Musharaff: Democracy not tailored to Pakistan

Says misgovernance sucks military into country's politics

Pervez Musharraf

Washington: The army has often played a prominent role in the governance of Pakistan as democracy has not been tailored to its environment, the country's former President Pervez Musharraf has said.

"The army has always had a role since our independence. It has played a very prominent role in the governance of Pakistan, mainly because of misgovernance by all the so-called democratically-elected governments," he said in an interview at the Washington Ideas Forum.

He said the "inherent weakness" of Pakistan is that democracy in the country has not been tailored in accordance with the dictates of the environment.

"There are no checks and balances within the system. The Constitution doesn't provide those checks and balances. The military is forced and pulled, sucked into the political environment, especially when misgovernance is going on and Pakistan is going down in all socio-economic indicators. The people run towards the army chief, and that is how the army gets involved," he said, justifying the frequent military coups in the country.

He said this was the reason for Pakistan having military governments and the army enjoying a high stature.

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