EU-DIGEST

Pakistan: Bhutto assassination - blow to Pakistan and democracy but opportunity for EU to establish new regional strategy

Pakistani opposition leader and former premier Benazir Bhutto, who was challenging the dictator Pervez Musharraf, was assassinated at a party rally late Thursday, plunging Pakistan into a deep crisis, less than two weeks before elections. She was shot in the neck before a suicide bomber blew himself up at a park in the northern city of Rawalpindi, killing around 30 people. It happened minutes after Bhutto had addressed supporters. This was the second assassination attempt against Mrs. Bhutto, since her homecoming in October, when her convoy was hit in the deadliest such attacks in Pakistani history, leaving 139 dead. Mrs. Bhutto only survived then after ducking down at the moment of impact behind her armored vehicle. Bhutto, 54, became the first ever female prime minister of a Muslim nation, when she took the helm in 1988 for the first of her two premierships. Her father, also a prime minister, was hanged by the military in 1979, after being ousted from power. Following the assassination, Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister of Pakistan, said he held President and Military Dictator Pervez Musharraf "responsible" for the assassination and said inquiries should only be conducted after Musharraf steps down. Sharif told Bhutto supporters outside the General Hospital in Rawalpindi, where Benazdir Bhuto lay mortally wounded, that he would join hands with Buttho's PPP and fight their "war".

Benazir Bhutto, with some mysterious foresight, said on Tuesday that dictatorships in Pakistan had always nurtured extremism. The former premier also said she hoped that “total powers would be transferred from the present dictatorship to democratic institutions”.

Political and democracy-wise, everything looks gloomy and hopeless for Pakistan at this tragic moment. After Mrs. Benazir Bhutto was forcefully eliminated from the election process, and with the independent judicial system in Pakistan put out of commission by Musharraf himself, the election, if held, would be a total farce. Musharraf, at least for the moment, seems to hold all the cards in his hands. He and his allies inside and outside Pakistan can blame Al Quada and Taliban terrorists for the assassination, while he declares Marshall law to stay in power. Fortunately, there are also forces who can topple the Musharraf regime, forcing the military back to the barracks and restore democracy. The EU has a unique opportunity in this respect to take the lead in the international community to make this happen. For one, the EU can break off diplomatic and economic trade relations with Pakistan until the military returns to the barracks and gives its powers to a government of reconciliation, preparing for democratic elections based on the principles of Pakistan's great leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The success of the EU in this effort to restore democracy to Pakistan could also help establish a new European political strategy for the region. A strategy based on dialog and inclusion, as opposed to the present policy of confrontation and war, which is a total failure.

Labels: Afghanistan, Benazir Bhutto, EU, Pakistan