"Pervez Musharraf vows return home to Pakistan" by Jamil Khan | Associated Press, March 24, 2013
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Pervez Musharraf, former president of Pakistan, said Saturday that he will return to his homeland despite facing criminal charges and militant death threats.
Musharraf has been living in self-exile in London and Dubai for 4 ½ years and is planning to return on Sunday to Pakistan. He risks possible arrest in the killing of a former prime minister, while the Pakistani Taliban said they have an assassination team ready for him if he sets foot in the country.
He first declared his intention to go back earlier this year. On Saturday, he gave a news conference in Dubai confirming that he would be arriving in the port city of Karachi to take part in May 11 elections despite ‘‘fear of the unknown.’’
The former four-star general plans to travel there accompanied by journalists and supporters of his political party, All Pakistan Muslim League.
But just hours after the announcement, the Pakistan Taliban released a video threatening to unleash suicide bombers and snipers against Musharraf if he comes back. One of the two people speaking in the video was Adnan Rashid, a former Pakistani air force officer convicted in an attack against Musharraf. The Taliban broke Rashid, along with nearly 400 other detainees, out of Bannu prison last year.
‘‘The mujahedeen of Islam have prepared a death squad to send Pervez Musharraf to hell,’’ said Rashid, who spoke in the video in front of a group of about 20 militants holding rifles.
‘‘We warn you to surrender yourself to us. Otherwise we will hit you from where you will never reckon,’’ he said.
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, Musharraf came under pressure from the United States to back the Americans in the coming war and cut off ties with the Taliban, which he did. For that, militants as well as other Pakistanis see him as carrying out the American agenda in Pakistan.
He is also vilified by militants for ordering the 2007 raid against a mosque in downtown Islamabad that had become a sanctuary for militants opposed to Pakistan’s support of the war in Afghanistan. At least 102 people were killed in the weeklong operation, most of them supporters of the mosque.
Related: Memory Hole: Pakistan's Future
Militants tried to kill Musharraf twice in December 2003 in Rawalpindi, the sister city to Islamabad where the Pakistani military is headquartered. First they placed a bomb intended to go off when his convoy passed by. When that didn’t work, suicide attackers tried to ram his motorcade with explosives-laden vehicles. The president was unhurt but 16 others died. Rashid was arrested in that assassination attempt.
Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup. He faces charges of conspiring to assassinate Benazir Bhutto, former premier, who was killed in 2007, as well as other accusations in other cases. But his legal team petitioned a court in Sindh Province where Karachi is located to give him preemptive bail, which means he will not be arrested upon arrival.
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"Hurdles loom for Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan; Returns to seek political revival" by Rebecca Santana | Associated Press, March 25, 2013
KARACHI — Pervez Musharraf, the former president of Pakistan, returned home Sunday hoping to make a political comeback despite Taliban death threats and looming arrest warrants. But judging by the lackluster crowd at the airport to greet him, his biggest challenge could be his waning popularity.
Translation: This is all distraction and bulls***, the same as AmeriKan politics.
His return comes as Pakistan is poised to transition from one democratically elected government to another, a first for a country that has experienced three coups since its 1947 inception.
After years on the margins of Pakistani politics, Musharraf is seeking to rebuild his image, hoping to capitalize on an electorate frustrated with five years of rising inflation, rolling blackouts, and security problems.
Musharraf, a four-star general who was chief of the army, took power in a 1999 coup and his military-led regime steered the country for nearly a decade until he was forced to step down as president in 2008. Confronted with mounting criticism and widespread protests after he tried to dismiss a popular chief justice, he left facing impeachment by the newly elected Parliament.
He later left the country and has been living in London and Dubai .
The former president plans to spend a few days in Karachi, where he and his team will forge a plan for the upcoming election, said spokeswoman Saima Ali Dada. He will then travel to Islamabad. Meanwhile, his legal team will meet to decide the best way to respond to the charges against him.
