Parvez Musharaf, the Ex President of Pakistan, has shown his belief that dictatorship is better than a civilian rule. While giving interview to BBC Urdu he stated that;
“Dictators set the country right, whereas civilian governments brought it to ruins;” he added that “military rule always brought progress to Pakistan”.
Mr Musharaf, who toppled government of Mr Nawaz Sharif in 1999 and is well known for his role in war against terrorism, further expressed that whenever martial law was declared in Pakistan, “it was the need of the hour”.
Mr. Musharraf said that “All Asian countries have seen progress because of dictators, and it makes no difference to the population of Pakistan whether the country is being governed by an elected government or by an autocrat, as long as there is progress and prosperity.”
Musharaf tried to justify his military Coup of 199 saying “The coup was staged because it was the demand of the country’s people”. He added that “Pakistan’s citizens should have the option of to remove a civilian government and there should be “checks and balances in the Constitution” to this effect”. He further added that “The people come running to the Army to be saved. People come to me asking to be saved… We cannot ruin the country in order to save the Constitution. We can disregard the Constitution to save the people,”
Mr Musharaf eloped the country recently on medical grounds with a promise to come back. He has failed to keep his promise so far while an active warrant is in place against him.
