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Erin: Welcome to T2A Special edition web chat for November 26th. Today we discuss the latest political crisis in Pakistan with VOA correspondent Barry Newhouse in Islamabad and political scientist Hassan Abbas. Professor Abbas is at Harvard University. He is also a former Pakistani government official who served in the administrations of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf. Our discussion happens as former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returns to the country and registers to run in January's parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, government officials say President Musharraf will step down as army chief and take the oath of office as a civilian leader on Thursday. Ms. Bhutto filed her nomination papers for the election on Sunday.

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Abbas, Nigeria (email): Professor Abbas, as a former Pakistani government official, what advice can you give to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf to fix the political situation in Pakistan?

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Hassan: The current crisis in Pakistan is of such a nature that the only way to overcome these challenges is to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in Pakistan in which all the political parties from the right and left should be given the opportunity to participate. There should be no emergency law imposed in the country at that time so all parties can freely participate in the electoral process. These are the minimum conditions. Without them, the coming elections will have no credibility and I don't see any way out for Pakistan except for reverting back to the Democratic process. That's the only hope for Pakistan at this moment.

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A.C. Rathinavel, India (email): What is the history of the situation in Pakistan? What is happening now? Don't the Pakistani people have any way of relieving their military chief from the presidential position? Do the people of Pakistan lack the courage to start a revolution or do they not want this?

Barry: There is widespread discontent throughout Pakistan with General Musharraf’s decision to impose emergency rule, but a relatively small number of Pakistanis have protested in the streets. This is partly because the government has arrested people who could help organize large protests, which have intimidated other people from taking part.

But there is also widespread discontent with Pakistan's political parties in general. Each of the three top politicians in the country -- Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto and Pervez Musharraf -- have already ruled the country before. Many people I have spoken have little faith in the politicians' abilities to solve Pakistan's problems.

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Kemal, Ethiopia (email): Comparatively, who displays the democratic ideals of dignity and human rights to a greater extent—Bhutto or Musharraf?

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Hassan: I think Benazir Bhutto displays these credentials more so but there are also many other political figures in Pakistan who are Democratic. The question is larger than this. It is not a Bhutto - Musharraf battle...Pakistan has a history of democracy with 16 legitimate political parties and there are many which I would say are very pro human rights, some may not have as much support but the question should be would a democratic leader of Pakistan stand for human rights and many have been supportive of tolerance, tourism, human rights. Many religious political parties are looking at this in a different way but comparing these two, Ms. Bhutto has somewhat better credentials.

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A.Q.ANSARI: When Benazir Bhutto started negotiation with army general Musharraf for smooth transition towards democracy, there was a huge cry among the political opponents and so called advocates that she is dealing with the General to avoid cases of corruption etc. But now Nawaz Sharif also returned back from exile with pre arrangement but there is complete calm everywhere and it is being portrayed as if he has arrived in Pakistan as a challenger. What is your opinion?

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Hassan: I think both the situation of Bhutto's return and Sharif's return is quite comparable. In both cases there has been some arrangement. General Musharraf has allowed them both to return after certain pressure, in one case from the U.S. and the other case from Saudi Arabia.   Both of these leaders have benefited from a special law under General. Musharraf called NRO, which means some corruption cases, were withdrawn from both these leaders. In the first case, you're right, there were a lot of cries because Bhutto’s return was seen as just a way to grab power. I think already there is a lot of criticism and skepticism about the conditions under which Sharif has returned. There is a debate in Pakistan which being framed as a transition versus transformation forces with some people saying the only way for Pakistan to go from dictatorship to democracy is that these political leaders have to come back with reconciliation and the other option has complete transformation, a kind of revolution there in which Musharraf has to be removed. Ultimately we have to know what the Pakistani people think, whether they have accepted the withdrawal of some corruption cases or whether they would accept the other option. Time will tell and the people will decide.

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Dr. (Col.) V.K. Wadia, India (email): What is the effect of the Indo-Pak relationship on any political crisis in Pakistan? Don’t you think cordial relations between the two countries would lift a lot of unwarranted pressure on Pakistani politicians to be in a position to find a viable solution to most, if not all, crises?

