Is Pervez Musharraf Right About Military Rulers Performance in Pakistan?

[Finer]

The military ruled Pakistan for many many decades. Democracy ruling short-lived, and even then, democracy was ruled under the gun point of the main establishment. Not to mention, the mistreatment towards the sister of founding father of Pakistan. And no accountability against the main establishment means they are above the laws.

People always forget that it was democracy that made Pakistan through the democratic process that Jinnah (R.A) campaigned. And as usual, the military ruler separated East Pakistan from Pakistan and almost separated Balochistan from Pakistan if it wasn't for democracy to ail the wounds left by the military ruling under Musharraf.

Despite of side effects, democracy ailed the old wound of Balochistan for what it could have been next Bangladesh given the military treatment. Then democracy stabilized the economy after the mess left by the military takeover due to exit-strategy with Zardari in under the circumstances following the death of Benazir.

In short, the military leaves the mess and democracy ails the mess only for military to takeover against the wills of Pakistan to mess up again. Pakistan military is only good as safeguarding the interests of Pakistan through the manpowers and foreign policy and leave internal ruling affairs to democracy as it is people voice that can resonate with the people's situation.

 

[RiazHaq]

http://www.riazhaq.com/2014/08/pakistan-under-civilian-rule-neither.html

Pakistan Under Civilian Rule: Neither Democracy Nor Development

“Na Khuda hi mila, na visaal-e-sanam/Na udhar kay rahay, na idhar kay rahe (I found neither faith, nor union with my lover/And now I belong neither there nor here).”
Pakistan's quest for democracy under civilian rule has produced neither democracy nor development in the Islamic country of over 180 million people. Currently, Pakistan is experiencing 6th consecutive year of stagnant economy and human developmentunder an elected but highly corrupt "democratic" government run by the Sharif family and their cronies for their own benefit.

Is it a Democracy?

Can one call it a rule-of-law or democracy when the Sharifs illegally order the Lahore police to attack the home of Allama Tahir ul Qadri, kill over a dozen unarmed civilians including women, and then refuse to file a report (FIR) of the incident at the local police station? Can you call it constitutional rule when the ruling politicians openly defy the Supreme Court orders to hold local government elections under Article 140 (A) of the Pakistan constitution? Is it democracy when all of the most powerful government positions are held a few members of the Sharif family and their close friends?

Is it Development?

Is it development when Pakistan's human development progress is the slowest in decades? Is it development when Pakistan faces another lost decade like the decade of 1990s under PPP and PMLN rule? Is it development when Pakistan continues to drop in world rankings on social indicators included in the UNDP's HDI index?

Pakistan's HDI grew an average rate of 2.7% per year under President Musharraf from 2000 to 2007, and then its pace slowed to 0.7% per year in 2008 to 2012 under elected politicians, according to the 2013 Human Development Report titled “The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World”.


Source: Human Development Report 2013-Pakistan



http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3E8bXbEGY.../afg6ptzMyJE/s1600/Pakistan+HDI+2000-2011.jpg
History of Human Development in Pakistan:

At 0.515, Pakistan's HDI is lower than the average HDI value of 0.558 for South Asia which is the second lowest among the various regions of the world tracked by UNDP. Between 2000 and 2012, the region registered annual growth of 1.43% in HDI value, which is the highest of the regions. Afghanistan achieved the fastest growth (3.9%), followed by Pakistan (1.7%) and India (1.5%), according to the United Nations Development Program.


Overall, Pakistan's human development score rose by 18.9% during Musharraf years and increased just 3.4% under elected leadership since 2008. The news on the human development front got even worse in the last three years, with HDI growth slowing down as low as 0.59% — a paltry average annual increase of under 0.20 per cent.

Who's to blame for this dramatic slowdown in the nation's human development? Who gave it a low priority? Zardari? Peoples' Party? Sharif brothers? PML (N)? PML (Q)? Awami National Party? Muttahida Qaumi Movement? The answer is: All of them. They were all part of the government. In fact, the biggest share of the blame must be assigned to PML (N).

Sharif brothers weren't part of the ruling coalition at the center. So why should the PML (N) share the blame for falling growth in the nation's HDI? They must accept a large part of the blame because education and health, the biggest contributors to human development, are both provincial subjects and PML(N) was responsible for education and health care of more than half of Pakistan's population.


Source: The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World

Source: The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World

Going further back to the decade of 1990s when the civilian leadership of the country alternated between PML (N) and PPP, the increase in Pakistan's HDI was 9.3% from 1990 to 2000, less than half of the HDI gain of 18.9% on Musharraf's watch from 2000 to 2007.



