On the issue of leaving the office of Chief of Army Staff (COAS), which he holds simultaneously with that of the President, General Pervez Musharraf has tended to play his cards close to the chest, relying on a studied posture of ambiguity. Of late, however, and especially since the ouster of ex-Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali, the President has begun to take an even more equivocal stand.
For example, during his tour of Scandinavian countries, his statements on the issue have tended to raise questions and even in some quarters alarm about his intentions.
To quote some of the pronouncements of the President on tour, we may look at what he said in the Swedish capital Stockholm in answer to a question: "I keep saying I'll cross the bridge when I reach the bridge."
Asked if he believed he would have arrived at the bridge at the end of this year, he said: "I'll be at the bridge but I don't know whether I'll cross it or decide not to cross it."
In Naantali, Finland, President General Pervez Musharraf elucidated his stance further with the statement that he would decide about his uniform at an 'appropriate time'. "I have to take a decision according to national dictates," the President said, "too much is happening in the world and in our region and domestically. There is still time to take a decision - the decision will totally be in Pakistan's national interests - we do not want to derail the reforms undertaken for the development of the country."
Such statements are ill-advised. The reluctance on President General Musharraf's part to commit to meeting the deadline for shedding his uniform by December 31, a deadline laid down in the 17th Constitutional Amendment, can only create greater uncertainty than already exists about the system put in place on General Musharraf's watch being sustainable and not subject to being buffeted by instability.
The knock-on effect of uncertainty on the economy, and particularly investment, needs no explication.
Second, it is arguable that the reforms General Musharraf is keen to protect from discontinuity, may not be served by continuing to hold both top offices in violation of constitutional provisions and equity. If anything, the continuance of wearing two hats at the same time will convince sceptics here and abroad that President General Musharraf is simply interested in holding on to his real power base, the military.
That can hardly help the political system to find its feet and grow from the flawed acorn it is today to the mighty oak needed for the country to prosper under the rubric of 'enlightened moderation'.
In other words, General Musharraf's studied ambiguity and gratuitous dissembling on the issue promises negative returns in both the political and economic field.
Since the impact on both will occur under his tutelage of the country, General Musharraf may come in for more than his share of the blame. Both the country's interests ('national interests' so frequently cited by General Musharraf) as well as the President's own future may be more secure, assured, and rosy if he submits to the inevitable, lives up to his public commitment to leave the office of COAS by December 31, and lets the system settle down under a more normal and normative dispensation.
It is time the President put all the speculations in this regard to rest by coming out with an unequivocal statement of position to calm already jittery nerves and assured the country and the international community that Pakistan would continue to move steadily towards a proper parliamentary democracy.
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