Politics
Pakistan: Musharraf unlikely to survive as president, says US expert
Washington, 19 Feb. (AKI) - Pakistan's parliamentary elections had severely weakened the country's president, Pervez Musharraf, and he was unlikely to survive politically, a leading US analyst said on Tuesday.
Daniel Markey, a senior fellow from the US thinktank, the Council on Foreign Relations, said the election results would deliver "a different configuration of power".
"It's only a matter of time before he is out the door," said Markey. "The election has weakened Musharraf."
Speaking to international and domestic journalists from Washington, Markey said the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), which supported Musharraf, was facing possible disintegration after massive losses at the election.
"Many of the party leaders lost their seats," he said. "It could be the end of the PML-Q, despite the fact they got 40 seats in the national assembly".
While the election results were still being finalised, the main opposition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz group (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) were poised for a major electoral victory after the PML-Q conceded defeat on Tuesday.
"It looks like a free and fair rout of Musharraf's party," Markey said. He said the elections had also been fairer than people had expected and turnout was an average 40 percent, higher than previously stated.
He said early results suggested that the PPP, the party led by Benazir Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, had won 35 percent of the vote, while the PML-N of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had won around 25 percent, and Musharraf's PML-Q 15 percent.
Markey, an expert on south and central Asian politics worked for the US State Department between 2003 and 2007 and also lectured at the highly respected Princeton University.
He said the country's political leaders would be distracted by political manoeuvres as they sought to determine who would be the next prime minister.
Markey said both Sharif and Zardari could try to impeach Musharraf or roll back some of the changes he made, but they could also end up destroying each other.
If the winning parties form a coalition with a two-thirds majority in the parliament, they could impeach Musharraf.
He said there was a risk that either or both of them would attempt to clean out the country's armed forces and this would threaten anti-terrorism efforts.
"Not only might they go for Musharraf, they may go for an army rout and that would be profoundly destabilising," he said.
Daniel Markey, a senior fellow from the US thinktank, the Council on Foreign Relations, said the election results would deliver "a different configuration of power".
"It's only a matter of time before he is out the door," said Markey. "The election has weakened Musharraf."
Speaking to international and domestic journalists from Washington, Markey said the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), which supported Musharraf, was facing possible disintegration after massive losses at the election.
"Many of the party leaders lost their seats," he said. "It could be the end of the PML-Q, despite the fact they got 40 seats in the national assembly".
While the election results were still being finalised, the main opposition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz group (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) were poised for a major electoral victory after the PML-Q conceded defeat on Tuesday.
"It looks like a free and fair rout of Musharraf's party," Markey said. He said the elections had also been fairer than people had expected and turnout was an average 40 percent, higher than previously stated.
He said early results suggested that the PPP, the party led by Benazir Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, had won 35 percent of the vote, while the PML-N of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had won around 25 percent, and Musharraf's PML-Q 15 percent.
Markey, an expert on south and central Asian politics worked for the US State Department between 2003 and 2007 and also lectured at the highly respected Princeton University.
He said the country's political leaders would be distracted by political manoeuvres as they sought to determine who would be the next prime minister.
Markey said both Sharif and Zardari could try to impeach Musharraf or roll back some of the changes he made, but they could also end up destroying each other.
If the winning parties form a coalition with a two-thirds majority in the parliament, they could impeach Musharraf.
He said there was a risk that either or both of them would attempt to clean out the country's armed forces and this would threaten anti-terrorism efforts.
"Not only might they go for Musharraf, they may go for an army rout and that would be profoundly destabilising," he said.
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