US should push for restoring democracy in Pakistan: Expert

The US should push for restoring democracy in Pakistan by holding free and fair elections and reducing the armys role in domestic politics, a leading South Asia expert has said.

Washington, July 27 : The US should push for restoring democracy in Pakistan by holding free and fair elections and reducing the army's role in domestic politics, a leading South Asia expert has said.

Teresita C Schaffer, the Director of the South Asia Programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said this while testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

She claimed that three short-term dramas were being played out in Pakistan.

The first is a challenge to the basic authority of the government to keep order, the second drama is the spill over from the conflict in Afghanistan, while the third drama stemmed from General Musharraf's decision to suspend the Supreme Court Chief Justice has now overturned.

Schaffer said the US should shift its emphasis to the situation prevailing in the whole of Pakistan, and added that leaders are important, especially in troubled countries at troubled times, but the sustainability of Pakistan's political system and its ability to grow new leaders is critical to combat terrorism.

"We need to listen to what the Pakistanis are saying about their hopes for a better future for their country," she said.

Commenting on the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Schaffer said the Supreme Court's ruling last week was a "serious embarrassment" to General Musharraf and it also interferes with his strategy of seeking re-election later this year.

The Daily Times quoted her as saying that Musharraf can no longer be confident that the courts will support him.

Schaffer said the US needs a Pakistan Government that can keep order and has legitimacy, one that will not allow Pakistan to be used as a platform for insurgency or irredentism in either Afghanistan or India.

She proposed that US policy should focus on three things: Support for Pakistan's return to an elected civilian government; dealing with Pakistan's frontier area; and military and economic aid.

Schaffer pointed out that Pakistan's political future matters profoundly to the future peace and governability of the region.

She said Pakistan's best shot at dealing with the danger of violent extremism comes from moving back to a government that enjoys full legitimacy.

Schaffer said bringing the tribal areas under control is the work of a generation, and it will require political and economic as well as military means, and added that the US assistance to Pakistan should be aimed at building a long term relationship with Islamabad.

ANI