TodayPresident Pervez Musharraf was sworn into office. This will be his second five year tern as the civilian president of Pakistan. Just the day before he resigned from his position as military chief. After taking his oath, Musharraf made a speech defending his actions. He said he had always meant to lead Pakistan in the direction of democracy but his first and foremost concern was preserving his country's stability. He also warned foreign diplomats not to force democracy on other countries, that they must develop in their own time. He made the point that it is idealistic and impractical for us to expect to give Pakistan human rights and democracy in a year, a month, overnight...when we have taken centuries to get to where we are now. He further went on to say that he did want civil rights for Pakistan but they must be allowed to acquire it in their own way and that the Pakistani society knows better than any Western country, how this should be achieved.
There is still controversy surrounding Musharraf's swearing in as he has made an oath to defend the Constitution of Pakistan which he coincidentally has suspended. He has announced though, that he will repeal the state of emergency in Pakistan on December 16th. Rioters in Lahore, mostly lawyers, protested the ceremony and Musharraf's presidency insisting that "Musharraf must go." Eleven Lawyers and three policemen were injured and three lawyers were arrested.
So all I really want to talk about is the point Musharraf made about imposing democracy in other countries. As much as I certainly disagree with his actions and question his sincerity I think this is a very true statement. We have taken centuries to achieve the state of democracy and human rights we have today. It has been no piece of cake either. Yet, and this rings true for other countries, we expect to help them establish a democracy in a matter of months or even a few years. I totally agree. This is RIDICULOUS. If Pakistan is to establish democracy it must be on their own terms and their own way. What works for America doesn't necessarily work for everybody else. Our cultures are so different. I'm not saying we expect to make a carbon copy of the system we have in the US. I know our government is smarter than that...at least I think they are. What are we going to do though?! These things do not just happen overnight. Are we just going to plant ourselves in every country experiencing human rights violations and do a 180 on their government, their lifestyle? It simply doesn't make sense. To digress a bit, with this in mind, what are we doing in Iraq!? We will be stuck there forever because we are trying to fix their government (since we messed it up.) We tore it down and didn't think about how efficiently we could build it again, differently. We will stay there for 300 years trying to give them what we have. It cannot be done. Musharraf is absolutely right. I hope the US and other foreign diplomats took what he said to heart...mulled it over a bit, got some new insight. The question is really whether he really is going to give Pakistan democracy or is he just making idle promises.
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