Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

US presses Pakistan on democracy

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: The Bush administration is seeking an acceleration of democratic overhauls by Pakistan, including free and fair elections by 2007, Washington's ambassador to Pakistan said, The Wall Street Journal reported.

It said that this focus on a democratic transition is part of a broader US diplomatic initiative toward Pakistan that seeks to go beyond military ties. The paper quoted Ambassador Ryan Crocker as saying that the White House had learned from mistakes in Washington's relationship with Islamabad, which had run hot and cold depending upon strategic needs.

"There is a new emphasis on democracy, and it is going to be an important point in relations between Islamabad and Washington," Mr Crocker said on Thursday in Islamabad, according to the US paper. "There is no dictatorship in Pakistan. But it is also important that democracy takes root," he was quoted as saying by the paper.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the US ambassador's remarks signified a shift in Washington's stance toward Pakistan and its president, General Pervez Musharraf. To date, the Bush administration largely has remained silent on the issue of democratic revisions in Pakistan, owing to General. Musharraf's support of the US and its war against Al Qaeda. Indeed, last week Washington announced it would sell roughly two dozen F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in `appreciation for its support in tracking down suspected terrorists, it said.

General Musharraf came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and pledged to quickly restore democracy to the world's third-most-populous Muslim country. Since then, however, his government has faced charges of rigging local elections and failing to initiate a number of important democratic revisions. Last year he backed off his pledge to step down as Army chief and to serve as a purely civilian president through “planned” elections in 2007, the paper added.

The US paper reported Mr Crocker as saying that the US wanted a freely elected government in Pakistan by 2007. He said it was important for Pakistan to develop and strengthen democratic institutions to ensure a stable and sustainable government moving ahead. He said Washington would be closely watching local council elections set for July, it added.

The journal said that General Musharraf formally became president in 2002 through a referendum that allows him to serve until 2007. “The Pakistani leader has pushed through constitutional amendments that significantly strengthen the president's control. His moves have fuelled increasing opposition within Pakistan's secular and Islamist political parties. Many have called for General Musharraf to step down and for Pakistan to hold new elections,” the paper said.

The Wall Street Journal said that Mr Crocker defended Gen Musharraf, saying that the president was sincere in seeking to restore democracy to Pakistan and that he was moving in a right direction. The paper quoted Mr Crocker as saying that Washington was committed to building a long-term partnership with Pakistan focusing on shared economic, energy and security interests.

The paper said that the US enjoyed extremely close ties with Pakistan in the 1960s and 1980s because of shared concerns about the rise of communism and the threat posed to South Asia by the former Soviet Union. Washington and Islamabad cooperated particularly closely in the 1980s, funnelling arms and financial aid to Muslims fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, it said.

Upon the Soviets' pullout from Afghanistan in 1989, Washington's ties to Islamabad quickly soured, however. The US slapped economic sanctions on Pakistan in 1990 for its pursuit of a nuclear-weapons program; the nation since has joined the nuclear club. Many Pakistani officials continue to hold deep suspicions of the US and its long-term interests in South Asia, the paper added.

Separately, Mr Crocker said Islamabad had been cooperating fully with the international community in investigating the nuclear black market established by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the US paper reported. But the ambassador also said questions remained about how and when the transfer of nuclear technology occurred. The US and others have accused Dr Khan of passing nuclear technologies to Iran, Libya and North Korea, the paper reported.

The Wall Street Journal said that the Pakistani scientist had been stripped of his government post and lives under virtual house arrest. “Islamabad maintains it has been cooperating with the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency on a probe of Dr Khan's network. But General Musharraf's government still refuses to allow their investigators to interview Dr Khan directly,” the paper concluded.


http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_2-4-2005_pg7_54