I've come to believe that its best to take this decision out of the Pakistanis hands. Not because the populace is not capable of an informed choice, but simply because the choices available are just not up to the mark.
I think another round of benign dictatorship, with the cunning of Husni Mubarak and the vision of Mahatir Muhammad can be our only way out of this.
We need someone who can stick around for at least 10 years, and not make the mistake that Musharraf did. The mistake of trying to accomodate and appease political interests.
right on the spot, we need another round(s) of benign dictatorship to steer this country out of the mess. although I disagree with your idea of the populace being capable of an informed choice. I have my reasons for that, and I think history is my witness.
However, I don't think Musharraf should come into power again. He had one major weakness, he actually cared about public sentiment to certain degree. This weakness led to him taking off his uniform, and eventually "giving in" to american demands of restoring democracy. Although there are a lot of good things about Musharraf, he also made many mistakes that cost him and the country, for example, he unleashed the "free media" which has basically tried to determine national policy, and is another means for politicians to gather votes. Giving NATO supply lines for a measly transit fee of $10 billion dollars was incredibly stupid. Pakistan should be receiving $75 billion or more on its end, considering the vast amounts of money they spent on Iraq. He failed to kill of waderas and jagirdars and promote land reform to empower the villagers. I could go on about how he should eliminate the constitution and instead bring about a presidential system.
Pakistan needs a dictator who has the positive visionary qualities of Musharraf, but someone who is like Zardari, someone who can ignore opposition until it dies down. Musharraf was way too soft, he can hardly be called a dictator. If want to see dictatorship in its purest form, or even tyranny, you can go to Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe lives rich while his people are suffering from about three hundred million percent inflation
and dying from cholera. forget about democracy, he doesn't give a damn about his own people. instead he goes on to say, "Zimbabwe is mine".
we need a Mahatir Muhammad, but stronger. All Pakistan needs is some strong leader who has the will and determination to make it a global power. If we can get at least that much, I strongly believe it won't even take more than five years for Pakistan to become another imperial Japan.