Acceleration of HDI growth during Musharraf years was not an accident. Not only did Musharraf's policies accelerate economic growth, helped create 13 million new jobs, cut poverty in half and halved the country's total debt burden in the period from 2000 to 2007, his government also ensured significant investment and focus on education and health care. The annual budget for higher education increased from only Rs 500 million in 2000 to Rs 28 billion in 2008, to lay the foundations of the development of a strong knowledge economy, according to former education minister Dr. Ata ur Rehman. Student enrollment in universities increased from 270,000 to 900,000 and the number of universities and degree awarding institutions increased from 57 in 2000 to 137 by 2008. In 2011, a Pakistani government commission on education found that public funding for education has been cut from 2.5% of GDP in 2007 to just 1.5% - less than the annual subsidy given to the various PSUs including Pakistan Steel and PIA, both of which continue to sustain huge losses due to patronage-based hiring.


Source: Pew Surveys in Pakistan


Looking at examples of nations such as the Asian Tigers which have achieved great success in the last few decades, the basic ingredient in each case has been large social sector investments they have made. It will be extremely difficult for Pakistan to catch up unless similar investments are made by Pakistani leaders.




Summary:

Civilian rule in Pakistan has delivered neither democracy nor development. The country stands at a crucial juncture with highly energized Pakistanis staging a historic massive sit-in in Islamabad since August 14, 2014. They have shaken up the ruling Sharif family and forced them to seek Pakistani military's help to save themselves from the wrath of the people. Any decisions made by Pakistan's military and politicians now will have long term impact on the health of the country. Let's hope these decisions bring about changes which help accelerate socio-economic development while making Pakistan's rulers more accountable and responsive to the people for their actions.

 

[VCheng]

First of all there is nothing inherently brnevolent about dictatorships otherwise the discriminative term benevolent dictatorships would never have existed nor is democracy any different.

A "benevolent" dictatorship is as much of an oxymoron as a "kind and loving" rapist.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1349714/musharrafs-rantings

Musharraf’s rantings
Editorial
August 05, 2017
0


AS Pakistan’s only living ex-military dictator, retired Gen Pervez Musharraf has emerged as a spokesman for that small but significant club in the country’s history. Now, with the political downfall of Mr Musharraf’s bitter foe Nawaz Sharif, the former dictator has made one gleeful comment after another against civilian politicians in recent days. Much of it has been easy to ignore as the rantings of an individual who has failed to accept his present-day marginal political relevance. But in typical Musharrafian style, the former dictator has gone too far. In a shocking interview to BBC Urdu from his base in self-exile, Mr Musharraf has defended not just his record in office, but that of generals Zia and Ayub too. Mercifully, even for Mr Musharraf, a defence of Gen Yahya Khan’s record may have been a step too far. Still, the brazen defence of two extremely damaging military dictatorships in the country’s history and a sweeping denunciation of all civilian governments are extraordinary. Mr Musharraf may be unapologetic, but he is also terribly wrong.

The devastation wrought by military regimes can be gauged by a straightforward metric that even Mr Musharraf can understand: most have left office in humiliation and in the immediate aftermath of each dictatorship, there has been a consensus in the country that a return to civilian rule is necessary (in Gen Ayub’s case, the extraordinary political circumstances somewhat delayed the inevitable). In Mr Musharraf’s case, he has further humiliated himself by relying on his parent organisation to save him from serious legal trouble and escaping the country on a medical pretext. With his nemesis out of political office, perhaps Mr Musharraf should test his own theory of the Pakistani people’s preference for military dictators over civilian leaders by returning to Pakistan and bravely facing whatever the courts have in store for him. Surely, the same courts that have delivered justice in the eyes of Mr Musharraf in the case of Mr Sharif will do what is right by a ruler who is loved by the people, as Mr Musharraf’s argument suggests.

The contrast between a former dictator’s cowardly words spoken from exile and the searing remarks by legendary pro-democracy advocate Asma Jahangir on Pakistani soil could not be more damning. Ms Jahangir, whose principled and outspoken stand on democratic values and principles have made her a national treasure, has once again publicly asked the kind of questions that few else dare. Her central question — why do only civilian politicians face accountability in Pakistan? — is answered by the arrogance and utter foolishness of Mr Musharraf’s remarks. Indeed, Mr Musharraf’s very freedom today is because of an ongoing distortion in the constitutional scheme of things. The selective and self-serving understanding of responsibilities under the Constitution is at the heart of those distortions. Perhaps the present military leadership ought to consider publicly distancing itself from Mr Musharraf’s remarks.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2017

 

[Long.Live.Pakistan]

Musharaff lost his mind

[video]