Pakistan's democracy
Yesterday's removal of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and its repercussions have so far been within the rules of a game people call democracy. President Farooq Leghari was exercising his constitutional right in removing the premier. Bhutto may challenge the move as unconstitutional in court, but no one can accuse the president of acting outside procedures.
There were reports of a military deployment early in the day, but it has been limited to preempting possible violence. The military, which ruled this predominantly Moslem nation for a total of 24 years in its 49 years since independence, has kept a low profile in the affair. Many people suspect that Leghari could not have acted without its support. But even if this is true, it is still within the rules of the game. Anything more than that, however, would smack of military intervention, and this would kill the game and plunge Pakistan back into authoritarian rule.
Although the events in Islamabad are the domestic affairs of Pakistan, they provide rich material for students of democracy and anyone concerned with the upholding of democracy. To outside observers, it is not the outcome of the game that matters, but how the game is played. So far, to the credit of Pakistan, it appears to have been a fair game.
President Leghari has acted wisely in appointing Meraj Khalid, a seasoned politician at 80, as caretaker prime minister until a general election is held, which is set for Feb. 3. This will at least ensure continuity of the painfully built Pakistani democracy and deny any excuse for a military intervention.
To many Pakistanis, particularly the business community and consumers, Bhutto's removal came as a major relief because the country has been going from bad to worse in the past year, what with the growing violence, particularly in Karachi, and the economy going downhill with soaring inflation and a big devaluation of the rupee last month.
Benazir Bhutto may be down, but she is not out altogether. At 43, she still has a long way to go in her political career. And this is not the first time that she has been removed from office. She led the Pakistan People's Party into an election victory in 1988, as Pakistan returned to party democracy. She was removed two years later by then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan for reasons similar as those cited by Leghari.
Bhutto may have her weaknesses -- nepotism is probably one of them -- which led to her latest downfall, but she has many strengths that would likely lead her toward making another comeback. She has gained respect in the Asian region and the world, and The Times newspaper of London did not name her as this year's "world's most powerful woman" for nothing.
Benazir Bhutto is known as a fighter, and the jail and house confinements she had been subjected to by past military leaders for her political beliefs and for being the daughter of Pakistan's first civilian leader, Ali Bhutto, have strengthened rather than weakened her character.
Her latest removal had been predicted by analysts both in Pakistan and abroad. Bhutto would not have been able to sustain her leadership amidst growing charges of corruption, nepotism and misrule, the three reasons also cited by the president in his decree. Even Bhutto must have read the writing on the wall because as late as Sunday, she reiterated her intention to see through her full term in office until 1998, and to oversee next year's 50th anniversary of Pakistan.
There were three ways that Bhutto could have been removed from office: a military coup, a presidential decree or a parliamentary revolt. The second path may be bitter for her, but it is the most peaceful and constitutional of the three.
It is heartening to hear that Bhutto, who was held incommunicado in the first hours of the presidential decision, has now been allowed to communicate with her supporters. She is certainly still a major player in Pakistan politics.
Now, with the caretaker premier already appointed and an election date set, the present rulers of Pakistan have the responsibility to see the game of democracy through to its end, in which all the rules are respected.