The nightly broadcasts of Pakistan's public network television channel, Pakistan Television (PTV), towards the end of April were dedicated to the standoff between the government and the opposition parties in parliament. The issue of contention was the controversial constitutional amendments package – the Legal Framework Order (LFO) – supported by Pervez Musharraf, which among other things combines in his person the offices of head of state and army chief. In particular, PTV was keen to point out that the six-month-old parliament is paralysed by the dispute, that billions of rupees of public money have already been wasted on sustaining a dysfunctional parliament, and that the prospects of reconciliation seem remote. The stage now appears to be set for dissolution of parliament by Musharraf.
A year after its genesis, the LFO continues to be a source of serious political instability in Pakistan. While described by Musharraf as a tame addition to the constitution of the country, in actuality the LFO has wide-ranging political, social and economic implications. Debates over it have taken centre-stage in the country over the past few months since the reinstitution of parliament.
As is known to observers of Pakistani politics, the role of the military has been central in the affairs of the state virtually since 1947. This has been the case despite the fact that, for all intents and purposes, the new Pakistani state did not have an active army when it came into being. However, a combination of internal and external factors, including elite composition of the state structure and the geostrategic needs of the United States, ensured that the army soon came to be the main powerbroker in the country's politics.
Musharraf is third in a line of Pakistani military rulers. Like his predecessors, he has tried to cement his grip on power through the manipulation of legal and political institutions. His devolution plan greatly resembles the Basic Democracy of Field Marshal Ayub Khan in the 1960s. His insistence on holding a presidential referendum to consolidate his arbitrary presidency mirrored the shenanigans of General Zia-ul Haq in the 1980s. The LFO is the icing on the cake.