Pakistan’s former President Pervez Musharraf (L) salutes his supporters as he leaves after his appearance before the district High Court in Karachi March 29, 2013. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani general who ousted democratically-elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999 when he tried to sack him as army chief and then ruled for a decade, is itching to rejoin political life. To that end, after years of self-imposed exile following the threat of impeachment in 2008, he returned to the country last month to contest general elections in May. But he is beginning to encounter roadblocks that reflect a vastly changed landscape, one where the military that has historically dominated foreign affairs and national security is more deferential than ever to traditional politicians.
He got a taste of the new dynamic on Friday when Kasur, a constituency in Punjab province, barred him from the ballot, citing the various court cases against him, especially one charging he failed to provide adequate security for Benazir Bhutto, a rival and the country’s most prominent female politician, assassinated in 2007. Another case is probing his role in the death of dissident tribal leader Akbar Bugti. What’s more, the Supreme Court will hear a petition charging Musharraf with treason on Monday for sacking judges — including the high court’s current chief justice — and violating the constitution when he granted himself emergency powers, extending his rule. In the Pakistan of old, the military might have stepped in at this point and helped clear the way for an old friend to retake power. But no more. Instead, the national security apparatus seems content to sit back and watch the ship go down, with politician after politician facing jailtime for lying about their academic credentials and the national economy stuck in neutral.
The array of seemingly intractable problems — including how to deal with the resurgent Taliban, which greeted Musharraf’s return with death threats and, once the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan, will only see its regional clout increase — has made taking the reins of power in this nuclear democracy rather unappealing. Sharif remains the frontrunner in opinion polls, promising to rejigger the internal power dynamics in the country. Musharraf, on the other hand, has taken to issuing bizarre Twitter missives - a nod, perhaps, to the importance of the youth vote and his need to get with the times. But the social media strategy carries risks and arguably speaks to the desperation of a man without any real political base. One recent tweet mocked the Taliban, a questionable move since the former military dictator and army chief has a tiny security detail compared to the one that helped him survive multiple assassination attempts. Whether he can revive memories of the robust economic growth under his tenure (and explain away the rapid advance of the Taliban into the Swat region on his watch) will ultimately determine whether Musharraf has a second act as a semi-legitimate politician, and not just a military-backed strongman.
