, they assured Pakistanis they had not come to broker a deal with Benazir, and stated that free and fair elections were far more important to Pakistan's development than the issue of Musharraf's 'uniform'.
The report says that, in fact, the superpower is more interested in leaning on Musharraf to 'do more' to help Nato quell the Taliban's expected summer offensive in Afghanistan than in nudging him to restore power to civilian politicians. But the trio's visit does seem to have led to a change in Musharraf's strategy for clinging to power.
Earlier, he was adamant that he would ask the current parliament to re-elect him as president in September and hold general elections three months later. Now he is pondering a general election in September or October, and a presidential re-election by the new parliament. Since the president is not certain of winning a majority in the new parliament, he would either have to rig the general elections or strike a power-sharing deal with Benazir. Both sides deny it, but talks between them are progressing well in Dubai.
Meanwhile, The Economist says Rushdie's knighthood has outraged many Muslims. Federal and provincial parliaments have denounced it as a conspiracy against Muslims. The Minister for Religious Affairs, Ejaz-ul-Haq, thundered that suicide bombers would be justified in avenging the insult. He has since recanted, after the British government protested.
When one of Benazir's members of parliament stood up to argue that Pakistan should not meddle in internal British matters, he was roundly denounced. But when someone remarked in the parliamentary cafeteria that it would serve Ejaz right if he were banned from Britain for instigating terrorism, Benazir's followers at least saw the bright side.
