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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Pakistan gives opposition rough time |
| 2004-05-11 |
| Note that this is happening to the corrupt secular parties, rather than the corrupt Islamist parties. EFL Opposition lawmaker Tahmina Daultana has been followed by plainclothes agents, has received threatening phone calls and has had her home raided repeatedly by police. In the past week, hundreds of opposition activists have been detained as they prepare for the planned return to Pakistan on Tuesday of a brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose elected government was ousted by Musharraf in 1999. Sharif and his relatives were sent into exile for 10 years. Shahbaz Sharif says he’s coming back to face charges of ordering the 1998 killing of five people when he was chief minister of Punjab province. The Supreme Court has ruled he has the right to return. Many see it as a political gambit to raise the profile of a flagging opposition movement that has done little to stir the public’s interest and won few plaudits when leading a government widely accused of corruption. But Sharif’s return also serves as a test for the democratic credentials of Musharraf, a military leader who was spurned by the West after his takeover but has earned clout for his bold support of U.S.-led efforts in fighting terrorism and tough talk on tackling Islamic extremism. In an interview with The Associated Press last week, pro-Musharraf Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali said the march toward democracy was important to Pakistan, and he brushed off opposition complaints of heavy-handed treatment. "The opposition today has been very comfortable, let me tell you that," Jamali said. "They have not been harassed, there have been no cases against anybody. Nobody has been jailed. Nobody is tortured." Dozens of party activists have been detained in the past week, police say, and can be held without charge for 90 days to maintain ’public order.’ Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N party, however, claims more than 1,000 have been rounded up, mostly in Lahore, where Daultana - a prominent female politician and critic of Musharraf - is based. She spoke to AP by phone Monday from her hiding place ahead of Sharif’s expected return to the city from London. "The government doesn’t want a big exhibition of support for our party and its leadership," said party chairman Raja Zafarul Haq. "But what is democracy? It’s not just the process of elections. It basically means tolerance, rule of law and respecting fundamental rights - not harassing people for exercising them." Despite some constraints, there is generally freedom of expression and assembly in Pakistan. Press commentaries often are critical of the government. Religious hard-liners routinely lambast the president for supporting the United States. But the judicial system can come down hard on provocative politicians - particularly from the mainstream parties that dominated Pakistan’s politics in the 1990s and remain Musharraf’s main challengers. Last month, a court sentenced the acting president of Sharif’s party, Javed Hashmi, to 23 years after a closed trial for sedition. The verdict was criticized even by the United States, which counts Musharraf as a key ally. Hashmi, who likely will serve a maximum of seven years, repeatedly had accused Musharraf of treason for seizing power, and was accused of publicizing a fake letter from an army officer criticizing his leadership. Reinforcing the military’s influence, a 13-member National Security Council has been established - approved in a matter of minutes by the upper house of Parliament in April. The government says it is an "advisory" body that will help prevent future coups by giving military chiefs a say in matters of national interest. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |