I am a little shocked/surprised at the openess of US intereference in Pak’s internal affairs and how cooly/lightly intellectuals/journalists mentioned that in their columns.
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/121102/main/top1.htm
Front Page
Anyone but MMA, US tells Pakistan MMA govt not acceptable to US
From Absar Alam
The US has communicated its ‘difficulties’ to Islamabad in establishing a smooth working relationship in case an umbrella alliance of religious parties, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, dominates the government in Pakistan.
…
“Instead the US wants a coalition of PPP-P, PML-Q government in Pakistan,” sources said. In case a deal is worked out between the military government and the PPP-P, **a nod will come from Washington **for Makhdoom Amin Fahim as the Prime Minister and General Pervez Musharraf in the saddle both as President and the Chief of Army Staff, sources claimed.
Here is another one:-
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_12-11-2002_pg1_5
No indication of US go-ahead for fresh polls
There is no indication that the United States has given Gen Pervez Musharraf the go ahead to abort parliament and put off elections for a year or more to allow the present Iraq situation that an MMA government in NWFP and possibly Islamabad could jeopardise, reach closure.
Selig Harrison, another noted South Asia expert, told Daily Times in an interview that it remained his position that for Gen Musharraf, the October elections were nothing more than “window dressing” and, further, that even if a civilian government came into office, he would not allow it to “do very much.” It was also possible that he might dissolve the National Assembly, viewing it as a “gesture to the US” in view of the unease felt in Washington over the emergence of the MMA. He described the current situation as “murky”. He noted that the US government had tended to reserve comment on developments in Pakistan and **in case Musharraf dissolved the Assembly, it might be shrugged off here as “an internal Pakistani matter.” **He said Musharraf’s record so far showed that he had employed the policy of “divide and rule” and he saw no reason to believe that the General had had a change of heart. He added that it was even possible that Musharraf did not want the so-called “king’s party” to emerge in any great strength.