Musharraf has been implicated in the 2007 assassination of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, as well as the killing of Akbar Bugti, a Baluch nationalist leader who died in August 2006 after a standoff with the Pakistani military. In another case, he is accused of illegally removing a number of judges, including the chief justice of the supreme court.
His return to Pakistan was made easier when a court granted him preemptive bail, which essentially meant he could not be arrested immediately upon landing. But he must appear before a court within 10 days, and there is no guarantee that he won’t be arrested in the future.
Musharraf’s supporters, including elements of the military and members of Pakistan’s influential expatriate communities, consider him a strong leader whose voice could help stabilize the country.
U.S. encourage him to return like they did Bhutto?
But Musharraf’s welcoming party, estimated at between 1,000 and 2,000, was small compared with the hundreds of thousands of people who thronged this same terminal when Bhutto returned to Pakistan.
The Pakistan Taliban vowed to kill Musharraf in a video released on Saturday. The former general angered many militants with his decision in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to back the United States in its invasion of Afghanistan and cut off ties with the Taliban.
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"Angry lawyer throws shoe at Musharraf" by Adil Jawad | Associated Press, March 30, 2013
KARACHI, Pakistan — A Taliban suicide bomber on a bicycle attacked the convoy of a paramilitary police commander in northwestern Pakistan, killing 11 people, including a 4-month-old infant, police said....
Better get your shoes off because that's it on that.
Meanwhile, an angry lawyer threw a shoe at former president Pervez Musharraf as he headed to court in southern Pakistan on Friday to face charges following his return to the country after four years in exile, police said....
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Also see: Occupation Iraq: Shoehorned Out of Prison
Let's hope they shoehorn Musharaff in.
Related:
"Musharraf announced his party’s election manifesto at a lackluster news conference Monday in Islamabad, where he maintains a lavish and highly fortified farmhouse. His characteristic swagger was missing. Musharraf’s ability to campaign has been hobbled because of security threats from Islamist militants and Baluch separatists, whom he tried to quell with military force during his time in office. The Interior Ministry has issued warnings of a possible suicide attack, forcing him to limit his movements."
What's with the insult?
"Police arrest Musharraf, haul ex-leader to court; Case threatens to reopen rift of military, judges" Globe Wires, April 19, 2013
ISLAMABAD — Police arrested former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf in connection with a case involving his decision to fire senior judges while in power, authorities said Friday.
Police officer Mohammed Khalid said Musharraf was arrested overnight in his home on the outskirts of Islamabad. He fled there from court Thursday after an Islamabad High Court judge rejected his bail and ordered his arrest.
Khalid said Musharraf was presented before a judge at Islamabad District Court on Friday. The judge will decide whether he will be taken to jail or held under house arrest.
Local TV footage showed Musharraf entering the court in Islamabad amid high security.
Musharraf’s lawyer Malik Qamar Afzal says the judge asked police to keep Musharraf in their custody.
The scene of Musharraf being held in court, unimaginable just a few years ago at the height of his power, was the latest twist in his quixotic bid to return to Pakistani politics, which has been dogged by a series of mishaps and humiliations.
It could also presage a wider clash. Never before has a retired army chief faced imprisonment in Pakistan, and analysts said the move against Musharraf could reopen a rift between the courts and the military.
After initially fleeing Thursday, Musharraf drove to his luxury villa on the outskirts of the capital, which is protected by high walls, armed guard posts, and a contingent of retired and serving soldiers, officials said.
That bolstered security setup is a reflection of repeated Taliban threats to kill the former general. But for now, the imminent danger to Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan between 1999 and 2008, stems from the courts.
At Thursday’s hearing, the High Court judge, Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, refused to extend Musharraf’s bail in a case focusing on his controversial decision to fire and imprison the country’s top judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007.
Resentment toward the former army chief and president still runs deep in the judiciary, which was at the center of the protest movement that led to his ouster in 2008.
