What a week this is for Pakistan. This is the third time in Pakistan’s history (1971, 1988, and now 2008) that the common man has been able to vote out regimes booted in by the military.

At one level, the February 18 election results can be interpreted as an expression of discontent with President Pervez Musharraf and his cronies. The positive macro-economic indicators and large development projects did not mean much for the common man. He was incensed due to the rising cost of living, which can be blamed on the government’s poor micro-economic management policies and decisions. Moreover, there was a growing disenchantment with the manner in which the war on terror was being fought. There was a lot of anger especially on Benazir Bhutto’s death.

At another level, it was an expression of the people’s resentment towards symbols of feudalism. For instance, the fact that politicians like Begum Abida Hussain, her husband Fakhar Imam and daughter could not harness the PPP’s popularity is being put down to arrogance. This is not to suggest that this is the end of authoritarian politics in Pakistan or that the influence of big landowners has diminished across the board. But the fact is that people can tell the difference with a big landowner like Benazir Bhutto, who despite her centralised party structure was more accessible to people and much less vindictive than even her own father.

The elections were relatively free and fair mainly because the army decided to step away from politics and not interfere in micro-management of election results. Incidentally, such distancing always takes place when the army is under pressure and domestically demoralised to play a proactive role in politics.

... contd.