President Pervez Musharraf’s imposition of emergency was incredibly shortsighted. To be sure, at some point he would have had to relinquish power, and the move staved off that inevitability for the present. Yet, prior to the emergency rule, he might have had some chance to retain his position for another five years, possibly under a power-sharing agreement with Benazir Bhutto, or some other alternative. Now there is no scenario under which he would enjoy legitimacy, either in the eyes of Pakistan’s civil society or the international community.

Perhaps even more damning for Musharraf’s prospects is the fact that surely he is close to exhausting the respect, trust and patience of Pakistan’s military. His diminished standing would not come merely as a result of his political blunders, but due to the army’s performance. From the ill-fated Kargil escapade in 1999, which Musharraf led, to the recent humiliations in Swat, the army has not exactly experienced unqualified success with Musharraf as chief of staff. Its morale is low and will continue to erode as long as troops are asked to train their guns on Muslims.

The US should therefore go beyond its current stance of simply denouncing Musharraf’s actions in limp terms. Urging him to lift the state of emergency, remove his army uniform and press forward with parliamentary elections is not enough. The elections are destined to be a sham. Instead, the Bush administration should publicly urge Musharraf to resign from his position as president. Moreover, it should call for the reinstatement of the dismissed Supreme Court justices and the release of everybody still under detention. Such steps would begin to reverse the current conditions in Pakistan that are a stark contradiction of the rule of law and democratic processes.

... contd.