A spokesman for Musharraf’s party described the court order as ‘‘seemingly motivated by personal vendettas,’’ and hinted at the possibility of a looming clash with the military, warning that it could ‘‘result in unnecessary tension among the various pillars of state and possibly destabilize the country.’’
???????????
Musharraf’s lawyers lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court, which said it would hear the case Friday. One widely offered possibility was that the court could declare Musharraf’s villa a ‘‘sub-jail,’’ and place him under house arrest.
The court drama represents the low point of a troubled homecoming for the swaggering commando general, who had vowed to ‘‘take the country out of darkness’’ after returning from four years of self-imposed exile in Dubai, London, and the United States.
With all due respect, I'm just sick and tired of s*** Jew "journalism."
That's not to be a supporter of the butcher Musharaff or anything. I'm just tired of the insulting elitism and internalized values of supremacism spewing forth from my "newspaper."
But instead of the public adulation he was apparently expecting, Musharraf has been greeted by stiff legal challenges, political hostility, and — perhaps most deflating — a widespread sense of public apathy.
Pakistan’s influential television channels have given scant coverage to Musharraf since his return, and his All Pakistan Muslim League party has struggled to find strong candidates to field in the general election scheduled for May 11. On Tuesday, the national election commission disqualified Musharraf from the election.
Wow. Yet my newspaper is full of it.
Meanwhile, Musharraf faces criminal charges in three cases dating to his period in office — the one related to firing judges and two others related to the deaths of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baloch tribal leader. Attempts by some to charge Musharraf with treason have not succeeded.
Last week he stoked controversy when, in an interview with CNN, he admitted to having authorized US drone strikes in the tribal belt — a statement that contradicted years of denials of complicity in the drone program, and which was considered politically disastrous in a country where the drones are widely despised.
Oh, I just can't imagine why. Maybe it's all the dead family members and friends in the destroyed village.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Pakistan Demanded Drone Strikes
I think he just lost the election.
In returning to Pakistan in such an apparently ill-considered manner, Musharraf has placed himself at the mercy of some of his most bitter enemies.
I really don't care for the soap opera when ordinary Pakistanis are suffering, thanks. This isn't the news I want to know.
The favorite to win the coming election is Nawaz Sharif, the onetime prime minister whom Musharraf overthrew to seize power in 1999.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is led by his sworn enemy, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Last week another judge placed Musharraf on the Exit Control List, which means that he cannot leave the country until a court gives him permission.
As if that would stop him and his helpers from smuggling him out.
Human Rights Watch said Musharraf’s flight from the court Thursday ‘‘underscores his disregard for due legal process.’’
Put out a report about drone strikes yet?
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"Pervez Musharraf moved into police custody after arrest; Ex-leader blames woes on enemies in the judiciary" by Declan Walsh | New york times, April 20, 2013
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s former military leader, Pervez Musharraf, was arrested and moved into police custody Friday — a move that is unprecedented in a country where the military has held sway for decades and that showed the determination of the judiciary to hold him accountable for his time in power.
A day after Musharraf fled a courtroom in dramatic circumstances to his fortified villa on the edge of the capital, Islamabad, police took him to court in the central part of the city, where a magistrate placed him under arrest. Hours later, after briefly returning home, he was taken to the city police headquarters....
The travails of Musharraf, 69, a former army chief, furthered the humiliation of a figure who enjoyed absolute power in Pakistan for much of his rule, from 1999 to 2008. It also raised questions about why he returned to the country in the first place.
As for the answer, I don't care. Any drone strikes today?
Little has gone well for Musharraf since he returned last month from four years of self-imposed exile, spent mostly in London and Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. Shortly after his arrival, a critic flung a shoe at him in public. Since then he has been mostly confined to his Islamabad villa, protected by a sizable security contingent guarding against the possibility of an attack by the Taliban, who have threatened to kill him....
Until the drama of recent days, the news media had largely ignored him. Even his former comrades in the military appear to privately view him as a liability.
