How did we get to the situation in Pakistan today?
It seems that the War on Terror was the best thing to ever happen for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. The alliance with the US gave him international legitimacy and solidified his power.
As the BBC describes, Musharraf awarded himself another 5 years as president in 2002 together with the power to dismiss an elected parliament. Parliamentary elections in the same year saw a hand over from military to civilian rule with the election of a civilian prime minister. Even though Musharraf had promised to relinquish his military role, he was very slow at actually doing it.
The big hullaballoo came in October 2007, when he won the support of most parilamentarians in the presidential elections.
The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that the winner could not be formally announced before it had ruled on whether General Musharraf was eligible to stand.
In early November, the general pre-empted the Supreme Court's ruling on his eligibility by imposing emergency rule and dismissing judges opposed to his candidacy, a move that received widespread condemnation in the international community. The new Supreme Court then confirmed President Musharraf's right to stand, clearing the way for him to become a civilian leader. He quit his army post soon afterwards.
Lawyers took to the streets in protest, generating such iconic photos as above, of men in western suits rioting and being beaten.
Why she came back.
Mrs. Bhutto returned to Pakistan from exile in Dubai to oppose Musharraf's actions and push for a true democracy. She called for Musharraf's resignation numerous times and urged the people to protest. On October 18th 2007, she arrived in Karachi. On her way to a homecoming rally, two bombs exploded near her motorcade, killing at least 130 people. The following is from a BBC report on her return:
When she first stepped onto Pakistani soil at Karachi airport Ms Bhutto was overcome with emotion and burst into tears.
Many PPP supporters have been bussed in from outlying areas by the party - a show of organisational strength which the ex-prime minister hopes will boost her chances of a return to power, correspondents report.
The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Karachi says that despite being away for eight years, Ms Bhutto is still enormously popular as a scion of Pakistan's pre-eminent political dynasty.
About 20,000 troops and police have been deployed in the city to oversee Ms Bhutto's arrival amid threats by Islamist militants to assassinate both her and Gen Musharraf.
Gen Musharraf had asked Ms Bhutto to delay her return until the Supreme Court decided whether he was eligible to serve as president for another term.
During her time in Pakistan, she was placed under house arrest, and was under constant fear of attacks.
0 comments:
Post a Comment