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August 15th, 2004
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South Asia
On The Presidential Disrobement by Saad Anis President Pervez Musharraf is set to supposedly doff his military attire on the 31st of December, 2004, relinquishing the post of the Chief of Army Staff as per the requirement of the 17th amendment to the constitution. However, the prospect of the approaching event poses some serious problems for the man at the helm. Historically, the fountainhead of authority in the dynamic of the State has invariably been the office of the Army Chief rather than any politically elected agency. This is simply because the COAS spearheads the most powerful institution of the State, the army. Moreover, the army's continued meddling in politics has brought home to it, the realization of the extent of sway that it holds in the affairs of the State, much to the chagrin of the proponents of democracy. It was in cognizance of the supremacy of the army in the country that the good President Zia never relinquished the post in his life, not even taking the chance of appointing an obsequious army chief in order to curb the criticism of being a President in uniform. President Musharraf is well aware that the source of the absolute authority that he enjoys lies in his military garb rather than the Presidential robes. Therefore, once he sheds the uniform and appoints a new chief, he will essentially be divesting himself of the actual center of influence and placing it into the hands of someone else, probably a trusted subordinate. The betrayal of Bhutto by Zia is a good lesson to all regarding the fidelity of servile puppets in a position of power. Consequently, the balance of authority will shift away from him, leaving him in a precariously vulnerable state. The obvious way out of this conundrum is to not give up the post of the COAS at all. In fact, the President has recently been making statements in the press to the effect that the decision to shed his uniform was part of his agreement with the MMA. He claims that the MMA has gone back on its word of supporting his parliamentary vote of confidence and the formation of the National Security Council (NSC). As it has failed to keep up its end of the bargain, he contends, he is thus not duty bound to abide by his part of it. Nonetheless, the MMA deftly argues that it only agreed with the government to allow a vote of confidence in parliament to establish the legitimacy of the President, and did not at any time consent to vote for him therein. Similarly, it claims to have agreed only to the tabling of the NSC bill in parliament, and not to the blind support of the body itself. It contends that it has the right to oppose any legislation by the government including NSC, as it is doing, being in a quasi-democratic system. As things stand at present, the evidence available favors the stance of MMA. The only documented consequence of the parleys between the government and the MMA is the President's commitment to take off his uniform by December 31st, as stated in the17th amendment. All other alleged accords between the government and the MMA have been verbal, and thus have no legal binding. It is merely the word of the government against that of the MMA. Furthermore, the President has repeatedly stated that he will honor the 17th amendment. The said amendment explicitly prohibits the President from holding the office of the COAS after December 31, 2004. It snatches away the constitutional cover, which has allowed him thus far to remain in public office and under the service of the government of Pakistan simultaneously, after that date. If he does not take off the uniform by the promised date, the President reneges on his commitment, thus losing all credibility in the eyes of the political parties and the public. Moreover, his position becomes constitutionally untenable, as he stands in violation thereof after the passage of the above-mentioned date. It is a Catch-22 situation; if he does surrender the army chief's post, he gives up absolute control and commits potential political suicide; if he decides to retain his dual role, he loses face both within the country and in the international community, not to mention the loss of constitutional validity. Additionally, there are unlikely to be many political forces willing to join hands with him to alter the constitution once again. At present, partly through his own political myopia, the President finds himself between a rock and a very hard place, with little hope of escape without a major compromise. It remains to be seen how he can conjure his way of the hole that he has dug himself into. About the Author(s): See under Our Contributors to find out about the Author(s) of this article. |
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