Not mine. They love their agents and assets.
‘‘Musharraf obviously overestimated his popularity,’’ Raza Rumi, a political analyst, said in an interview. ‘‘He was delusional in thinking he could ride out the storm, and he underestimated the resolve of the judges.
We have the same type of leaders over here.
‘‘There are certainly people in urban Pakistan who think that things were better during his tenure,’’ Rumi added. ‘‘But the majority do not find him a credible leader. He ruled on the strength of his uniform. Now that uniform is gone, and Pakistan has changed.’’
God Bless the brave Pakistani people.
*************************
The current case against Musharraf centers on his controversial decision to dismiss and place under house arrest Pakistan’s top judges in November 2007, when he declared emergency rule in a bid to shore up his crumbling authority.
Separately, he faces charges in relation to the murders of Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister, and Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a nationalist leader of Baluchistan province.
Some critics are even calling for him to be tried for high treason, a charge that carries a mandatory death penalty.
Can't say I blame them.
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments about whether treason charges can be filed, although it appears that little can happen without the acquiescence of the current caretaker government.
That interim administration, which has little political weight, has tried hard to distance itself from the case, apparently preferring that the matter be taken up by the next elected government....
Aides have portrayed Musharraf as relaxed, saying he had been smoking cigars at his villa since his dramatic courtroom dash on Thursday.
I thought he was in police custody.
But that unflappable image was challenged Friday when he returned to the Islamabad court, stone-faced and surrounded by tight security.
In a statement, Musharraf criticized the charges as ‘‘politically motivated’’ and vowed to fight them in court, ‘‘where the truth will eventually prevail.’’
It always does.
The US government, which had closely allied with Musharraf after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, moved to distance itself from him. In a statement, the US Embassy stressed it took ‘‘no position’’ on Musharraf or the legal proceedings against him.
It's called cutting him loose because this thing didn't work.
Who do you think brought him back? They tell him the country was aching for his return? And he believed it?
Now Musharraf is partly at the mercy of his nemesis, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, whom Musharraf fired in 2007, setting off street protests that led to his ouster.
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"Musharraf’s case expected to fester until Pakistan vote" by Declan Walsh and Salman Masood | New York Times, April 21, 2013
It'll be a good distraction from the piss-poor living conditions and intelligence agency false flags, whomever they may be.
ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani antiterrorism court Saturday extended by two weeks the detention of the former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, ensuring that the legal wrangling surrounding the retired general will continue in the run-up to elections on May 11.
After a hearing that lasted barely five minutes, the judge ordered Musharraf held in custody until May 4, during which time he was expected to face charges over his decision to fire senior judges in 2007, when he was the president.
Where is he staying?
Islamabad district administration officials said that Musharraf would be held at his fortified villa, declaring it a ‘‘sub jail’’ and sending police officers to guard the villa. No visitors will be allowed, officials said.
It was Musharraf’s fourth court appearance in 48 hours, highlighting the unprecedented nature of a case that challenges the sense of impunity military rulers have long enjoyed in Pakistan.
In the U.S. its bankers and other wealthy elite that get impunity.
Musharraf arrived at the courthouse surrounded by the police and paramilitary soldiers, reflecting the danger to his life from Taliban militants who have threatened to kill him. But the greatest hostility came from a crowd of jeering lawyers in black suits, who chanted insults and pushed against the security cordon.
As he emerged from the hearing, Musharraf saluted in his signature military style before being escorted back to police headquarters and later to his villa. Muhammad Amjad Chaudhry, a close aide to Musharraf, said the former general was in good spirits despite his situation.
‘‘His morale is high,’’ Chaudhry told reporters. ‘‘He says he will face the courts. He regrets that he is being accused of acts he never committed.’’
The detention is a strange twist for Musharraf, who had hundreds of people, including senior judges, placed under house arrest in November 2007 after he declared emergency rule as his grip on power slipped.
