Word: powerfully
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...taken upon themselves to obliterate. Financial and political accountability and the delivery of justice requires the rule of law, the first casualty of a military intervention. Musharraf himself is responsible for superimposing the military's dictates over the supreme law of the land, the constitution. Blatant abuse of state power and institutional corruption were rampant in past Pakistani military regimes, but no dictator held himself, or his regime, accountable before the superior courts. Every military withdrawal took place after the high command acquired constitutional protection for its actions. It is unlikely that the present regime will do otherwise...
...intends to depoliticize state institutions. Not only will the armed forces play a direct political role but they will work, as in the past, through the civil bureaucracy, picking and choosing their civilian allies and in the process undermining institutional norms and procedures. In its first few weeks in power, the Musharraf regime has already appointed and dismissed a number of key bureaucrats and political expediency will continue to dictate its interaction with the civil administration...
Devolution of power is probably the most dubious of Musharraf's numerous justifications for prolonging military rule. Past military regimes in multi-ethnic Pakistan either overrode or distorted constitutional provisions for the distribution of power between the center and the units of the federation, undermining national cohesion and dividing society along ethnic and territorial lines. To retain power, the Musharraf regime will require and will inevitably exercise centralized control, if not for any other reason than to ensure the continued support of its main constituency, the armed forces. To truly devolve power, the regime would deprive itself of its control...
...While the elected government should be held responsible for its inability to meet the demands of its constituents for good governance, political stability and economic development, the military is equally, if not more, culpable, since it was responsible for dictating and overseeing the framework under which it handed over power in 1988. Sharif himself was handpicked by the military and installed in power not once, but twice through manipulated elections. Tutored by his military mentors, it is but natural that Sharif behaved more like a civilian despot than an elected prime minister, riding roughshod over his political opposition and demolishing...
...democracy to Pakistan, as Musharraf has pledged? In the past fifty years, Pakistan's fragile democratic base has eroded as a result of repeated military interventions. With the October coup, Pakistan is back to square one and time is fast running out. Should the present junta decide to retain power indefinitely, depriving 130 million Pakistanis of democratic avenues for bargaining, participation and dissent, political instability and internal divisions will threaten the very fabric of a state where history has the tendency of repeating itself as a farce...