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Will Pakistan unite vs. terror ? - -

By Amir Taheri

WILL PAKISTAN UNITE VS. TERROR?

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"By November 29, 2007 -- BETTER late than never: Pa kistan's President Pervez Musharraf yesterday offi cially shed his military uniform and will act as a civilian head of state. He had promised to make the move as far back as 2004; his failure to do so had been a key theme in his critics' campaign against his rule.

Some critics have even pretended that Musharraf's uniform was the central question of Pakistani politics. But the problem isn't Musharraf's uniform. His switch to civilian clothes will simply transform another uniform-wearer, new chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, into a "strongman."

The reasons for the army's special place in Pakistani politics aren't hard to fathom. It is the only national institution that cuts across ethnic and regional barriers and offers Pakistanis from all sorts of backgrounds a place on the social ladder.

The traditional political parties are ultimately regional in their basic constituencies; the army appeals to all the four provinces that make up the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Moreover, the army (while taking pride in its role as the "Defender of the Faith") nurtures a basically secular-nationalist ideology - based on a vision of Pakistan as a distinct nation, rather than a mere chunk of the greater Muslim community (ummah).

Despite the undoubted attachment of most of its people to some form of electoral politics, Pakistan remains a nation built around an army. Paradoxically, even the citizens who most talk of democracy often look to the army as potential savior - a kind of deus ex machina that, at crucial moments, can intervene to bring the nation out of an impasse. In just over half a century as a state, Pakistan has experienced four military coups - each initially welcomed by a majority of the people.

By shedding his uniform, Musharraf has thrown the ball back to the political leaders - especially two former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party, and Muslim League leader Mian Nawaz Sharif.



    
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