Democracy not been tailored to Pak: Pervez Musharraf

The Army has often played a prominent role in the governance of Pakistan as democracy has not been tailored to its environment, the country’s former president Gen. (retd) Pervez Musharraf has said.

“Army has always had a role since our independence. It has played a very prominent role in the governance of Pakistan, mainly because of misgovernance by all the so-called democratically-elected governments,” Mr Musharraf said in an interview at the Washington Ideas Forum here on Thursday.

He said the “inherent weakness” of Pakistan is that democracy in the country has not been tailored in accordance with the dictates of the environment. “There are no checks and balances within the system. The Constitution doesn’t provide those checks and balances.”

“Therefore, the military is forced and pulled, sucked into the political environment, especially when misgovernance is going on and Pakistan is going down in all socioeconomic indicators. The public and the people massively run towards the Army Chief, and that is how the Army gets involved,” Musharraf said, justifying the frequent military coups in the country.

He said this was the reason for Pakistan having military governments and the Army enjoying high stature.

“The people of Pakistan love the Army and demand a lot from it. So I’m very proud of the fact that Army has backed me because I’ve been with them for over 40 years. I fought wars with them, I’ve fought two wars and I’ve fought a number of actions with them. So I know they are my constituency,” he said in response to a question.

“So, therefore, we have to maybe tailor the political structure in accordance with the dictates of Pakistan, introduce che-cks and balances so that misgovernance does not take place and the Army does not have to come into politics,” Mr Musharraf said.

He also alleged that the United States has used his country at its convenience and ditched it.

Mr Musharraf said he has plans to return to his country.

“I know that the trial is all politicised. One has to face it. And no risk, no gain, as they say,” he said, adding that he would not go back if the government in Pakistan was performing well.

“I have no such ambition of going back and ruling again. I just want people to run Pakistan well, because Pakistan is my passion,” he said.

“I’m not that foolhardy. So therefore, I would like to see the correct environment where a political change, the third political force is a possibility. I would like to see that the cases are to a degree at a level where my movements are not restricted, the cases can continue, I’ll face them,” he said.

“I want my movement not to be restricted because I realise that unless I lead from the front, I wouldn’t be able to generate the public support that I would require to create the third front,” he argued.