That period still rankles members of Pakistan’s judiciary. Musharraf’s case was heard in an antiterrorism court because a judge earlier declared that the former president’s detention of senior judges constituted an act of terrorism.
Some critics are trying to have Musharraf tried for treason, a politically contentious undertaking that some fear could prompt an aggressive military intervention.
The case has elicited high emotions on both sides. One retired general, speaking on condition of anonymity, said senior officers were angered by the sight of Musharraf being dragged through the courts.
And although Musharraf is facing trial in a civilian court, his security is being provided by soldiers, who helped him escape from court when a judge refused to grant him bail Thursday.
Outside the courthouse Saturday, lawyers surrounded and attacked a young man who displayed slogans in favor of Musharraf, leaving him bloodied and dazed.
Yeah, even the lawyers are unruly and violent. Damn Muslims.
At least their judges aren't going around shooting DAs like here in Texas.
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Who else is running?
"Bhutto’s son’s role in Pakistan election uncertain" by Zarar Khan and Munir Ahmed | Associated Press, March 28, 2013
ISLAMABAD — Reelection prospects for Pakistan’s outgoing ruling party are looking even tougher after indications emerged this week that one of its star vote-getters — the young son of Benazir Bhutto, the assassinated prime minister — will play a less prominent role in the campaign because of security concerns and political infighting.
Smart move.
See: Pakistan's JFK
Kid is keeping his head.
Also see: Bhutto Brief
So the U.N. knows who did it and won't tell anyone, huh?
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, widely referred to by his first name to distinguish him from the rest of the family, is the only male heir to the political dynasty started by his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who served as president and prime minister but was overthrown in a coup and executed in 1979. The father’s legacy was continued by his daughter, Benazir Bhutto, until her death in a gun and bomb attack in 2007.
The party the eldest Bhutto founded, the Pakistan People’s Party, portrays itself as a champion of the rural poor. The slain father and daughter are considered by their followers to be martyrs, and the Bhutto name inspires strong loyalty, especially in the family’s ancestral province of Sindh. Bilawal’s father and Benazir Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is the current president.
The party’s performance leading the ruling coalition over the last five years is less fondly remembered, and the party faces a tough battle in the May 11 parliamentary election. The country is grappling with a weak economy, pervasive energy shortages, and a resurgent Taliban insurgency.
Bilawal, 24, is too young to run in the election, but he was expected to play a key role in rallying voters.
But three party officials close to Bilawal said that he recently left for Dubai because of security concerns — the Pakistani Taliban is suspected of killing his mother — and would not make many public appearances at rallies, instead speaking by video link....
Two other party officials said that Bilawal, who serves as party chairman, pulled back from the campaign because of political differences with his father’s sister, Faryal Talpur, who also plays a key role in the party....
A woman in charge of a political party in Pakistan?
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Related:
"There are examples of Pakistani women holding very powerful positions in the country. Approximately 17 percent of the seats in the National Assembly are also allocated to women on a quota basis and are distributed proportionally"
Say what?
"Pakistani woman makes daring run for Parliament; Homemaker is first to seek seat from tribal area" by Anwarullah Khan | Associated Press, April 02, 2013
KHAR, Pakistan — A 40-year-old Pakistani homemaker has made history by becoming the first woman to run for Parliament from the country’s deeply conservative tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
Badam Zari is pushing back against patriarchal traditions and braving potential attack by Islamist militants in the hope of forcing the government to focus more on helping Pakistani women.
‘‘I want to reach the assembly to become a voice for women, especially those living in the tribal areas,’’ Zari said in an interview on Monday. ‘‘This was a difficult decision, but now I am determined and hopeful society will support me.’’
Many of Pakistan’s 180 million citizens hold fairly conservative views on the role of women in society. But those views are even more pronounced in the country’s semiautonomous tribal region, a poor, isolated area in the northwest dominated by Pashtun tribesmen who follow a very conservative brand of Islam.
Most women in the tribal region are uneducated, rarely work outside the home, and wear long, flowing clothes that cover most of their skin when they appear in public.
