Coup de grace for a discredited premier
Coup de grace for a discredited premier
Farooq Tariq, General Secretary of the Labour Party, Pakistan reports from Lahore
Troops took over the important buildings in the capital, Islamabad, in the evening of October 12, after the state-run electronic media announced Musharraf’s dismissal of the government.
Sharif’s decision that day to remove Musharraf from his post as army chief apparently prompted the military coup.
In his first televised address, Musharraf said that everyone was aware of the turmoil and uncertainty that the country had gone through under Sharif. "Not only have all the institutions been played around with, and systematically destroyed, the economy too is in a state of collapse", he said.
"Despite all my advice, they tried to interfere with the armed forces, the last remaining viable institution in which all of you take so much pride and look up to, at all times, for the stability, unity and integrity of our beloved country."
This is the usual demagogy of a military ruler – but at that point it was still not clear what Musharraf’s long term plans for the country were.
The military coup was apparently provoked by the announcement of the dismissal of the General by Sharif. Only one week earlier, the Nawaz Government had promoted the General to Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Committee. The General had immediately purged some senior military officers who were known as Nawaz Sharif supporters. In retaliation, the Prime Minister tried to dismiss the general.
This may have been the immediate excuse for the military takeover. But the real reasons are deeply rooted in the present economic crisis in Pakistan and its political effects. Further it is part of the aftermath of the Kargil dispute with India over Kashmir.
The military have reacted angrily to attempts by the Sharif government to blame them for Pakistan’s defeat in the dispute with India over Kashmir. The military and the Islamic fundamentalists have instead blamed Sharif for the debacle, because he caved in to United States pressure to withdraw from Kargil.
In a move to reschedule the country’s IMF loans, the Nawaz Sharif Government recently blamed the Taliban government in Afghanistan for "terrorist activities inside Pakistan." This is a surprising U-turn.
Pakistan is one of the only countries in the world, which has formally recognised the Taliban government; the Pakistani military have actively supported the Taliban’s take-over of Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan.
Sharif was hoping that this U-turn would help the renegotiation of loans with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But it was not appreciated by the various religious currents within the army.
The economy is in absolute tatters. The government’s attempt to introduce a general sales tax was successfully opposed by the small traders’ association, which organised a nation-wide strike on September 4.
In the face of this protest, the government ignored IMF instructions, withdrew the GST and introduced a new tax.
Further, cotton growers across the country were demanding an increase in cotton prices, a commodity which accounts for 70% of the country’s exports. The powerful All Pakistan Textile Manufacturers Association was opposed to such an increase.
On October 10, a nation-wide protest of peasants and cotton growers blocked all of Pakistan’s main roads for hours; there have been many other massive demonstrations.
All these developments exposed the extremely unpopular nature of the government and the remarkable change in the consciousness of the masses.
At the beginning of 1997, Sharif won the general election with 40% of the vote and secured a two-thirds majority in the national assembly.
He used his majority to introduce amendments to the constitution against trade unions, minorities, women and oppressed nationalities. He tried to bring the bureaucracy under his absolute control and humiliated it in public.
Sharif wanted to rule like a Mughal empire. He had a telephone help-line installed, on which he took callers’ complaints. After listening for a minute, he would announce what action he would take. Television would broadcast the story and the impression would be given that justice had been done in seconds.
But despite his demagogy, the conflicts mounted, not only with the people, the army and his religious constituency, but also with his international backers.
Sharif was unable to implement the IMF’s agenda of speedy privatisation of the main public sector institutions, including the railways, telecommunications and electricity. He even got into a fight with those power companies contracted by the previous government of Benazir Bhutto government to build the power generation plants.
These contracts allowed the power companies to sell this electricity at a price above the international competitive rate. The energy multinationals bribed the Benazir government to accept this deal.
Nawaz’s clique hadn’t shared in these kickbacks, so were rather hostile to the deal. In the end, the World Bank intervened, urging Nawaz to seek a compromise with the power companies
The nuclear tests and the military incursion into Kashmir also drew (hypocritical) US condemnation, while the defeat in Kashmir strengthened the hand of the military against him.
Sharif’s government was weak, isolated and unstable. As a result, the military’s take-over was not met with any resistance from the masses. There was instead a sense of confusion and, to some extent, a sense of relief. But the programme of the Generals is clear – the speedy implementation of the IMF programme at the expense of the people.
The military take-over is yet another setback for the left and trade union movement in Pakistan.
The Labour Party Pakistan has issued a statement (see over) opposing the military take-over and has demanded the immediate announcement of general elections under an interim government of workers and peasants.