The Chief Executive of Pakistan has decided to stop courting the West and focus on internal politics, but this brings him squarely up against the religious right. Meanwhile, the liberals are equivocal, and the political parties have been relegated to the political gulag. But whatever be the general's intentions, he cannot continue to rule for long in a political vacuum.
It is not that Pakistan's powerful military is unfamiliar with the running of the country. However, unlike the times of the generals Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan or Zia-ul Haq, there is a singularly different flavour with the present military regime of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, which completed a year in power in early October. The difference has primarily to do with the non-dictatorial mien of the Chief Executive, who comes across as a social liberal reluctantly taking charge to save the country from implosion brought on by the civilian politicians.
For the moment at least, Pakistan is run by a general who has not clamped down on the media; who seems at one with the liberals in thinking that the meddlesome mullahs should be restrained in the political and social spheres; and who professes a genuine desire to relinquish the helm the moment his presence is not required. But then times have changed since the days of the no-nonsense dictators, and Gen. Musharraf has been finding it increasingly difficult to run a country as fractious and unstable as Pakistan on the basis of sheer projected goodwill.
While there seems no choice for the generals but to allow the civilian political forces to enter the arena of governance, these are fluid times in Pakistan because the powerful military seems intent on remaining politically active for years. For the long term, Gen. Musharraf and his advisors seem to be toying with a version of 'guided democracy' that has been tried before in Pakistan and in some other South Asian countries (notably Nepal's Panchayat system), one in which the benevolence and clairvoyance of the men in khaki, in this instance, would keep the country on track. (Just before he resigned from his post on 10 October, Musharraf's Information and Media Development Minister Javed Jabbar hinted that the government may amend the Constitution to create a permanent political role for the military in the country's governing structure. Jabbar argued that the traditional cleavages between civilian politicians and the military were appropriate in theory, but didn't work in practice.)