As long as the clothes aren't bloody with a corpse inside them, I'm okay with that.
Zari, who finished high school, spoke to reporters at a press conference Monday wearing a colorful shawl wrapped around her body and head, with only her eyes showing.
How did she finish high school if there are no...
"She taught at one of the handful of girls’ schools the Taliban permitted"
.... never mind.
Life for women in the tribal region has become even more difficult in recent years with the growing presence of Taliban militants who use the border region as their main sanctuary in the country. The militants have been waging a bloody insurgency against the government to impose Islamic law in the country and have a history of using violence to enforce their hard-line views on women.
Ever notice when the wars are going badly and the public has grown weary, the Muslim mistreatment of women is always trotted out in the Jewish War Pre$$?
Last fall, Taliban fighters in the northwest shot 15-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai in the head in an unsuccessful attempt to kill her because she resisted the militants’ views and was a strong advocate of girls’ education.
Related: The Girls of Pakistan
Zari is from Bajur, one of many areas in the tribal region where the Pakistani army has been battling the Taliban. She filed the paperwork necessary to run for office on Sunday in Khar, the main town in Bajur. She was accompanied by her husband, who she said fully backed her decision to run for a seat in the National Assembly in the May 11 vote.
‘‘This is very courageous,’’ said Asad Sarwar, one of the top political officials in Bajur. ‘‘This woman has broken the barrier.’’
Men in Bajur and other parts of the tribal region have historically discouraged women from voting, saying they should remain at home, according to local traditions. Even in less conservative areas, women are often expected to vote according to the wishes of male members of the family, said Farzana Bari, head of the gender studies department at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad.
‘‘In the name of culture and tradition, political parties and local power brokers have tried to keep women out of the political process,’’ Bari said.
Pakistan ranked second to last in 2012 in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, which captures the magnitude of gender-based disparities in things like political empowerment, education, and health. The only country Pakistan beat out was Yemen.
Said who?
There are examples of Pakistani women holding very powerful positions in the country, such as Benazir Bhutto, the late former prime minister, but many of them come from powerful feudal families and run for office when male relatives are not available, said Bari.
Approximately 17 percent of the seats in the National Assembly are also allocated to women on a quota basis and are distributed proportionally to the parties based on their performance in the election. Women can also run for directly elected seats, as Zari is doing.
Zari, who is running as an independent, said she has not been discouraged from running by locals and has not received any threats from Islamist militants. She hopes she can persuade women to turn out and vote for her.
The feeling here is she is an intelligence agency asset of the West. She wouldn't make the paper otherwise, or at least not in such a positive light.
Out of the roughly 186,000 registered voters in her constituency, about 67,000 are women, according to government records.
What are uneducated, barefoot-and-pregnant, all-covered-up Muslim women doing voting in an Islamic state?
Under Pakistan’s political system, the winning candidate is the one who receives the most votes — not necessarily a majority — meaning Zari could be a strong candidate if she can get women to support her and the male vote is split among several candidates.
Got any voting machines in Pakistan, or is it all hand-counted fraud?
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You know, maybe they would be better off if we blasted the hell out of their villages and killed all those icky Muslim men. Sure have a lot of kids for misogynists, but that aside it sure would liberate them into the wonderful woman's world of cosmetics and booze.
One guy who won't be running, but may be on the ballot:
"Militant kills candidate for provincial seat in Pakistan" by Atif Raza | Associated Press, April 12, 2013
KARACHI, Pakistan — Taliban assailants on a motorcycle gunned down a candidate running in Pakistan’s upcoming elections on Thursday, an official and a Taliban spokesman said, underscoring threats to the country’s former ruling party and other secular and political groups.
Fakhurl Islam, whose party has spoken out strongly against the militant group, was killed near his home in Hyderabad in southern Sindh Province, police official Saqib Ismail Memon said. He had been running for provincial assembly in voting scheduled for next month.
