A religious parties convention at Jamaat-i-Islami headquarters in Mansoora urged the government to lift curbs on political and religious activities, restore the 1973 Constitution and refrain from amending it. The 'Joint Pakistan Defence Ulema Convention' was organized by the United Front representing almost all religious parties. The demands were made through a communique issued at the end of the convention. The meeting was addressed by leaders of almost all religious parties. The convention was held to provide a joint platform to religious parties to "jointly struggle against the pro-America government and all anti-Islam forces." They declared that the next general elections would be fought "only between religious parties and secular groups and, therefore, all Islam-loving people must join hands to defeat the latter."
The fundos have defined themselves as the opposition to Musharraf. They'll either push him into trying to mend fences with them or they'll push him from a moderate Islamism all the way into secularism. If they've overestimated their own strength, as they have a habit of doing, and the beards lose in the elections, their power will be broken - at least until memories fade and a little revisionism takes place. If they see a hefty defeat coming, though, they're going to press sympathetic elements in the armed forced and the ISI to either fix the election or to oust Musharraf. It'll be something to watch.I'm not sure if they have the street support to beat Musharraf in a fair fight. If Musharraf keeps a lid on the more militant Islamists and avoids turning the average devout Muslim against him, he's got a long stay ahead of him. I would be leery of using Turkey as a model; supressing Islam too much could backfire and turn the average mosque-goer against the government. A long-but-firm leash is the answer, but that's easier said than done.
Posted by Anonymous [markbyron.blogspot.com/] 2/5/2002 12:05:35 AM A few months ago I read somewhere - I think it was in The Nation (Pakistan) - that the beards command about 15-20% of the electorate. That's enough to make a lot of noise, but not enough to unseat Musharraf. But they did have a lot of partisans moved into positions of power in the armed forces under Zia ul-Haq. I think they're going to count on them to either throw the election or to move Musharraf out. His countermove has to be to clean them out before they get the chance. He made a start in October, but there are probably still lots of them to scrub.
Posted by Fred 2/5/2002 12:19:47 AM |