fatman17
PDF THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 32,563
- Reaction score
- 98
- Country
- Location
Commentary: Commonwealth Suspension of Pakistan: Does it matter?
By Sir Ronald Sanders
It looks as if Pakistan will again be suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth, a group of 53 countries made up of Britain and many of its former colonies including 11 from the Caribbean.
President Perez Musharraf has made it clear that he is ignoring an ultimatum given to him by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), a body set up in 1995 by Commonwealth Heads of Government to police and enforce rules that the Commonwealth imposed upon itself for membership.
The CMAG statement issued on November 12th was unequivocal. Either President Musharraf meets its demands or “at its next meeting on 22 November if, after review of progress, Pakistan has failed to implement these necessary measures, it will suspend Pakistan from the Councils of the Commonwealth”.
CMAG set out five measures: Musharraf to give up being Chief of the army; repeal of the state of emergency he has imposed and restoration of the constitution and the independence of the judiciary; release of detainees including politicians, lawyers, journalists and the Chief Justice; lifting curbs on the media; and creating conditions to hold parliamentary elections.
On the day after the CMAG ultimatum, the Pakistan Foreign Office said, “Pakistan will follow its own roadmap to transition to democracy as outlined by the President, and decisions on issues of vital importance will be taken in accordance with our national interests and requirements, not in observance of any artificially set timelines from outside.”
Come November 22nd, then, the Pakistan government should be told formally by CMAG that it is suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth.
In anticipation of that announcement, the Pakistan government will be making no plans to send a delegation to a Conference of Commonwealth Heads of Government which is to be held in Uganda from 23rd to 25th November.
Of course, the Pakistan government shouldn’t have been part of the Commonwealth councils since 1999 when it was suspended after General Musharraf first seized power in a coup.
But, it was allowed to return to the Commonwealth fold in 2004 even though, in fact, nothing had really changed. Musharraf was then, as he is now, both President and Chief of the Army. Then, as now, key opposition political players were denied the right to campaign against him. Some opposition figures, such as Benazir Bhutto, were exiled and threatened with imprisonment on a wide range of charges, and others like the popular former Pakistan cricket captain, Imran Khan, were denied the right to campaign.
What had changed in 2004 had little to do with adherence to the Commonwealth principles; it had much more to do with Musharraf tying-up with US President George W Bush and Britain’s then Prime Minister Tony Blair after the 9/11 events as an ally to fight al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.
To help cover Musharraf in respectability, there was nudging and winking to allow his government back into Commonwealth councils.
Over the last three years conditions within Pakistan deteriorated.
Those conditions reached a new low this year when Musharraf had the Chief Justice removed from office on allegations of corruption and was forced to see him reinstated until he dismissed him and put him under house arrest in early November under his state of emergency.
If further signals were needed to show that Musharraf would brook no opposition, the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was forcibly flown to Saudi Arabia when he returned from exile following a Supreme Court ruling that he had the inalienable right to enter and live in Pakistan.
On the basis of these deteriorating conditions alone, CMAG should have suspended the Pakistan government when it met in New York in September this year. It didn’t. No doubt there were members of the current nine governments that make up CMAG who were mindful of the close relations that Musharraf’s regime enjoyed with the George W Bush administration in Washington.
They would have been conscious too that suspending Pakistan from the councils of the Commonwealth would do little to hurt Musharraf if no real sanctions were imposed against him by the countries that matter such as the US and Britain.
Before the November 12th meeting, the CMAG Chairman, the Maltese foreign minister Michael Frendo, indicated that the Commonwealth’s credibility was now at stake over Musharraf and he wanted CMAG to do what was right. The ultimatum to Musharraf was the result.
But, it is more to the US than the Commonwealth that the Pakistani President paid attention.
In response to calls from the US President, Musharraf has said that he would step down as army chief by the end of November and begin a new presidential term as a civilian. This depends on a ruling by justices of the Supreme Court saying that he is legitimately President following elections earlier this year.
He will get that ruling. He made sure of it on November 3rd, when he purged the Supreme Court of the Chief Justice and others because he feared that they would rule that he could not have run for President while he was still Chief of the Army. Having appointed his own people to the Court, he might just as well have written the script for their decision.
It is unlikely that Britain would apply sanctions against Musharraf’s government even in the face of Pakistan’s suspension from the councils of the Commonwealth. London’s links to Washington in the so called ‘war on terror’ would remain a primary concern.
So, with its meaningful bilateral relations and support still in place with the US, Britain and other developed countries, General Musharraf may not give a damn about the Commonwealth.
Suspension is inconvenient but hardly threatening to his survival.
His greater worry must be whether or not the US and its allies have decided to dump him in favour of one of his army colleagues who may be willing to see a civilian government installed with the veneer of democracy while the Generals continue to pull the strings of power.
But, even if suspension from the Commonwealth does little harm to Musharraf, CMAG has done the right thing and salvaged some credibility for the group as its leaders meet to discuss conditions that pose threats to the global community.
so u see guys they r worried about their credability more than anything else...
