Frontoffice, Backoffice
Who is supposed to be running the affairs of the State? The Prime Minister or the President – General? Confusion, confusion, confusion. Islamic Republic of Pakistan has a very eccentric political system and system of government. When the Parliament completes its fourth year, the President – General touts it as a success of the government; when the Parliament passes a bill, the President – General promotes it as an achievement. It’s a Parliamentary system so why is the President – General indulging in addressing the nation that emphasizes upon the affairs that are the domain of the Parliament and the government, led by a Prime Minister, to be talked about as such. These are the most recent examples. But there are lots of other examples, the most glaring incident happening when Bush visited Pakistan.
Musharraf holds a constitutional office that is supposed to remain aloof from what goes on regarding electioneering and all. But this guy comes on T.V. and asks the people to vote for certain affiliations that confirm with him. In a society where laws were held supreme, this act would be illegal and the Head of the State wouldn’t dare do such a thing. But here in this country, the President – General indulges in an election campaign for his favourite politicians and with this act, starts a process of poll rigging.
Anyways, so who really pulls the strings? The beautiful facade of the setup headed by a puppet Prime Minister or the President – General basically belonging to the GHQ? The facts are all out there to form an opinion.
Dear Order and Anarchy,
Given your interest in issues related to Pakistan, we thought you might like to check out our work on US Assistance to Pakistan. We’ve just published an article in the Washington Quarterly called When $10 Billion Is Not Enough: Rethinking US Strategy Toward Pakistan, and more Pakistan coverage on our blog (www.pcrproject.com) on hearts and minds, youth in Pakistan, and development assistance. The Post-Conflict Reconstruction (PCR) Project is a part of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think-tank located in Washington, DC. Additionally, we have just released a new report called Breaking Point: Measuring Progress in Afghanistan.
Best,
The PCR Project Team
Comment by PCR Project — March 8, 2007 @ 3:16 pm