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Hassan: India-Pak relations are very crucial to most of the things that happen in politics in Pakistan as well as in India.  In the recent past, last 4-5 years there have been good developments in terms of the peace process and i would give credit to both General Musharraf and the Indian leadership for changing the dynamics of that relationship. In the 1960's, 70's and 80's there was a very different relationship based on animosity. But in the last few years we have seen this peace process flourish. You would see Indians in Pakistan for cricket matches with their faces painted with Pakistan’s national colors, which was unprecedented.  So today in the present context things have improved. Now what is happen in politics in Pakistan is not much effected by the old traditional rivalry between these two countries. However there are major pending issues like the controversy about Kashmir, issues related to huge military budgets in both countries, many Pakistanis have started saying that Pakistan has been investing too much in its military and not focusing on development issues like health care and education.  There are fewer people in Pakistan really concerned about the nature of conflict that Pakistan and India had. I would certainly agree that this lessening of tension has played actually a positive role in both countries, but especially in Pakistan. India is a democratic country and they have been able to resolve their conflicts in a viable fashion. Pakistan has not been able to do that so far, especially regarding its internal crisis and today Pakistan’s real crisis is an internal one, for instance, issues of religious extremism, the struggle on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and the state of suicide bombings in Pakistan.  In 2007 so far there have been 45 suicide bombings in Pakistan. India has not anything to do with those bombings, which are internal militants who have created this. So Pakistan today has to look internally to resolve the problems it is facing and India can help Pakistan in fighting this menace.

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Sajjad Ahmed Ansari: What is the actual story behind the former PM Nawaz Sharif's return?  Is there any sign that the US is behind that or the Saudi government took this initiative?

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Hassan: I think one thing is for sure and that is that Saudi government is certainly behind this. They sent Sharif back on their Saudi official plane; they gave him 2 bulletproof vehicles and a helicopter to use during his political campaign. It is also viewed as something, which has happened with at least the approval of the U.S. and that is a good omen in a sense because previously it was believed that the U.S. is supporting Bhutto alone and there was criticism the U.S. was supporting just one political leader so this is a positive signal. This would lead to a better political environment in Pakistan because without Sharif, elections in Pakistan in January would not have been very credible. Still there are other political leaders such as Imran Khan who have come forth and we have to see how much support he has. There also is a feeling of disenchantment in Pakistan today due to lack of available leadership. Some small parties with a clear vision may also get significant support in the coming elections.

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A.C. Rathinavel, India (email): Talk about the history of the situation and how it relates to what's happening now. Also, do the Pakistani people lack the will to start a revolution or do they not want this?

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Hassan: In terms of the present crisis in Pakistan, I think there is good news which is that one of the most important institutions of the state, the judiciary, has felt more empowered and has started making decisions while keeping in view the interests of ordinary people. Unfortunately General Musharraf removed those judges in a very dictatorial fashion. There has been a strong response from the civil society in Pakistan in the shape of human rights activists, lawyers and other moderate progressive forces on the streets, condemning that action. That shows that within the mainstream society of Pakistan there are people demanding the rule of law and that is a very positive hope for the future of Pakistan. General Musharraf has lost a lot of credibility and support among the people, and there is a feeling in the country that General Musharraf was not interested in permitting or in allowing any other institution other than the military to become powerful. So this conflict will go on between the progressive forces that want rule of law and military dominance in the state. The international community needs to support the democratic forces if we want to save Pakistan today.

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Erin: That wraps today's T2A web chat. Our thanks to Barry Newhouse and Professor Abbas, and to you for joining us. We hope you join us on Wednesday, November 28th at 1800 hours universal time as we meet Miss America 2007 Lauren Nelson. She is the National Goodwill Ambassador for the Children's Miracle Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving lives of children by raising funds for children's hospitals across North America. Ms. Nelson also advocates Internet safety for children. That's Wednesday, November 28th at 1800 hours universal time on voanews.com See you then!

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