Some democracy some election!

There are some things I never seem to figure. What, for instance, the UK authorities are trying to prove or disprove, a decade after the death of Princess Diana and boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed? Or take the case of President Bush's election. I mean it's understandable if he somehow made it to White House, with a little help from the US Supreme Court of course, in 2000. But I can't for the life of me understand how the Americans could bring themselves to elect him for a second time!

Another fascinating hard nut to crack has been Pakistan's preoccupation with the men in khaki. The Pakistani generals' compelling inability to allow the politicians to run the country, as is the practice in rest of the world, never ceases to amaze me. But what fascinates me more is their ability to get away with it. Okay, I agree Pakistan has been exceptionally unfortunate with its share of politicians. You can't name even one politician who has proved himself or herself worthy of people's mandate and trust. From the earliest of politicians to the current lot, it has been the same saga of reckless abuse of power and all-round corruption.

But then corrupt and self-serving politicians are not exclusive to Pakistan. Its neighbour and separated-at-birth twin, India, has had its fair share of them. Many other nations in the region and the world at large continue to battle corruption in high places. As Lord Acton warned: 'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' But even when the abuse of power touched alarming levels elsewhere -- as it did in India under Indira Gandhi during Emergency years - the army there never toyed with the idea of stepping out of barracks.

So why is it that it's only in Pakistan that the generals are so inexorably addicted to power? Maybe it has something to do with the insecurity complex vis-à-vis India that has troubled the Islamic republic since its creation. The fact that India played a not too insignificant role in the second partition and creation of Bangladesh in 1971 hasn't really helped the matters.

But whatever it is that fuels Pakistani generals' craving for power, it is at the heart of the country's never-ending instability and most of its existential problems. The army has ruled Pakistan, off and on, for nearly 40 years in its 60-year long history. Interestingly, this subversion of Pakistan's political institutions and dispossession of its people have taken place with the blessings of the world's most successful democracy.

From Field Marshal Ayub Khan's 'managed democracy' to Gen Ziaul Haq's 'non-party democracy', the US has actively worked with the generals to keep honest and independent-minded politicians out. Who gives a damn if in the process the country's institutions are undermined and eventually destroyed? What matters is national interest. That is, the US national interest!

This is why Washington has stood by Musharraf over the past nine years or so. And now it has ensured its man in Islamabad continues in power for another five years - or as long as it wants. As far as the US is concerned, the October 6 election is perfectly legitimate. After all, Musharraf got 99 per cent of the votes polled. Just as other friends of Washington in the Muslim world have been getting all these years. So does it really matter if the entire opposition did not take part in the poll? This is some election, which was boycotted by every political party except the King's party - the Quisling League.

In fact, all opposition lawmakers had resigned before the October 6 vote. And this is some democracy in which an outgoing parliament whose own term ends next month got to 'elect' the president. If this is democracy, then I am Einstein! In the run up to this free and fair poll, Musharraf had promised to shed his uniform if he got elected. But if he failed to win the vote, the General reasoned, he would still remain the army chief and run the country!

Musharraf let everyone, including the Supreme Court, know he was determined to win, election or no election! It was a rather convincing argument. A classic case of head I win, tail you lose. No wonder a besieged Supreme Court, which renewed hope in Pakistan with its recent activism, had to postpone its verdict on Musharraf election to Oct 17 - after the vote on Oct 6! And the General got what he wanted although the court ordered the poll outcome be kept under wraps until its verdict on Oct 17.

But chief election commissioner Qazi Farooq obviously knows which side his bread is buttered. So the election 'results' were made public within hours despite the SC fiat. And the ever-modest Musharraf didn't take credit for the win, thanking the Almighty instead for his 'landslide victory.'

Can you imagine such utter contempt for the highest court in the land elsewhere? But then this isn't the first time Pakistan's rulers have shown the judiciary its place. Last month, they forcibly put a former PM on a plane to Jeddah, defying Supreme Court that held Nawaz Sharif could return home. Now I have no sympathy for Sharif and his kind. But however corrupt, he had every right to return to his homeland, as the court ruled. On the other hand, the General has no qualms in striking a 'deal' with another former PM with equally questionable credentials.

Remarkably, both Musharraf and Benazir have no compunction in confirming they have entered into a totally opportunistic 'deal' to share power. The General keeps talking of a scrap of paper that Sharif is supposed to have signed giving up his right to return. This despite the fact that such an agreement stands no chance in any court of law anywhere in the world. The SC made this clear in unambiguous terms before Sharif's return on Sept 10. But the blanket amnesty that the General has granted to Benazir in the name of 'national reconciliation,' which neatly covers all corruption cases against the PPP leader but keeps Sharif out in the cold, is perfectly legal, as far as Musharraf, BB and their patrons are concerned.

Also, in their view, Musharraf's own election is absolutely valid and legal — notwithstanding the fact the jury is still out on this vote. In fact, compared to this, Bush's own 2000 election looks almost sacred. And all this wheeling-dealing and elaborate charade just to keep one man in power. And all this of course wouldn't be possible without the backing of Musharraf's powerful friends in Washington.

Once again, the US, the great champion of democracy, freedom and human rights, presides over this farce in the name of democracy. So what if what's going on in Musharraf's Pakistan goes against all that the founding fathers of America believed in and stood for?

Even as the US and rest of the West fret and fume over Burma slamming the junta for denying its people democracy and right to choose, they are blind to what is going on next door in Pakistan. Because like President Roosevelt once argued referring to a tyrant: "He may be an SOB, but he is our SOB."

Musharraf has convinced the Americans and the West that if he goes, Pakistan will elect Osama Bin Laden as its president. So democracy be damned! It's now clear Washington pushed the General to take BB on board. Sharif isn't acceptable to the US because he is close to the Islamists. Besides, he has been making noises about the free run the General has given to the Americans and the indiscriminate killing of innocents as part of the US war. (Look at what they've just done in the tribal north. Most of those killed this past week — at least 300 - were women and children).

For her part, Benazir has been cozying up to Washington by promising to get tough with 'the terrorists' and allow the US to strike inside Pakistan. So Musharraf and Benazir are on the same side and on the right side of Washington. And what is a principle or two between friends!

After all, this isn't the first time the US has chucked democracy, fair play and all the ideals that once inspired it out in the name of that nice sounding mantra called 'national interest'. They have colluded or looked the other way as their friends keep legitimate and genuinely democratic players out of political process across the Muslim world.

From Egypt to Algeria and from Palestine to Pakistan, it's the same story. It is these double standards that are at the heart of the instability and unrest in the Muslim world. And it's this double-dealing that gave birth to America's nightmare called OBL in the first place.