Word: musharraf
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With that decline in popularity has come a surge in Islamic militancy that Musharraf's army has been unable to combat. As many as 250 people, including some 45 soldiers, were killed in fierce fighting in Pakistan's tribal areas last week. Despite promises to the contrary, Musharraf was forced to use aircraft to bomb suspected militant hideouts, escalating the death toll and local anti-government rage. Some analysts are already calling the situation in North and South Waziristan, the locus of the fighting, a "civil war." On Friday, the eighth anniversary of Musharraf's coup, militants publicly beheaded...
...Musharraf's eight years in power have seen unprecedented economic gains, a freer media and better infrastructure, but his increasingly ham-fisted attempts to stay in power have eroded public confidence. A recent survey by the U.S.-based International Republican Institute found that Musharraf's ratings have reached rock bottom. "As the national mood continues to sour, President Musharraf continues to bear the brunt of this voter dissatisfaction and his approval rating has dropped to an all-time low of 21%, from a high of 63% in September 2006," says the report...
...Western-backed power-sharing proposal between Musharraf and Bhutto was supposed to burnish the military leader's legitimacy with her party's popular support. Instead it has tarnished Bhutto's reputation as a tireless campaigner against military rule, and brought the ire of Islamic militants against her as well. Now that Musharraf has promised to step down as army chief before he starts his second term as President, it looks as if his vice chief will soon take up command of the military. If things go as planned, says a Western military analyst in Pakistan, "Not much will change. Pakistan...
...Western governments, who have long seen Musharraf as an important ally in the war on terror, a familiar face at Pakistan's helm is preferable. But few Pakistanis have confidence that Musharraf - either as military leader or civilian President - can solve a problem that escalated under his watch. Bhutto, loathed by the religious parties for her liberal policies and equally abhorred by the military, doesn't offer much more hope, despite her campaign pledges. "Islamic militancy is spreading across Pakistan," says Cheema. "The militants are becoming more assertive even in settled areas, and the government is weak. It doesn...
...backroom deals. "We are on an irreversible path to constitutional democracy," says Nasim Zehra, an Islamabad-based Security analyst and fellow at the Harvard University Asia Center. "But to be banking on individuals at this point as a remedy for extremism is as naive as anybody saying that General Musharraf's reelection will bring greater stability...