Feature

Pakistan without Musharraf

What’s next for the South Asian nation?

What happened
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf stepped down, rather than face impeachment charges. He was replaced by an ally, Mohammedmian Soomro, until the opposition-controlled parliament selects a successor within 30 days. The government is split into two main factions, one led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the other by Asil Asif Zardari, the widower of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. (Bloomberg)

What the commentators said
With Musharraf gone, said USA Today in an editorial, Pakistan can either move “toward real democracy, another military coup like the one that brought Musharraf to power in 1999, or greater Islamic extremism.” Musharraf thought himself a “benevolent dictator” who could steer Pakistan toward the first option, democracy, but like all autocrats he left his country less democratic, and thus still susceptible to the latter two choices.

Musharraf’s failed push to turn Pakistan into “a progressive model for the Muslim world” will be seen as a wasted opportunity, said India’s The Hindu in an editorial. But his surprisingly “honorable exit” is a testament to the pillars of a fairly healthy state: “the people of Pakistan, their political parties, news media, and civil society institutions.”

Many of Pakistan’s people, said Nicholas Schmidle in Slate, think the weak political parties used impeaching the unpopular Musharraf as a distraction from Pakistan’s deteriorating economy, its ongoing “judicial crisis,” and the growth of Islamic militants. Zardari and Sharif agreed on axing Musharraf, but they seem unable to do anything else.

The struggles between Sharif’s party and Zardari’s, said Ahmed Rashid in The Washington Post, and between the civilian government and the military, are Pakistan’s biggest challenge. None of these factions likes or trusts any of the others, but most Pakistanis still “see the coalition government as the country’s last chance for democracy, and they want it to work.” With cooperation and outside help, it just might.

Recommended

Global happiness has been 'remarkably resilient' over the past three years
cathedral in Finland.
it wasn't all bad

Global happiness has been 'remarkably resilient' over the past three years

Is France 'on the edge of civil unrest'?
Protests against Macron's pension overhaul
Today's big question

Is France 'on the edge of civil unrest'?

The extreme weather events of 2023
An illustration of a tornado and wind-swept palm trees
In depth

The extreme weather events of 2023

Russia's spring Ukraine offensive may be winding down amid heavy losses
Ukrainian tank fires near Bakhmut
Attrition

Russia's spring Ukraine offensive may be winding down amid heavy losses

Most Popular

The truth about alcohol
Alcohol being poured into a rocks glass.
Briefing

The truth about alcohol

North Korea claims 800,000 people volunteered to fight against the U.S.
North Korean soldiers march in a parade in 2018.
A Frightening Figure

North Korea claims 800,000 people volunteered to fight against the U.S.

Russia's spring Ukraine offensive may be winding down amid heavy losses
Ukrainian tank fires near Bakhmut
Attrition

Russia's spring Ukraine offensive may be winding down amid heavy losses