(3 of 4)
So what is your next step?
What is required at the moment is a grand new compact between the major players in Pakistan. And whether anyone likes it or not, these will have to be the major political parties, the Pakistan army, and the judiciary. One [of these] can impart political legitimacy — the parties. The second has power. And the third can impart constitutional legitimacy. None of these three can be written off, and there can be no solution without a proper effective participation of all three.
I think there has to be a major rethink, a dialogue, a stepping back. Both forms of extremism have to be avoided: praetorian extremism and dogmatic or religious extremism. The middle ground has to be found. The tragedy is that Pakistan before Musharraf had always stood the middle ground. It was a moderate and enlightened society when Pervez Musharraf began to enforce his so-called moderate enlightenment. He didn't have to say that. Unfortunately while he was using that rhetorically, he bludgeoned everything that was moderate and everything that was enlightened.
Could you be the person to bring these three segments together?
Quite frankly the self-interest should bring them together. We can only suggest the kinds of platforms, or be a vehicle for that. but its — I think it's in everybody's self interest.
Have any of the parties reached out to you? Has the army?
No one really has, well, [Former Prime Minister Nawaz] Sharif has. The army hasn't reached out to me. I think at the moment it is receding [from political involvement] more under General [Ashfaq] Kayani but I think it will be in everybody's interest to work out a new social contract. Let's hope we can do that without having to storm the Bastille.
Is Kayani someone civil society can work with?
I really don't know. His statements about withdrawing the army [from politics and civilian postings] are certainly things that people want to hear.
How has the death of Benazir Bhutto affected you?
Well first of all it is very tragic. She had assurances of security that were obviously not kept. It's easy later on to blame the victim. And you know, this is typically the mindset of extremists who want to cage up their women. They say if she goes out of the house it is her fault if she is hurt. So the theory that she invited her death by going out campaigning, by standing up in the jeep, well that's a callous, heartless accusation from the President of this country. He should know better.
Is there a way to turn this tragedy into an opportunity?
Unfortunately Musharraf's credibility stands in the way of turning it into an opportunity, because no body believes him when he says that [al Qaeda affiliated militant Baitullah] Mehsud did it. It's Musharraf's credibility on the line, unfortunately, and if people don't believe him they won't unite against terror. What people believe — and I don't endorse this, but it is wide spread — is that the administration had a hand in her death. And that Pervez Musharraf's dream of a PPP without Benazir, like in 2002 [when the party campaigned for office while Bhutto was in exile], has come true. Now obviously this may not be true, but skepticism and disbelief have been provided very strong grounds by the burial of Ms Bhutto without a post mortem. This belief has been provided further grounds by the immediate hosing of the crime scene. The evidence has been literally been washed down the drains of Rawalpindi, and nobody has been held accountable for that. So the credibility of the investigation is not only in tatters, but it doesn't improve the credibility of the government. Musharraf is seen as having destroyed the evidence, even if Baitullah Mehsud was behind it.