RIYADH, May 4 2000 – General (retd.) Jehangir Karamat, the former chief of the Pakistan Army, said that democracy remains the only viable alternative for Pakistan, although he sees no prospects of its restoration in the near future.

Earlier, Abdul Hameed Abu Farooq, honorary secretary general of PCG, described his organization as non-political and said it had been playing an important role in cementing Saudi-Pakistani relations since 1984.

Tracing the background to the developments that led to the army take over, General Karamat said the situation was dictated by the course of events during the Nawaz Sharif regime. He said that the then government had become high-handed and was using strong arms tactics to keep itself in power.

During the question-answer session that followed, General Karamat was asked about the prospects of a return to democracy in Pakistan. "Yes, democracy has a future in Pakistan, but it will take time, " he said, adding that the present government of General Pervez Musharraf was working in that direction.

He, however, clarified that the Western model of democracy does not necessarily suit Pakistan, since it requires a high degree of political maturity, an educated electorate and responsible behavior on the part of the political parties.  

In this context, he stressed the need for an autonomous election commission and an independent judiciary to strengthen the roots of a democratic culture. This would also prevent future interventions by the army and maintain political stability in the country.

Pointing out that political stability was a vital factor for national progress, General Karamat cited Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as an example to illustrate how the Kingdom has achieved progress because of political stability. He said Pakistan needs political stability on the same ground.

Replying to a question on the Kargil episode, General Karamat said that it was a brilliant tactic. He was however, vague on the question of who exactly was involved in the Kargil operation. Pakistan says that was Kashmiri Mujahideen who were operating from the Kargil Heights. India implicates the Pakistan army in the incident. General Karamat pointed out that in the initial stage of the Kargil operation, Indian government blamed the activists for the skirmishes but later on changed its own version.

In his address, Pakistan ambassador, Khalid Mehmood said that there was no dispute over the fact that there should be a return to democracy, political stability, end to corruption and a system of checks and balances on the abuse of power. "These are the objectives that the government of Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf is pursuing. It is a slow process. But it is trying to tackle the disease and not the symptoms," the ambassador said.