[Annie Thompson]
Only a week after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, hopes for restoring democracy following Pakistan’s so far troubled electoral process appear to have been foiled.
Western commentators have been quick to suggest that the killing will mark the death of democracy in Pakistan, which was showing signs of reawakening from the coma it fell into eight years ago when General Musharraf seized power in a coup. If the scheduled elections had taken place they could have signified a shift towards democratic rule.
However, even before the recent turmoil, the electoral process was marred by violence, riots and the illegal imposition of a state of emergency equivalent to martial law. Musharraf proceeded to take most television and radio stations off the air, and ordered that Bhutto be placed under house arrest. The constitution was suspended and scores of lawyers and judges arrested. Among them was the Chief Justice, Muhammad Iftikhar Chaudhry, who in May 2007 instigated the first significant protest against Musharraf since he came to power.
The road to the re-establishment of democratic rule has thus far been fraught with difficulties. Yet even prior to Benazir Bhutto’s untimely demise, Britain and the United States acknowledged that the elections would be unlikely to be entirely free and fair. Perhaps, then, democracy according to the White House and Downing Street is less to do with transparent and openly contested elections, and more about installing a publicly acceptable figure to head an essentially authoritarian regime. This, presumably, would present some semblance of security and stability in this strategically key region.
Western politicians encouraged a compromise between Bhutto and Musharraf. Such hopes may not have been as naïve as they sound. Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the military general were united in their vision for a more tolerant society. Bhutto, despite her democratic credentials, may not have put up much of a moral objection to a political union with Musharraf either. Under her leadership, Pakistan sold nuclear information to Iran and North Korea and supported the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, a marriage of convenience between the general and Bhutto was unlikely given their palpable dislike of one another. In any case, Western hopes for such an outcome were cut short when Bhutto refused to negotiate with Musharraf in response to his dubious efforts to remain in power.
The head of the Bhutto clan and founding member of the PPP has rejected the appointment of Benazir’s husband-son duo, predicting that this move will provoke a split within the party. Although the PPP lacks a charismatic leader, there are hopes that the ‘martyr effect’ will help the party to victory in the polls. But the Electoral Commission’s decision to postpone elections from the original date of January 8 until February may dampen voter sympathy. Benazir Bhutto may not have been a perfect democrat, but without her a secure, peaceful future for Pakistan is still less, not more, likely.
