While welcoming the results of the general election in Pakistan, US President George W. Bush expressed the hope that the new government will be "friends of the United States." Similarly, the hope in this country is that the US will be a friend of Pakistan rather than a particular individual or a party.
But what is equally important is that the US must learn to respect the will of this country's people, who whenever given a chance to vote freely, have always given their verdict in support of moderate to liberal/secular parties. They prefer not to mix politics with religion, as reflected in the results of almost every election, the 2002 election being the exception when the religious parties alliance, MMA, made an unusually strong showing.
That though was related partly to the US war in Afghanistan that had a direct or indirect impact on the lives of people living in the border provinces of NWFP and Balochistan; and partly due to the establishment's backing. Every other election in this country favoured the liberal/progressive forces, keeping even the mainstream religious parties on the fringes of national as well as provincial politics.
This time it was not any different. In the NWFP, the province most affected by the religious extremist militancy, which also served as the power base of the MMA, especially Maulana Fazlur Reham's JUI (the party that participated in this election minus its principal partner the Jamaat-i-Islami) the JUI has faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of liberal/secular elements led by the ANP and PPP. The secular ANP emerged as the single largest party in that troubled province's assembly, also picking up the largest number of National Assembly seats.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman himself lost in one of the two NA seats he was contesting for. It is more than obvious from these results that those who have been raising the spectre of extremist Islamists taking over power in a nuclear-armed Pakistan were totally out of sync with reality. And it also demonstrates when given a chance to exercise their choice the people of this country know how to deal with their problems.
The best help they need from the outside is to be left alone to find their own solutions to the issues confronting the state and society. Unfortunately, the US is still seen interfering in our post-election internal politics, offering the main players advice on the structure of a new power equation.
Indeed, it has a legitimate concern about the threat of militancy arising from our tribal badlands - something that happens to coincide, to a certain extent, with our own interests and concerns. The problem has to be addressed by the new elected leadership on terms that it deems fit rather than those dictated by outsiders who have a narrow and transient interest in what goes on in our troubled tribal areas as well as other parts of this country.
As the Pakistani public's electoral verdict shows it has disappointed the pro-democracy people neither in this country nor in the West. It should also strengthen the case for democracy in Muslim countries in general.
It also highlights the significance of what the international community can do to further the cause of democracy. Part of the credit for the successful completion of the election process in Pakistan goes to the Western governments for constantly calling for the holding of elections on schedule. Credit is also due to the EU and US election observers as well as three powerful US Senators for their presence in the country on the Election Day, which kept the pressure on the powers-that-be to refrain from rigging in a major way. Such support for the people is not only welcome, it is wanted.