By Sir Ronald Sanders
It looks as if Pakistan will again be suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth, a group of 53 countries made up of Britain and many of its former colonies including 11 from the Caribbean.
President Perez Musharraf has made it clear that he is ignoring an ultimatum given to him by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), a body set up in 1995 by Commonwealth Heads of Government to police and enforce rules that the Commonwealth imposed upon itself for membership.
The CMAG statement issued on November 12th was unequivocal. Either President Musharraf meets its demands or “at its next meeting on 22 November if, after review of progress, Pakistan has failed to implement these necessary measures, it will suspend Pakistan from the Councils of the Commonwealth”.
CMAG set out five measures: Musharraf to give up being Chief of the army; repeal of the state of emergency he has imposed and restoration of the constitution and the independence of the judiciary; release of detainees including politicians, lawyers, journalists and the Chief Justice; lifting curbs on the media; and creating conditions to hold parliamentary elections.
On the day after the CMAG ultimatum, the Pakistan Foreign Office said, “Pakistan will follow its own roadmap to transition to democracy as outlined by the President, and decisions on issues of vital importance will be taken in accordance with our national interests and requirements, not in observance of any artificially set timelines from outside.”
Come November 22nd, then, the Pakistan government should be told formally by CMAG that it is suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth.
In anticipation of that announcement, the Pakistan government will be making no plans to send a delegation to a Conference of Commonwealth Heads of Government which is to be held in Uganda from 23rd to 25th November.
Of course, the Pakistan government shouldn’t have been part of the Commonwealth councils since 1999 when it was suspended after General Musharraf first seized power in a coup.
But, it was allowed to return to the Commonwealth fold in 2004 even though, in fact, nothing had really changed. Musharraf was then, as he is now, both President and Chief of the Army. Then, as now, key opposition political players were denied the right to campaign against him. Some opposition figures, such as Benazir Bhutto, were exiled and threatened with imprisonment on a wide range of charges, and others like the popular former Pakistan cricket captain, Imran Khan, were denied the right to campaign.
What had changed in 2004 had little to do with adherence to the Commonwealth principles; it had much more to do with Musharraf tying-up with US President George W Bush and Britain’s then Prime Minister Tony Blair after the 9/11 events as an ally to fight al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.
To help cover Musharraf in respectability, there was nudging and winking to allow his government back into Commonwealth councils.
Over the last three years conditions within Pakistan deteriorated.
Those conditions reached a new low this year when Musharraf had the Chief Justice removed from office on allegations of corruption and was forced to see him reinstated until he dismissed him and put him under house arrest in early November under his state of emergency.
If further signals were needed to show that Musharraf would brook no opposition, the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was forcibly flown to Saudi Arabia when he returned from exile following a Supreme Court ruling that he had the inalienable right to enter and live in Pakistan.
On the basis of these deteriorating conditions alone, CMAG should have suspended the Pakistan government when it met in New York in September this year. It didn’t. No doubt there were members of the current nine governments that make up CMAG who were mindful of the close relations that Musharraf’s regime enjoyed with the George W Bush administration in Washington.
They would have been conscious too that suspending Pakistan from the councils of the Commonwealth would do little to hurt Musharraf if no real sanctions were imposed against him by the countries that matter such as the US and Britain.
Before the November 12th meeting, the CMAG Chairman, the Maltese foreign minister Michael Frendo, indicated that the Commonwealth’s credibility was now at stake over Musharraf and he wanted CMAG to do what was right. The ultimatum to Musharraf was the result.
But, it is more to the US than the Commonwealth that the Pakistani President paid attention.
In response to calls from the US President, Musharraf has said that he would step down as army chief by the end of November and begin a new presidential term as a civilian. This depends on a ruling by justices of the Supreme Court saying that he is legitimately President following elections earlier this year.
He will get that ruling. He made sure of it on November 3rd, when he purged the Supreme Court of the Chief Justice and others because he feared that they would rule that he could not have run for President while he was still Chief of the Army. Having appointed his own people to the Court, he might just as well have written the script for their decision.
It is unlikely that Britain would apply sanctions against Musharraf’s government even in the face of Pakistan’s suspension from the councils of the Commonwealth. London’s links to Washington in the so called ‘war on terror’ would remain a primary concern.
So, with its meaningful bilateral relations and support still in place with the US, Britain and other developed countries, General Musharraf may not give a damn about the Commonwealth.
Suspension is inconvenient but hardly threatening to his survival.
His greater worry must be whether or not the US and its allies have decided to dump him in favour of one of his army colleagues who may be willing to see a civilian government installed with the veneer of democracy while the Generals continue to pull the strings of power.
But, even if suspension from the Commonwealth does little harm to Musharraf, CMAG has done the right thing and salvaged some credibility for the group as its leaders meet to discuss conditions that pose threats to the global community.
so u see guys they r worried about their credability more than anything else...
