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| Student Atif Jehangir says the deal could turn him to terrorism. Mark Sappenfield |
New political deal angers Pakistanis
President Pervez Musharraf was reelected this weekend by Pakistan's lawmakers, but many are furious about his power-sharing deal with former leader Benazir Bhutto.
By Mark Sappenfield | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the October 9, 2007 edition
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Islamabad, Pakistan - Atif Jehangir sits in the half-light of Rajah Market on a cool late-summer evening and says that the events of the past week here could push him to terrorism.
It is an unexpected admission, not only because the young business student could be the face of Pakistani moderation: educated, beardless, and dressed in Western clothes. But also because the power-sharing deal announced last week between President Pervez Musharraf and political leader Benazir Bhutto has been hailed in many corners of the West as the keystone to political calm.
Instead it has set Mr. Jehangir alight: "There is no way this is going to bring stability," he says. "It is going to create more terrorists among people like me."
Rhetoric often teeters toward the extreme in Pakistan, but there is no doubt that Mr. Musharraf's reelection this past weekend – and his pact with Ms. Bhutto – has only increased anger across much of the country.
Citizens see it not as a step toward democracy, but as a United States-brokered deal to prop up Pakistan's ruling elite, which is almost universally viewed as corrupt. As such, the deal exacerbates two of Pakistanis' most deeply ingrained frustrations: that America meddles too much in its affairs, and that justice is subverted by the rich and withheld from the poor.
With America's aid, Musharraf and Bhutto "are both saving each other," says electrician Khalid Iqbal. "She wants the [prime minister's] chair and he wants to save his skin."
Is Musharraf's victory legal?
Musharraf was overwhelmingly reelected president Saturday by Pakistan's federal and provincial legislatures (the president is not elected by the people), but the Supreme Court has not yet decided whether his candidacy was legal.
The question regards the legality of Musharraf's status as both president and Army chief and the court says it will rule no earlier than Oct. 17.
Until then, the deal between Musharraf and Bhutto remains in limbo. Yet the outlines are clear. If, as expected, the court legitimizes the election, Musharraf will take off the Army uniform, and Bhutto will be allowed to run for a third term as prime minister.
Already, Musharraf has passed an amnesty bill that allows Bhutto to return to the country Oct. 18 free of charges that she robbed millions from the government during her previous administrations in the 1980s and '90s.
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