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Conversation Pakistan :: Are Musharraf's days numbered? |
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Reading articles about Pakistan on the BBC's website these days brings up a link to this article in the sidebar–a constant reminder of Musharraf's tenuous position as Pakistan's president. And yet, almost two months after Pakistan's long-awaited parliamentary elections, Musharraf is still president and no serious opposition to his rule has risen out of the popular anti-Musharraf sentiment voiced at the polls.
In the international arena, Musharraf's power doesn't appear to be dwindling. Pakistan's Dawn reports that Musharraf has been working to secure a new free trade agreement with China, to boost commercial and economic ties between the two Asian nations.
But domestically, two obstacles to Musharraf's future in Pakistan's politics are looming large. The first, which was largely responsible for keeping Musharraf in power for so long, is the future of the U.S. relationship with Pakistan. Speaking to the BBC, former PM–and key player in forming the current coalition government–Nawaz Sharif has claimed Musharraf's importance in Pakistani politics is dwindling, saying
"He doesn't have any support in Washington, maybe a few people in the administration still think that he should be allowed to stay as president, whether he can do anything or not."
Though the relationship the United States forges with the new government will play an integral role in shaping Musharraf's future, the supreme court justices Musharraf deposed will play a more important role in either overlooking the illegitimacy of Musharraf's presidency (because I doubt they will ever outrightly accept it as legitimate) or generating public outcry against Musharraf's presidency.
The plan for restoring the deposed judges–who had been held under house arrest until recently–is currently on the National Assembly's to-do list but has yet to be settled within the coalition. Until the judges return and determine their stance on Musharraf's presidency, Musharraf will stay, but keep watching those justices, as their moves will set the tone–and decide the future–of Musharraf's presidency.