‘‘We condemn this heinous crime and we demand that all the candidates should be provided better security by the government,’’ said Qamar Mansoor, a spokesman for Islam’s party, the Muttahida Quami Movement or MQM.
Hours later, Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed responsibility and vowed to continue such attacks in future. The Taliban have threatened to attack members of the MQM because of its statements.
The MQM was once part of a coalition government with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, which came into power following the 2008 parliamentary elections after her assassination. Bhutto’s party completed its term last month but has been fielding candidates for both national and provincial assemblies.
On Thursday, the Taliban’s Ahsan vowed to continue targeting the MQM, the Awami National Party, and Bhutto’s party ‘‘for working against them’’ when the three parties were in power from 2008 to 2013.
Taliban militants in recent years have primarily targeted the ANP leaders in the northwest, killing one of its senior politicians, Bashir Bilour, in a suicide attack in December 2012 in Peshawar.
Thursday’s attack indicated the Taliban’s threat is not confined to Karachi.
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Meet the voters of Pakistan:
"Young Pakistanis favor Islamic law over democracy" by Sebastian Abbot | Associated Press, April 04, 2013
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A larger number of young Pakistanis believe the country should be governed by Islamic law or military rule rather than function as a democracy, according to a survey released Wednesday, weeks before historic national elections.
Pakistan is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections May 11 — the first transition between democratically elected governments in a country that has experienced three military coups and constant political instability since its creation in 1947. Parliament’s ability to complete its five-year term has been hailed as a significant achievement.
But a survey by the British Council found that young Pakistanis — between the ages of 18 and 29 — have grown more pessimistic about the future as the country has struggled with a weak economy, high inflation, pervasive energy shortages, and a deadly Taliban insurgency.
About 94 percent of those surveyed said the country is going in the wrong direction, compared with 86 percent in 2009. Fewer than a quarter said democracy has benefited themselves or their families.
Only 29 percent of young Pakistanis surveyed said democracy is the best political system for the country.
‘‘Look at this government that just completed its term. What did it give to people?’’ said Waseem Qureshi, a 24-year-old call center worker. ‘‘You keep looting national wealth, and you tell us to bear with it because it’s democracy.’’
Many Pakistanis have an extremely low opinion of the country’s politicians, whom they often view as more interested in earning money through corruption than dealing with problems.
Amerika!
Qureshi said Islamic law, or Shariah, would be better suited for Pakistan. About 38 percent of young Pakistanis polled agreed with him, a reflection of the deeply held religious views of many young people in the majority Muslim country.
About the same percentage are Fundi Christian here.
Military rule also came out ahead of democracy, with 32 percent support, despite the turbulent history of the army’s toppling civilian governments in coups. The survey found that the army enjoys much higher levels of support among people, 77 percent, than the civilian government, 14 percent.
'murka!
‘‘Military rule is better than democracy, at least compared to what we have experienced in recent times,’’ said Uzair Bashir, a 20-year-old university student in Karachi.
He cited the era of General Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, left Pakistan in self-imposed exile in 2008, and recently returned to run in elections. ‘‘During his rule youngsters had job opportunities, security was far better than today, economic conditions were good, and there was less inflation,’’ Bashir said.
Remember the Bush years, 'murkn?
No, I don't miss him at all. I do miss the fact that he isn't occupying a cell at Gitmo, but...
The three forms of government were offered as distinct choices, although in theory Islamic law could be implemented in conjunction with either democracy or military rule.
Despite the poll results, Pakistan’s bulging youth population could influence the upcoming election. More than 30 percent of registered voters are between the ages of 18 and 29, and many will be voting for the first time, the report said.
Many young Pakistanis have been drawn to former cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan, who has railed against the traditional political parties as bastions of corruption. His message has hit a chord, especially among the urban middle class, but the question is whether he can motivate young people to vote.
And what message would that be?
About 60 percent of young people polled plan to vote, while another 10 percent said they could still be persuaded to turn out.
