Pervez Musharraf: A General in an institutional soup

One of the structural problems facing Pakistan, historically, has been the erosion of democratic institutions. This is squarely the result of the generals often toppling elected regimes, imposing martial law and enfeebling democratic institutions.

Simply, being ruled by the army for almost half of its independent history has stymied Pakistan on many fronts, including the foundational one of constitutional rule. Now, in an ironic twist, for the first time ever in Pakistan, a former military dictator, “President”, Pervez Musharraf, has been indicted by a special court for high treason for trampling all over that very Constitution. This could be called historic, its symbolism certainly is. But the end result, given that the army is unlikely to allow a former chief to face prosecution that could mean a death sentence, could well just be that symbolic assertion of non-military institutions. Still, even such symbolism matters a lot in Pakistan.

Prolonged military rule spawned many of the ills plaguing Pakistan — though the venality of its feudal elite political class often contributed to those ills — including the army’s use of assorted extremists as elements of foreign policy. So deep is this link that despite savage violence against the state by elements within those jehadis, the generals still think, like Musharraf did, that they can “compartmentalise” the good extremists from the bad ones.

In part, the Nawaz Sharif regime’s slapping treason charges on Musharraf is as much a play for populism as it is a powerful message that the generals can now face some music too. In all these grey spaces, it is still likely that a “deal” — as often happens in Pakistan — is worked out. But, at the moment, one can also argue the political-judicial set-up is sending out a message on military takeovers.