The "Pakistani Power Pendulum" (The Real "3P's") - Military to Civilian....and Back - Again

The 3P's in Pakistan are most commonly associated with the "Pakistan Peoples Party". The author would argue the PPP acronym more relevantly and appropriately be re-cast as the "Pakistani Power Pendulum".

The reason being that it is not President Zardari's (and deceased wife Benazir Bhutto's) PPP political party or any of the other major warring civilian parties PML (N) and PML (Q),  which fundamentally dictates the "swinging" government power base between military to civilian and back. Rather it’s the systemic inbred power pendulum, which predictably swings like clockwork.

This power pendulum has swung violently throughout Pakistan's 60 or so years of independence, and despite all efforts and hopefulness for a stable western style democracy, will continue to do so. Pakistan is not the U.S. Pakistan is not Western Europe. Pakistan is Pakistan. It requires a different approach. Not “Jammed Democracy”. Rather, “Phased (in) Democracy”.

Under Musharraf, Pakistani government power swung wide to the military side, before violently swinging back just as pronounced to the civilian side with Zardari. Zardari riding in on an anti-Musharraf rather than pro-Zardari vote. On that note too and exacerbating Zardari’s ever loosening grip on power and public resentment to his Presidency, is the fact he was not elected by the people but rather by parliamentary representation, where the PPP was the majority party. 

Zardari predictably and increasingly exposes the inherent weakness of Pakistani civilian rule. That is it/he lacks the critically needed dedicated and unwavering underpinning support of the powerful Pakistani military leadership and ISI intelligence services. The result being the country continues to unravel and destabilize, causing the power pendulum to unfortunately swing back towards a need for a strong arm military regime to (re)stabilize. This coming power turn back too military rule then both completing and renewing the power pendulum cycle swing.

As the popular saying goes in Pakistan, "Power in Pakistan flows from the uniform".

Simply, Zardari (and civilian rule in general) is too small to hold a position which is too big for his size. The attached article highlights the Zardari government’s challenges and why it is teetering on collapse; further fed by insurrection stirring from his main civilian competitor Nawaz Sharif, positioning himself to pick up the pieces.

U.S., U.K. Try to Avert Political  Collapse in Pakistan

www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/63873.html