High inflation, unemployment, and poverty are three of the most important issues for young Pakistanis; one in 10 are in a stable job. Many are concerned about education, health care, terrorism, corruption, and energy and water shortages.
Oh, then the kids of pakistan are just like us Americans of all ages.
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So how is the campaign going?
"Taliban threat hangs over Pakistan campaign; Militants target nation’s main secular party" by Declan Walsh | New York Times, April 22, 2013
NOWSHERA, Pakistan — Electioneering has taken a dark twist in northwest Pakistan, where a concerted campaign of Taliban attacks against the main secular party is violently reshaping the democratic landscape ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for May 11.
In the past 10 days, militants have carried out four bombings and one grenade attack against Shahid Khan’s Awami National Party, which has governed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province since 2008, and whose secular ideology is repugnant to the Taliban’s vision of imposing an Islamic caliphate in Pakistan.
A different Khan, but the same con.
In the worst attack, last Tuesday, a suicide bomber killed 19 people and wounded dozens in central Peshawar, narrowly missing the former railways minister, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour.
The Taliban have warned voters to stay away from rallies organized by the three main secular parties — the Awami party, President Asif Ali Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party, and the Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement.
But so far, they have concentrated their fire on the Awami party, restricting its candidates’ ability to campaign freely, and tilting the field in favor of more conservative parties, analysts say.
‘‘The most effective campaign is being run by the Taliban,’’ said Asad Munir, a retired army brigadier with the army’s Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, who comes from the northwest. ‘‘They are holding the state of Pakistan hostage.’’
So says a tool of the CIA.
This election was never going to be easy for the Awami party, which has already attracted sharp criticism for poor governing skills and corruption while in office — deficiencies that analysts, and some party insiders, say will hurt it during the balloting.
But now the Taliban seem determined to wipe out the party as a political contender.
In the past five years, militants have killed 700 Awami officials and supporters, including two lawmakers and a senior minister, officials say — more casualties than any other party in Pakistan.
In the southern city of Karachi, where the party enjoys support in ethnic Pashtun neighborhoods, about 40 activists have been killed in the past six months, effectively shutting down the party’s activities there.
In Nowshera, a small town 25 miles east of Peshawar, Shahid Khan holds small rallies, often at night and with little notice. He quietly sends advance teams of supporters to check out potential sites. And he is always accompanied by a contingent of private guards and regular police officers, all heavily armed....
Once peaceful, the Nowshera district, which has a substantial military presence, has been increasingly affected by Taliban violence....
Last month, a car bomb explosion at a refugee camp killed 16 people and wounded 31. In February, militants assaulted a police checkpost, then threw grenades at a police vehicle on a major highway, killing one officer.
Is that what inspired the Boston bombers?
In some towns, Taliban fighters have forced shops selling movies to close....
The problem is exacerbated by arguments among Pakistan’s politicians about how to handle the Taliban. Shahid Khan’s main rival is a candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the party of Imran Khan, the former cricket star. With his glamorous youth appeal and vocal opposition to US policies, particularly drone strikes, Imran Khan’s party is expected to do well in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
But critics accuse Imran Khan of being soft on the Taliban because he advocates talks with the militants, not fighting. In a television interview on April 15, Imran Khan said the Taliban were bombing his opponents ‘‘because they supported America’s war.’’
Can't have that!
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Also see: Pakistan Politics
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Pervez Musharraf won’t face treason case yet
UPDATED:
"Police in the capital were investigating how a car with a bomb inside managed to approach Musharraf’s house. He returned last month to make a political comeback, but his fortunes have gone from bad to worse since then. A car bomb aimed at a Pakistani Shi’ite politician killed four."
"Musharraf blamed the Pakistani Taliban for the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007, but government investigators later said there was evidence of his involvement. A UN report faulted Musharraf’s government for failing to provide Bhutto with adequate security. It was the latest setback for Musharraf."
